Report on Giving 2018

Five years that grew our endowment and positioned us for the future

In 2012, Ravenscroft’s Board of Trustees voted on a new, five-year strategic design that set the stage for the school’s largest and most comprehensive campaign. By the time the campaign was announced to the full Ravenscroft community, in the Winter 2014 Report on Giving, several early contributors had already given generously to put Embrace Possibility, the Campaign for Ravenscroft well on the path to success.

Following their lead, hundreds of philanthropically minded parents, grandparents, current and former faculty and staff, students and alumni made gifts and pledges in support of growing our endowment — from $16.5M at the start of the campaign in July 2013 to $20.9M at the campaign’s close in June 2018— and funding four key areas: Lead From Here, financial aid (“Belong Here”), student support (“Succeed Here”) and the Annual Fund. (Read full story)

Enjoy these stories from previous magazines highlighting our path to success in Ravenscroft’s most ambitious campaign to date.

• 2014 Report on Giving: Campus Leaders Announce the Campaign
• 2014 Report on Giving: Focused Giving Broadens the Ravenscroft Promise
• 2015 Report on Giving: Parents' Association Jump-Starts the Embrace Possibility Campaign
• 2015 Report on Giving: Connecting the Head and Heart of Ravenscroft
• 2016 Report on Giving: A Family Embraces Generosity
• 2017 Report on Giving: Moments of Discovery- Ravenscroft's Investment in Facilitation Training

How Embrace Possibility transformed our culture of philanthropy, one donor at a time

As Ravenscroft campaign leaders reflect on the successful conclusion of the five-year, $15M Embrace Possibility campaign — and the long-term strategy that was broken down, year by year and dollar by dollar, into short-term goals with targeted messaging — the story that emerges is how the effort was nurtured and sustained by a culture of philanthropy that has been transformed by a simple promise: Every Raven, Every Day.

Here, we share four snapshots of giving that bring into focus the depth and breadth of our community’s commitment to the legacy that has endured more than 150 years after Ravenscroft’s founding — and to the Ravens of today and tomorrow. (Read full story)

Enjoy these photos below from a successful Embrace Possibility fundraiser by two 10th-grade advisory groups, in which students bid on the opportunity to “pie” their favorite teachers.

Making “Stone Soup”: Parent and Alumni Giving Challenges Motivate Donors, Help Surpass Goal

In many ways, Ravenscroft parent Chuck Vitello says, philanthropy is like stone soup.

“Everyone has a piece of something to give, regardless of size, and when all those pieces are brought together, you have a whole that can be shared and enjoyed by all,” explained Vitello, a campaign volunteer who is also a Ravenscroft admissions counselor and former advancement team member. “I think the Embrace Possibility campaign has definitely created that sense of giving at Ravenscroft.”

Recognizing the truths that give the popular children’s story such lasting appeal, campaign leaders focused the final year of the Embrace Possibility campaign on encouraging participation by two key groups: parents and alumni. Capitalizing on the sense of community a shared goal generates, they organized three matching-gift challenges, made possible by an anonymous donor, that ultimately helped close out the campaign with a bonus $500,000. (Read full story)

Enjoy these videos made by staff and campaign volunteers to spread the word about these giving challenges via social media:

• GiveCampus Parent Participation Challenge here
• #croftGRADitude’s “A Day in the Life of Edgar the Raven” here
• Thank you for supporting Every Raven, Every Day here
• Thank you for participating in the challenge here