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Since our ACSI seminars Corfield Consulting Services has been busy working with six Christian school clients. Most obvious to CCS was that Christian schools need a lot of help in:

• Designing annual fund strategies

• Establishing real development departments with trained officers, staff and a donor tracking system

• Implementing capital campaigns

• Effectively marketing to constituencies, churches & communities

• Undertaking major events that yield significant funding

Of course, the first step in all of these is the feasibility study to determine the priority of needs, constituency interest, opportunities, obstacles and the overall feasibility of funding important needs. Below are examples of some recent feasibility studies CCS conducted for clients. Overall, school spirit is being raised, which will result in alternative sources of funding and increased enrollment.

CCS completed the Feasibility study for SVCA in March. The leadership moved quickly to make policy changes and improve programs that were needed to move forward. SVCA appointed a Director of Institutional Advancement, currently being trained by CCS to lead their annual fund drive.

Using the CCS three-tier annual fund plan, SVCA has taken off. Already, a $30,000 gift has been secured for the academy library. One of the SVCA leaders remarked recently:

"Wow! It is amazing what a feasibility study can do."

In October CCS ran a Champion Golf Tournament Event and raised $72,000 for their annual fund. This was followed up in November by an annual fund kick off banquet which featured Josh McDowell as the keynote speaker. It was reveiled that 18 pledges had been procured for a total of $140,000. With these efforts, SVCA is off to a great start in reaching their goal of $440,000 over a 3 year period.

CCS conducted the feasibility study for this Burgettstown, PA academy in March. Burdened by extreme enrollment drops due to a severe economic downturn in the Tri-state area, CCS was asked to provide serious fund-raising training and assistance.

TCA capitalized on the positive support and energy determined in the study by setting up a major golf tournament through Champion Events. This event raised $42,000. As the TCA Administrator, Marlin Hawley put it:

"This is shaping up to be the biggest annual fund effort that we have ever put together."

Local business people have been contacted for an apprenticeship program with TCA high school students. This has been received very well in the local business community. Pledges of $6,000, $4,000 and $36,000 have come as a result of these efforts. An annual fund kick off banquet was held in early November with pledges of over $40,000 from teachers and administration.

TCA is well on it's way to raising their $350,000 goal over 3 years.

JCCS, one of the original independent evangelical Christian schools in Steubenville, OH houses its student body in a very old school facility in Mingo Junction.

JCCS has been offered an opportunity by a local church to build a new school on 11 acres to be donated to the school along with a $1,000,000 gift. The challenge to JCCS was that they match that $$ amount. The CCS survey found that JCCS could match that amount and more. Look for updates next fall.

CCS just completed the interviews for the LCA feasibility study and is in the process of compiling and analyzing the information for the final feasibility report. It was a very positive survey.