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St. Helena Montessori School

Challenge

From its founding in 1981, St. Helena Montessori School has accomplished the remarkable from humble rented facilities. In order to give children the full benefit of the Montessori developmental philosophy, the School needed a permanent home.

In 2006, with the visionary support of an anonymous donor, St. Helena Montessori School began to plan for a permanent campus with age-specific classrooms and materials, as well as a working farm to support an agricultural program. Realizing this vision would require philanthropic support on a level that the School had never before attempted, St. Helena Montessori School engaged Campbell & Company.

Process

St. Helena Montessori School needed to convey a powerful vision to motivate unprecedented giving. We worked with the School’s staff and volunteer leadership to craft a campaign case for support that spoke to the unique value of a Montessori education and the truly exciting opportunity to create an ideal home for Montessori education in St. Helena.

After interviewing many of the School’s prospective major donors, we developed a plan to move forward with a $16 million campaign. Since the campaign launch, we have worked closely with St. Helena Montessori School to implement all areas of the campaign strategy—engaging campaign volunteers, building a relationship management system, refining the case for support and securing major gifts.

"In a small independent school, it’s very easy to always end up reacting to things. Campbell & Company helped us to move forward."

-Matthew Heil, Director of Development, St. Helena Montessori School

St. Helena Montessori School has raised $15.7 million. With unprecedented leadership giving from across the School community, St. Helena Montessori is well on its way to building the campus of its dreams and developing a culture of philanthropy that will sustain the School into the future.