What's Up

Secretary of the Academy Peter Ramsey

It's About Connecting

Phillips Academy's comprehensive $200 million campaign officially kicked off in April. Here, Peter Ramsey, head of the Office of Academy Resources, talks with Andover Bulletin editor Theresa Pease about Campaign Andover.

What is a campaign?

A campaign is an opportunity for an organization to examine itself, affirm its mission and invite its constituents and friends to learn more about it and renew their relationship with it. Successful campaigns are built upon a solid foundation of what I call connectedness. In one sense, a campaign represents a designation of time in the history of an institution during which people reconnect with it and do something special to help secure its future.

I find it surprising your definition does not include a word about money.

That's an interesting observation. My own experience is that, first and foremost, campaigning is about connecting. If you don't have strong connections with constituents, you really are not in a position to ask them to invest their money philanthropically.

Campaign Andover's financial plan calls for securing $200 million over a six-year period. We began counting on July 1, 1996, and will count all gifts and pledges made from that date through June 30, 2002, as long as they support the campaign objectives.

How were those goals determined?

Effective campaigns often are linked to effective strategic planning processes. The goals of Campaign Andover emerged from three major planning initiatives: The Strategic Plan of 1996, the Faculty Steering Committee report and a campus facilities audit. Its priorities, goals and objectives focus principally on the cornerstones of the academy: faculty support, financial aid for students and families, and preservation of our magnificent campus. They represent a strong balance between endowment needs and projected current-use dollars.

How does this campaign differ from previous campaigns?

Phillips and Abbot academies have been involved in fund-raising campaigns from as far back as the early 19th century. Andover's Bicentennial Campaign of 1975-80, which brought in

over $50 million, was the largest completed by any secondary school up to that time. Since then, the Andover Development Board (ADB) completed a concentrated major gift effort that enabled the academy to raise nearly $110 million in gifts and pledges in the decade from 1985-95.

Campaign Andover will be the largest and most comprehensive campaign ever undertaken by a secondary school. The most ambitious completed to date were at Lawrenceville, which raised $131 million, exceeding its goal of $125 million, and at Hotchkiss, which brought in $103 million against a goal of $100 million. Currently, there are campaigns of $100 million to $125 million under way at Choate Rosemary Hall, Culver Academy, Deerfield, Groton and Taft. Phillips Exeter is not presently involved in a major campaign, but is completing mini-campaigns for scholarships and science.

To put this in context, during the successful ADB effort, gift support to PA averaged about $11 million a year. To reach $200 million will require approximately $25 million a year.