Dancing to the Tune of $7 Million
Sometimes, seeing means believing. Other times, seeing means writing. Writing checks, that is.
Such was the case for donors who rallied recently to contribute more than $7 million to a capital and endowment campaign for The National Dance Institute-New Mexico in Santa Fe.
The NDI program introduces children in New Mexico’s public elementary schools to the magic of dance and, in the process, nurtures their self-esteem and teaches the value of diligence and team work.
For a program this special, no stuffy fundraising campaign could convey all that NDI is about and how important it is to the children it helps, many of whom live in low-income communities.
Nope, this called for something different. So why not let potential donors see for themselves why the NDI program is so important and why they should give generously to a campaign that would allow the New Mexico affiliate to build a new facility and an endowment to ensure its future?
Harnessing the energy
“Our program needs to be seen to understand the impact that it can have on a child,” explains Catherine Oppenheimer, artistic director and co-founder of NDI-NM. “Most people hear ‘dance in the schools,’ and their eyebrows raise up. The program is extremely powerful, and anyone who sees it in person feels it.”
Medora Jennings, NDI-NM board president at the time, agrees: “The dedication of the instructors, the concentration on the faces of these children — it all shows through as they’re performing. We knew if we could get a prospective donor to one of our dances — or take them to a class — then we had them.”
NDI-NM never had attempted a campaign anywhere near this size. And while it takes more creativity to get potential donors to an event than to get them to read a solicitation letter or even take a phone call, everyone knew the extra effort would be well worth it.
Over two years, NDI-NM created programs through which potential donors could become acquainted with its work and with the children who benefit from it.
How it worked
Key elements of the campaign included:
- “Take a Friend to Class,” where board members invited friends to watch practice sessions.
- A more involved version of “Take a Friend to Class,” where board members brought small groups of friends to the practices, then met at receptions afterwards to talk about the program.
Robert Hartsook, chairman and CEO of Hartsook Companies Inc., the consulting agency that worked with NDI-NM on the campaign, explains that the “Take A Friend to Class” projects encouraged people to talk about NDI-NM and its fundraising campaign, generating enthusiasm and creating a healthy buzz in the community, as well as expanding the network of potential contributors.
- “Hard Hat Tours,” where donor prospects put on hard hats for tours of the construction site that included in-depth information about the NDI-NM curriculum.
- A dance-a-thon that brought in less revenue but increased visibility for the campaign.
Each of the cultivation events included students who spoke about how NDI had affected their lives.
The campaign brought in $7.35 million dollars, which was used, in part, to build NDI-NM’s 31,000-square-foot facility. Obviously, the visual — a moving, stomping, tapping, singing, giggling visual — was the way to go.
“This whole organization is so involved and centered on the kids that I don’t believe it would ever consider a different approach,” Hartsook Vice President Madelyn Pons says. “This organization keeps its eye on its mission.
“NDI has an involved board and artistic director who knows the importance and value of having good, solid relationships in the community with people with the capacity to lend financial support,” she adds.
As for what NDI-NM learned in regard to fundraising, Oppenheimer says it’s OK to shoot for the stars, right from the start:
“The fundraising lesson [that we gleaned from this project] is to include your annual needs in the campaign total so you can ask your major supporters once for everything you need.”
