AgendaJanuary 30, 2010

3:00 Welcome and Silence3:10 Overview of the Project

3:45 Student Programs4:00 Funding Development4:15 Community Partners4:30 Outreach & Events4:45 Wrap-up & Next Steps

Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.

~Henry Ford

Connecticut Friends School needs to expand its facilities to accommodate demand from parents and students

• CFS enjoys enthusiastic support from parents, parents of alumni, students and the Quaker community.

• Demand for places in the school has remained strong and there is consistent evidence it will only get better.

• Initiatives for increasing fundraising have been studied and are being developed.• CFS reputation, already strong, will markedly improve as a result of new facilities.• We are ready to work with our financial partners to rapidly execute the vision for our school.

Necessary Expansion

Signs of Success

Connecticut Friends School has:• Grown despite size limitations from current facilities • Demonstrated ability to attract students

– Increasing enrollments– A wait list of student applicants

• A dedicated core of supporters, both within the Quaker community and outside of it

• An effective administration with proven ability to expand enrollments under current economic conditions

Site Map: 440 Newtown Avenue

The move from the old facility has no material impact on student travel distances.

• CFS’s new location at 440 Newtown Avenue is six miles from the current location at 317 New Canaan Road, Wilton.

• For students drawn from (primarily) New Canaan, Norwalk, Ridgefield and Westport, the average weighted commute distance (measured from city border) actually shrinks by 2.3 miles.

CFS Plan Sep 09 1 0 -7--7-

The Perfect Location

The Perfect Location

History of the White Barn Property

• It was the summer home of Lucille Lortel and the 148-seat White Barn Theatre for nearly 50 years

• The theatre featured legendary and up-and-coming playwrights,directors and actors

• Lucille Lortel died in 1999 and Theatre closed in 2002

• By 2006, a real estate developer purchased the land with plans to tear down the theatre and develop the property with luxury homes

• CFS joined with other groups to preserve the theatre through a monumental effort of local collaboration

• Engaged stakeholder groups including neighbors,The Norwalk Land Trust, elected officials, and the previous property owner

• Coordinated stakeholders’ agreements to place 5.2 acres in a conservation easement

Stakeholder Engagement

Breakdown of Funding to Date

• Held a design charrette involving expert green designers, parents and community members

• Evaluated the existing structures and the costs and benefits of renovating and/or building

Design Process

The Winged Building

• Improved classrooms, teacher workrooms, and gathering spaces• A “living classroom” of gardens,woods, and wetlands• Nature trails with educational signs• An organic edible garden• A revitalized theater and stage• Studio art spaces• State-of-the-art sustainable building and landscape design including:

Adaptive reuse Recycled materials Energy-efficient design Water conservation Native plantings Habitat conservation

Expanded facilities will include:

Experienced planners have refined a detailed building plan by• CFS has architectural plans and drawing to the level required for zoning applications

and approval.• The new building will cost $2.5M to complete and place into service. Additional site

work will total $0.7M.• The architectural firm, James G. Rogers, AIA, is well experienced in school design,

having done twenty one schools in the Fairfield County/Westchester County area, e.g. Greenwich Academy and New Canaan Country School.

• Usable floor space will jump from 5,600 sq. ft. to 8,250 sq. ft. The new space will be both more appealing to prospective students and faculty, and will open up the opportunity for outdoors programming and improved class configuration.

-16--16-

Planning Building Design

Upper level floor plan

Main level floor plan

Basement level floor plan

Zoning approvals are on schedule

• CFS has obtained approval for long term site plan and has secured a special permit to operate a school on the White Barn property.

• The new construction building, renovation and conversion design for the existing theatre building have been approved as conforming, including a variance by the City of Norwalk Zoning Board of Appeals.

• Remarkable support by zoning authorities reflect the unique and treasured nature of this historic building and property.

Student Programs

7th and 8th Graders built a nature

trail from scratch through part of the property

Past Programs

5th and 6th Graders researched,wrote and published a

tree guide for the property

Past Programs

Expanded programs will includeFuture Programs

• A stewardship curriculum including ecological studies and restoration

• A shovel-to-fork nutrition curriculum• A student- run waste reduction, recycling and composting

program• Thematic after school programs• A sustainability and arts summer camp• A nature-based Friends Preschool• Year-round holistic parenting classes

Funding Development

Overall funding requirements for new facility:

-26--26-

Remaining cost of site $4M

Renovate/convert theater building to classroom space

$2.5M

For site work $700K

Other campus improvements $800K

TOTAL $8 million

Funding Requirements

CFS has enjoyed a robust growth over its twelve year history

• Founded in 1998 under the care of the Wilton Monthly Meeting (Quaker), which has existed since 1947, the school has experienced 25% CAGR for over a decade. It now has 58 students and six teachers.

• Along with enrollment, tuition revenues have grown to $1,149,173 for 2009, up 3.4% from 2008 despite a less than robust economy.

• To accommodate this growth, CFS has had to increase its classroom space, from less than 250 square feet to about 5,600 square feet, including space “borrowed” from the Wilton Monthly Meeting.

• Additional facilities space is needed to accommodate demand.

-27-

Success

-28--28-

Donors• Donations to CFS in 2008 totaled $244,061 largely due to the Parents Association• Institution donors include

– Seeds of Peace – Children of Iraqi War Veterans– Newman’s Own Foundation– The Barker Foundation– The Snave Foundation – Shattuck -Family Foundation– City of Norwalk– CT Department of Environmental Protection– Pfizer foundation– Alex G. Nason Foundation– Jane Hope Hastings Philanthropic Trust

• Currently CFS has three part-time and volunteer staff managing a donor database. This is in addition to CFS Co-Head and Trustee efforts.

CFS has completed a fundraising plan with assistance from a leading consultant

• CFS engaged Changing Our World, a leading philanthropic consulting firm, and a division of Omnicom Group, to assess and strategize fund raising for the school.

• The study outlined our strategy of leveraging a core group of supporters and parents to network and cultivate like-minded high net worth individuals.

• More recently, we have developed the following funding pyramid and funding timeline that was approved at the most recent CFS Board Meeting

-29--29-

Fundraising Plan

$0

$100,000

$200,000

$300,000

$400,000

$500,000

$600,000

$700,000

Mar-10Apr-10May-10Jun-10Jul-10Aug-10Sep-10Oct-10Nov-10Dec-10Jan-11Feb-11Mar-11Apr-11

Architect Contractor Sitework Legal/Other

Timeline of expenditures

5-year Capital Campaign Pyramid

Prospects # of Gifts Totals

2

2

2

5

8

10

10

$2M

$1M

$.5M

$.5M

$.4M

$.25M

$.15M

4

4

4

10

16

20

20

Assumption:1) 2 prospects for each gift.

78+ 39+ $5M

TOTALS$.2M

Community Partners

Partnering with Norwalk Community College and NEON (Norwalk Economic Opportunity Now)

Labor costs are offset by work-to-learn participants (students) in a green jobs training program that is funded through Federal grants

Example of a Joint Funding Effort

Guided tours to educate and inspire

Film screenings and performances, lectures and workshops

Green-jobs training Studio/rehearsal space for artists

Space rental for classes & events

Examples of Complementary Uses

Outreach & Events

Four different audiences: • CFS parents• Broader CFS community (past families, quakers, etc)• Prospective parents • General public.Current vehicles for outreach/communications: • Website (including News and Events tab) and WB Page • Pine Needles• WB Brochure• WB e-Newsletter• Press Releases

Outreach

• Meta tags to every page of our website to increase its visibility on search engines• Running media promos through the year on local NPR radio station WSHU and local newspapers. • Making contact, one by one, with area “influentials,” including the director of a tutoring company, a

play therapist, (both of whom agreed to visit CFS) and nursery school directors. Have continued this outreach on an ongoing basis.

• Great success in getting press coverage of unusual events CFS hosts (International Day of Peace, Tibetan Buddhist Monks sand mandala,) or class initiatives (Pines releasing salmon fry into the Connecticut River, Oaks 1 singing at a civic ceremony in Westport).

• Working to increase profile of co-heads as experts in the field, charismatic leaders, etc. through booking them as speakers (Moms Club of Stamford, Holistic Moms of Fairfield County), publishing articles in periodicals (national and regional).

-37-

Detailed Outreach Strategies

 How do we increase awareness of the White Barn Project in

the broader CFS community AND general population?Example:

Bridging Events such as : A walk-a-thon - partnering with other organization(s) to raise $$, end walk at WBC, bringing new community members onto campus with end

celebration, press, etc. Any other ideas??

White Barn Outreach Strategies…

Next Steps

What you can do:• Help spread the word• Join a committee• Make a 5-year pledge• Help us to identify possible supporters

Next Steps

Steps before CFS can break ground: • Raise $180K for construction drawings• Get Bids form builders• Secure loan for development costs• Secure pledges

• "Theatre Researcher""Theatre Researcher" needed to gather information about actors, playwrights, directors, patrons and stage hands who were connected with the White Barn Theatre during its 50+ year history.  

• Researcher will share this information with CFS Development staff (starting with Stacey) so we can cultivate relationships with appropriate parties with an eye not only to capturing the rich history of the theatre but also of locating potential financial supporters of the theatre renovation.

Volunteers Needed

• Grant Researchers/WritersGrant Researchers/Writers 4-8 volunteers needed • Development Staff (Stacey) will train these volunteers

to do specific, in-depth research through foundation center online and other foundation search organizations (ct philanthropy, etc)

• Goal to have 5-10 good quality prospects per quarter• Relationship building with prospects to be localized at

CFS with Development staff, but volunteers will bring prospects, with all related/required information, to staff for review

Volunteers Needed

Our Mission

CFS seeks to create an environment that challenges and enables

students, teachers, and others in the community to realize their

intellectual, physical, emotional and spiritual potential.

CFS works to prepare its students to live effective and fulfilling lives, guided by the Quaker

principles of Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality and

Stewardship.

In an ever-changing world, Connecticut Friends School teaches that true

peace of mind springs from a sense of competence, confidence and

living in alignment with the soul’s purpose.