For this capital campaign to support the sustainability program of Darrow School, a private boarding & day school for grades 9 through 12, the utmost care was needed to strike a balance between emphasizing the school’s strengths and its fiscal needs, and preserving the institution’s Shaker past while looking toward the future. My job as the advancement copywriter was to create an 8-panel brochure to serve in place of a more formal statement, and to help potential donors understand the value of supporting Darrow’s forward-thinking sustainability efforts.

A variety of other press releases and collateral were created in support of this $10 million initiative, and I was honored to be part of the campaign, from writing letters on behalf of the Head of School to creating press releases, serving as a brochure copywriter, and finding ways to repurpose the material digitally.

This campaign won a 2012 Gold Award for Excellence in Fund-Raising Programs: Campaigns from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

Darrow School growing.greener

Securing the Future—Preserving the Past

For 80 years, Darrow School has changed the world by changing the lives of students, families, faculty, and friends, one talented individual at a time. Investments made now will pay dividends well into the future, ensuring that Darrow continues to stay at the leading edge of independent schools and creates the leaders of tomorrow.

Environmental Sustainability

At Darrow, we celebrate the Shaker legacy that is woven through the fabric of our school, and growing.greener embraces the ethic that “the most sustainable building is the one that is never built.” By updating existing buildings, these initiatives will increase energy efficiency and reduce our carbon footprint, protect and preserve historic character, and improve the way our physical spaces support people, program, and place.

Economic Sustainability

Financial stability is the foundation of any institution, and provides insurance against sudden and unexpected changes in fiscal circumstances. By increasing Darrow’s endowment, more efficiently allocating resources, and highlighting the school’s distinctive programs and diverse student body, we will ensure that Darrow continues to change the lives of students well into the future.

Human Sustainability

Upholding a standard of excellence in education requires a knowledgeable and dedicated staff with access to the latest techniques and technologies. Darrow cultivates world-class mentors who develop creative problem solvers, responsible global citizens, and inspired lifelong learners.

Growing

Building on a longstanding tradition of sustainable decision making, growing.greener will focus on projects that simultaneously address three guiding principles in a meaningful way. Darrow School seeks to invest in elements of its physical and academic environment that will preserve its mission and values while nurturing its evolution as a twenty-first-century school.

Greener

This initiative is designed to sustain the environmental, economic, and human resources of the Darrow School community. Rooted in the guiding Shaker principles of stewardship of natural resources, innovative problem solving, and purposeful work, the initiative is critical to ensuring Darrow’s path to a strong fiscal future, with a structurally sound, energy-efficient, historic campus, and offering improved quality of life and education for students and faculty.

growing.greener Projects

Now, more than ever, the support of friends like you can transform Darrow School by making the goals of growing.greener a reality. Your financial investment ensures that Darrow continues to fulfill its commitment to integrating human, environmental, and economic sustainability. You can secure our future while simultaneously preserving our rich past.

Conservation and Preservation $1,400,000

Goal: Conserve and preserve natural and physical resources to improve quality of life for faculty and students, while simultaneously reducing operating costs and our carbon footprint.

Transportation $270,000

Goal: Upgrade transportation, reducing per-mile costs, lessening environmental impact, and better meeting programmatic needs.

Program and Faculty $200,000

Goal: Enhance learning and teaching through curriculum development, faculty support, improved technology, and ongoing attention to the student experience.

Marketing $130,000

Goal: Develop marketing tools and materials that will strengthen branding and recruitment strategies to meet enrollment goals, attract quality educators, and engage alumni and others with the school.

Endowment $500,000

Goal: Increase the endowment fund to ensure financial sustainability and allow for consistent reinvestment in environmental and human resources.

Total investment: $2,500,000

Make your gift to the growing.greener initiative by contacting the Advancement Office at 518-794-6007.

“The growing.greener initiative will have an immediate impact on Darrow. By partnering with us, you will not only honor our Shaker legacy, but also teach future generations of Darrow students to create and implement fresh approaches to sustainability efforts. Darrow School is growing, and its future has never looked brighter.”

—John Gratiot ’68, Board of Trustees Chair and Chair of growing.greener