Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
August 22, 2001
Archdiocese initiates `School Development' program
Seeds of Hope director to head new fundraising office
Therese A. Polakovic, director of the Seeds of Hope Charitable Trust, assumed an additional role July 1 as director of the newly established School Development Program, a spokesman announced.
Concerns about rising costs, capital needs and teacher salary issues led to the creation of the program, which will help archdiocesan elementary and high schools implement their own individual fundraising plans, Polakovic said. Having seen a successful model of this program at work in Milwaukee earlier in the year, Polakovic said she is confident that Catholic schools can learn effective fundraising strategies that will gradually lead them to greater financial freedom.
"The School Development Program will serve as a `consultant' to the schools," Polakovic said. "Our main function will be to help them determine short and long-term needs and then tailor individualized plans to help meet those needs within a specific time frame.
"We will, in effect, `teach them to fish' when it comes to fundraising and development," she continued. "Development involves the full gamut of parental and alumni involvement, annual fund drives, fundraising events, donor cultivation, grant requests to foundations and corporations, and long-term capital needs."
Seeds of Hope Charitable Trust was established to assist economically disadvantaged children attend Catholic schools. According to Polakovic, the trust will remain a separate entity, with the primary focus of serving children in inner-city Catholic schools. Polakovic has acted as chief executive officer for Seeds of Hope for more than two years and has been instrumental in the phenomenal success the organization has enjoyed in its short five-year history. This past school year alone, $1.4 million was raised for tuition assistance and operating funds for disadvantaged students and inner-city and rural archdiocesan schools.
"I am eager to serve all of our schools in this same capacity," Polakovic said. "It will be helpful to have one person overseeing all fundraising activities and knowing the status of all the school development projects. I look forward to taking on new challenges and hopefully making a positive difference within the Catholic school community."
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