St. Joseph to launch Community Partnership Program in May

St Joseph School will be launching its second year of the Community Partnership Program (CPP) this May.  

The CPP is a mutually-beneficial fundraising campaign designed to give local businesses the opportunity to support St Joseph School financially, while St. Joseph, in turn, promotes the businesses to the community. The program includes a large range of partnership levels offering different avenues of promotion for the business.  

The CPP was started last year by Joan Granholm, president of the development advisory board for St Joseph School.Granholm realized that there was a desire to find untapped fundraising resources within the community and a need to alleviate duplication of fundraising efforts among current business partners.

“We looked at a lot of different programs offered at schools locally and nationally – many of which seemed to be successful – for ideas and examples,” said Granholm. “We knew our annual bazaar had a sponsorship program in place and used that as a guide to build the CPP program and incorporate a wide range of flexibility for our partners.”

The program enjoyed relative success in its first year. Approximately 80 packets were mailed to local businesses, 41 of which chose to partner with the school. Christy Trantina, chair for the 2014-2015 campaign, said they were very pleased with the initial response. They hope to double that number in the second year.

“We feel the concept was well-received by business owners who will benefit from multiple avenues of advertisement, and limited requests throughout the year for additional donations,” said Trantina. “Learning as we go, we have made some adjustments to the program and hope to expand for the upcoming school year.”

Jason Covington with Covington Properties chose to participate in the program last year and enjoyed the benefits the program had to offer. “Covington Companies has done business with St. Joseph and their alumni for many years, and we are glad to give back through their Community Partnership Program,” said Covington. “At the same time, our business is being recognized and promoted through our logo being displayed and mentioned at various school events.”

For more information on the CPP or how a business can participate, please contact Nicole Rappold, St. Joseph School Developmental Director, at 501.339.6164 or [email protected].