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June 9, 2000/6 Sivan I 5760, Vol. 52, No.40
Campus drive shifts to high gear
BARRY COHEN
Community Editor
The Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix hopes to close the fundraising gap for the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus by January 2001.
The Jewish Community Campus capital campaign is focusing on reaching potential contributors through telemarketing, direct mail, one-on-one conversations and e-mail. Parlor meetings are being scheduled for small groups of prospects for gifts of over $5,000.
"Our goal is to close the gap and raise the money before we break ground," said Ron Bookbinder, chairman of the campus task force. "We made a commitment to the community that we will not build the community campus with debt."
In order to open the campus at its 30-acre site at Scottsdale Road and Sweetwater Avenue in Scottsdale by spring or fall 2002, groundbreaking will need to take place in January 2001, said Fred Zeid-man, federation assistant executive director. Campaign leaders intend to raise $25 million by that time, according to Zeidman.
Since fund raising began in March 1999, individuals have pledged $17 million, said Art Paikowsky, federation executive vice president, leaving an additional $8 million to be raised.
Lanny Lahr, capital campaign chairman, explained that "in theory" $2.5 million of that sum has already been raised. He said the future sale of land at 40th Street and Shea Boulevard in Phoenix, which originally was purchased for the campus; plus the federation's current building at 32 W. Coolidge in Phoenix, will yield approximately $2 million. And when pledges total $24.5 million, Harold and Jean Grossman, who have already made a sizeable gift, have agreed to give the final $500,000, Lahr said.
In the past month, campaign leaders have sent over 1,000 direct-mailing solicitations and e-mails, said Zeidman. They have collected prospects' names from lists of previous contributors and by word of mouth.
"We always need more names," Lahr said. "I don't even think we've scratched the surface."
Lahr said that some contributors are also hosting parlor meetings for individuals not on federation giving lists.
"This is not the usual suspects," Lahr said. "We have made a broad-based appeal to the entire Jewish community."
Pamela Stern, director of the campus capital campaign, said the fund raising is serving also to create a rallying point for the Jewish community. She hopes people will not only make a financial contribution, but will invest their time and energy.
Paikowsky said a "symbiosis" exists between the current grassroots efforts and major contributors. Before the land was donated in the summer of 1999 and use permits sought, he explained, "many (in the community) were standing on the sidelines. Now they know we have a fight on our hands."
Bookbinder said, "Jewish people keep coming out of the woodwork." He said he has had calls from many community members saying they don't want to be left out.
In addition to the current campaign efforts, Lahr said the capital campaign committee has scheduled a communitywide fund-raising event for Sept. 12 that will include a showing of the film "The Hank Greenberg Story."
When the campus is complete, the names of contributors of $1,000 to $25,000 and over will be displayed on a "Wall of Honor" at the new facility, Stern said in an e-mail.
Campaign leaders are also reaching out to the Sweetwater-Scottsdale neighborhood to build community relations. Zeidman said that monthly newsletters explaining the progress of the capital campaign and plans for the campus will be sent to neighborhood residents and campaign contributors.
The current capital campaign will raise money for "Phase I" of the community campus, which includes the building, parking lot and a playing field. A "Phase II" campaign, to build day-school and high-school facilities and a baseball field, will begin at a later date.
Langdon Wilson Architect Planners, which renovated the Heard Museum and designed Scottsdale City Hall, is designing the community campus. The contractor is DL Withers Construction.
Zeidman said that a model for the campus will be available for public viewing by July 24.
Lahr expressed confidence that the fund-raising goal will be reached by year's end. "In almost every way, people have been responding phenomenally," he said.
"We have an aura of confidence now," Paikowsky said, adding that campaign leaders and contributors are no longer viewing Phoenix as a second-rate Jewish community.
The current campaign deadline is open-ended. Its completion date "is up to the community," Stern said. "When the community (has made sufficient) pledges, that's when the campaign will end."
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