Thursday, November 2, 2000 Older Editions

Seniors hire fundraising leaders

By Rebecca Piro

Before long, professional fundraisers Butcher, Nolan & Briggs will move into their new office space at the current senior center.

But the Amesbury, Mass. organization is not just relocating, it's moving in with seniors to help relaunch the fundraising efforts that seniors hope will turn Will Hall into the town's next senior center.

The organization was hired this week to steer the seniors closer to reaching their $4.2 million goal to renovate Phillips Academy's Will Hall, says Doreen Correnti, president of the volunteer Friends of Andover Seniors fundraising group.

Some fresh ideas and new strategies from Butcher, Nolan & Briggs might again jump-start the seniors' efforts, says Wayne Loosigian, fundraiser search committee member.

A professional fundraiser himself for Phillips Exeter in New Hampshire, Loosigian says the three members of this organization - Janet Nolan, Jim Butcher and Eric Briggs - give him hope that the remaining $3.3 million can still be raised before July 2001, in accordance with the seniors' lease with Phillips Academy, which owns Will Hall.

"I think it is (feasible)," says Loosigian. "I wouldn't have said that a month ago, but now I'm feeling good that we have this organization on board."

Though seniors announced the kickoff of their campaign almost four years ago, only about $900,000 has been raised since then, including $500,000 given by Town Meeting to "jump start" the fundraising.

The difference this time, says Loosigian, is that Butcher, Nolan & Briggs is an experienced, professional fundraiser.

"You need to have a professional fundraiser to have a campaign of this magnitude work," he says. "The biggest difference is that Janet Nolan is going to be hands-on. She will have an office in the senior center." The Friends "will still be key to the success, but now you have someone who knows how to raise money and will literally be holding their hand as they do it," Loosigian adds.

A representative from Butcher, Nolan & Briggs declined to comment.

Now that Butcher, Nolan & Briggs is on board, the first step is to straighten out the financial records, says Loosigian. The seniors were granted $500,000 by the town in 1996 as seed money for the project. Since then, seniors have received small donations here and there.

"The first thing is to go back and see what has been done... just to understand what's happened to date and get the records straight," says Loosigian.

He predicts the biggest donors to the campaign will come in six and seven digit donations.

One of the challenges facing the three fundraisers may be the youth center, if voters support the $4.5 million proposal for a building in West Andover this November.

If the land article is passed, Andover Youth Foundation members will be out in full force starting this winter recruiting donors for their cause, says Loosigian. Therefore, he hopes that seniors can get their fundraising completed as quickly as possible, so as not to compete with the youth.

"It's my hope that we're able to complete our efforts with the senior center so we're not bumping heads with the effort for a youth center," Loosigian says.

Though the Amesbury fundraising organization was one of the only real possibilities the search committee considered, its record of success at other ventures - including multiple community centers - makes them a good choice, says Loosigian.