By Example: The Campaign for Culver has officially come to an end.  It will be remembered as the most successful campaign in the 115-year history of Culver Academies, raising more than $376 million to support the school.

John N. Buxton, Head of Schools at Culver Academies, said, “This has been an extraordinary year for Culver, due principally to the unparalleled generosity of Frank and Jane Batten and extraordinary efforts by the school’s alumni, parents, friends, students, faculty and staff to meet the Batten Leadership Challenge, close out our By Example Campaign with a flourish, and prepare for Culver’s promising future.  In the past year and a half, we have nearly doubled the size of our endowment.  The success of By Example: The Campaign for Culver is a truly remarkable achievement, one shared by the entire Culver family: our trustees, our alumni, our faculty, our staff, our students, and everyone who cares about the future of Culver Academies.”

Not only is the By Example Campaign one of the most incredible accomplishments in Culver’s history, it is also the most successful fundraising campaign in the history of American secondary education.  This marks the second time in its history that Culver Academies has set such a bar:  the “Choices for Culver” campaign in the 1980s raised more than $60 million, then a record total for secondary schools.

The quiet phase of the By Example Campaign began in 2002.  The campaign was publicly launched in 2004 with an announced goal of $200 million, which was later raised to $300 million in the fall of 2007 by The Culver Educational Foundation Board of Trustees.  

The By Example Campaign has raised $376.2 million:  $202 million for endowment, $53.6 million to support the Annual Fund, $30.2 million for construction and renovation, $8.1 million for purposes to be donor determined later, and $82.4 million in deferred gifts.

One of the most important goals of the campaign was to increase the size of the school’s endowment.  Today, thanks to the success of the By Example: The Campaign for Culver and the Batten Leadership Challenge, the value of Culver’s endowment is estimated at $285 million – an increase of over $180 million. 

The Culver Educational Foundation Board of Trustees truly led by example in this campaign.  Former and current trustees committed over $269 million (over 71% of the total dollars raised)!  Board support at this level is unprecedented.  Much of the credit for this campaign’s success goes to the new Chairman Emeritus of the CEF Board of Trustees, James A. Henderson W’47, ’52, who provided superb fund raising expertise and total dedication to this effort.  Culver owes an extreme debt of gratitude to Jim Henderson for all of his support, not just in this campaign.  He also wisely selected a fantastic Chairman for the By Example Campaign. 

 “I was confident of achieving the original campaign goal (of $200 million) but I didn’t dream we would exceed it in the way we did,” said Miles D. White ’73, chair of the By Example Campaign since its beginning, and recently named the chair of The Culver Educational Foundation’s Board of Trustees.  “The success of the By Example Campaign, especially its impact on the school’s endowment, has put a solid foundation under us and will sustain what we’re doing.  Just as important, the campaign has reconnected the school’s alumni with the future of Culver.”

Learn more about the By Example Campaign and its impact on Culver Academies by viewing the Campaign summary .