History

Established by the RI Legislature in 1979, the Rhode Island Junior College Foundation’s charge was to provide a means of securing external support for the College and its programs and services. While relatively passive during its first twenty years, the CCRI Foundation reinvented itself in 2000, holding a full day retreat to create a dynamic mission statement and an ambitious three-year strategic plan. With state funding heavily committed toward elementary/secondary education and the overall state budget severely constrained, the Foundation’s role in obtaining supplemental resources had become vital to the integrity of the College and its excellent career and transfer programs. The summer of 2001 brought the first development challenge to which the trustees responded admirably. The 13 year-old Dental Health Clinic at the Flanagan campus desperately needed a significant overhaul to maintain its accreditation and its cutting-edge stature in the dental community. It was clear that state funds would not be available to address this critical capital need and the foundation executive committee voted to approve a first ever campaign to raise $1 million. The goal was met within two years and the newly refurbished dental health clinic has maintained its stellar reputation as an education lab and community resource.

A second strategic planning retreat in 2003 led to an updated and more ambitious mission, identifying fundraising and raising community awareness as key foundation responsibilities. The opening of the Newport County Campus presented a second development opportunity. State funds were insufficient to outfit the new campus and the foundation approved a second campaign raising $1 million for high-tech software and hardware as well as cutting edge lab equipment for the campus. Within the first twelve months, the campaign steering committee secured leadership gifts from corporations and private foundations including the Champlin Foundations, the van Beuren Charitable Foundation, the Alletta Morris McBean Charitable Foundation, the Prince Family Trust, BankNewport, the Fred M. Roddy Foundation, Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, Stride Foundation, Amica Foundation, People’s Credit Union, NewportFed, Newport Daily News, Textron, Northrup-Grummon and McLaughlin and Moran Beverages. A second campaign phase sought an additional half a million dollars for library acquisitions, health center equipment, professional development programs, scholarships and specialized, high-tech equipment to serve students with disabilities. To date, the foundation has raised over $1.3 million in support of the Newport County Campus, including gifts from Bank of America, Newport Grand and second major gifts from the Alletta Morris McBean Charitable Foundation and the van Beuren Charitable Foundation.

In 2004, the RI Foundation provided a $5,000 planning grant to support the CCRI Foundation’s large-scale evaluation project, measuring internal and community perceptions of the Foundation’s effectiveness. The project sought to assess the CCRI Foundation’s perceived success in achieving its mission and the community’s support for future directions. During this six months project, independent consultants mailed 3,000 paper surveys, held focus groups with business leaders and alumni, and conducted one-on-one interviews with business and community leaders. The following outcomes provided the basis for discussion and direction at the June 23, 2005 Strategic Planning Retreat.

Mission & Strategic Plan 2005-2008»

RECOMMENDATIONS TO CCRI FOUNDATION

Discuss and identify ways to raise overall awareness of the CCRI Foundation.
Review the rough strategies and key messages from the research and evaluation process. Discuss how these strategies and messages will help raise positive awareness of CCRI, overcome old images, strengthen the Foundation’s fund raising initiatives, and help shape the brand.
Make necessary changes to gain approval of a set of rough strategies and key messages for further development by the Foundation.
Discuss what further assistance may to needed to establish a "look" and develop the brand.
Insure that all CCRI Foundation materials and communications reflect the strategies and key message. Find ways to brand the key messages for use and reuse at every occasion.
Make sure that communicators within the Foundation are trained in the strategies and message set, and that they know how to select the messages that are most relevant to their audience.
Begin to identify potential new leaders for CCRI Foundation, Committees, and/or campaigns using a profile model that highlights the desired traits, attributes, and other criteria for this leadership group. Develop a recruitment process and schedule.
Invite a select group of community leaders, including participants in the one-on-one interviews, to a follow up discussion of the research findings, the suggested strategies. Discuss how to help develop the key messages, a compelling case, and champions.
Form a joint Task Force of the Foundation and the Alumni Association to 1) identify ways to involve alumni in strategy development, PR/branding, and Board/Leadership development and 2) review the unmet needs of alumni for gatherings, benefits and recognition.
Use the evaluation process and planning input from other sources to establish the three-year goals of the CCRI Foundation.