St. Peter’s Preparatory School
Jersey City, New Jersey
www.stpetersprep.org 

First there was “Keys to the Future," then there was “Carpe Diem.” Two major capital campaigns were mounted less than five years apart at St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City, New Jersey. John Modzelewski, GSI Vice President, directed both campaigns at the Jesuit high school which, before the start of the "Keys" campaign, had never mounted a capital campaign.

Chaired by Kevin Collins, Prep graduate of the class of 1957, “Keys to the Future” raised $4.6 million on a goal of $4 million in support of a new library, weight room, infrastructure enhancements and endowment. Bolstered by the success of this first campaign initiative, Prep’s President, James F. Keenan, S.J., and, the Board of Trustees determined the time was right to once again “seize the moment” and challenge the school’s alumni and friends to step up with their generous support. And once again they did as “Carpe Diem,” chaired by Thomas Sullivan, Prep Class of 1953, raised close to $12 million on its stretch goal of $10 million.

James C. Horan, Vice President for Planning & Principal Giving at St. Peter’s saw both campaigns as the avenue to build a stronger culture of robust giving which will have impact long into the future. Testimony to this is that during the two campaigns, Prep’s annual fund outpaced expectations and surpassed the dollar targets set. “With more than 40% of our students on some form of tuition aid, we could not afford to lose ground with the annual fund while we aggressively campaigned for capital dollars. As the results show, we were not disappointed,” said Horan.