When Janet Kroencke, Uni’s Director of Advancement, came into her role in January 2020, it was due time for Uni’s Century Celebration: a celebration of the century passed and centuries to come.
“[The Century Celebration was] our hundredth birthday, our hundredth year of being Uni,” says Kroencke. “We had about 35 alumni, faculty, students, parents, on a committee planning that big celebration that happened.”
Kroencke explains that whenever Uni hosts a party or gala, about 250 people out of the Uni community end up attending; however, at the Century Celebration, hosted in October 2021 at various campus locations, over 600 showed up.
“That was a huge accomplishment,” Kroencke says.
A year out from the Celebration, Kroencke led the planning of two other action items: a fundraiser in coordination with the University of Illinois’ “With Illinois” campaign, aiming for a “stretch goal” of 4 million dollars; and a fund established by an alum to support a salary enhancement for faculty.
“Faculty salaries at Uni are 34% less than what they are at other public high schools,” Kroencke says. “We’re all public high schools together in the same community. But because we’re at the University of Illinois, we don’t receive funding like property taxes. … So that cuts back on our faculty salaries.”
Eventually, Uni High Advancement generated a $1,000-to-$2,000 faculty salary enhancement and exceeded their 4-million-dollar fundraising goal just as the “With Illinois” campaign wrapped up.
“In so many ways, [the Century Celebration] being planned over three years built more engagement among our community,” Kroencke explains. “I think that event, that celebration, re-energized our community and it was like, ‘Okay, we’ve got momentum going into the next hundred years.’”
As Kroencke now leads Uni into the next 100 years, her focus is on fundraising, stewardship, and engagement.
Kroencke explains that stewardship involves taking care of donated funds as well as their donors.
For example, she’s generating an impact report of all Uni fundraising from fall 2022 — a “one-pager that shows the impact of giving” — and sending emails out to donors with videos of students thanking them for their donation.
“Donors that have given over ten years consistently, every month for all those years, we send them a thank you … We’re here today and we’re able to do these things [as a result]. We’re thriving,” Kroencke says.
Engagement involves holding outreach and alumni events. Kroencke explains that Advancement will periodically host events at alumni hotspots across the country, such as Chicago or Los Angeles.
“[In Chicago we] will try to do an event next fall and invite all Uni, like from the ‘70s all the way to today. Anybody that’s a Uni alum in that 60-mile radius of Chicago, we’re going to hold an event there.”
If alumni can’t attend in-person events, Kroencke gets them involved through Zoom, phone calls, or texts. “We do all of those things to help carry out the mission of the school,” she says.
As for fundraising, it takes about $3 million to run the school each year, says Kroencke. Of that, Advancement aims to fundraise $1.8 million.
“We often exceed that,” she adds.
As for the future, Kroencke has ideas on where she’d like to see Uni’s Advancement in the next few years: more equitable and competitive faculty salaries, a “level playing field” for students whose families may not be able to afford Uni fees or qualify for fee waivers comfortably, and a larger, more expansive Uni campus.
“I’d like to see those problems solved and in Advancement can do that over time,” she says.
One of the things Kroencke loves about Uni is its alumni. “What gets me excited in my role at Uni is seeing how much the alumni, and even parents and friends of the school, care about the school,” she says with a smile.
“[Our alumni] know how to give back to their community and support their community, but also do amazing things globally. … There’s just so much that Uni can do to help our surrounding community,” Kroencke adds. “I see that, and … I’m honored to be in this role.”
