120. Advancing Freedom Through Education: How Libertas Academy Grew from $78K to $355K

Summary

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Fundraising Masterminds Podcast Episode 120

Advancing Freedom Through Education: How Libertas Academy Grew from $78K to $355K
Date: April 15, 2026
Host(s): Jason Galasinski (A), Jim Dempsey (C)
Guest: Jenna Salazar (B), Treasurer of Libertas Academy

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the transformative fundraising journey of Libertas Academy, a rural Christian school in Northern California. The hosts, Jason and Jim, connect with Jenna Salazar to discuss not only the phenomenal leap in the school’s fundraising—from $78,000 to $355,000—but also the challenges and strategies integral to achieving this success. The conversation spotlights the shift from traditional fundraising galas to the "Perfect Vision Dinner" model and how recalibrating their approach enfranchised both their internal team and the wider community.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Challenges of Funding Christian Schools

• Many Christian schools rely almost exclusively on tuition, barely covering operating costs, leaving little room for enhancements or new programs.
• Libertas Academy experienced this firsthand, with their previous fundraising galas generating unpredictable and insufficient support.
• Jenna described the emotional and operational stress—"the same people that were attending, and there was... If these three families would come, we would know we would have a good year. If they were out of town that weekend, we were not going to have a good year." (11:39)
• The name transition from Christian Family Learning Center to Libertas Academy, combined with Covid-era challenges, left the school grappling with brand confusion and community disconnect. (09:07)

2. The Turning Point: Discovering the Perfect Vision Dinner

• During a pivotal board meeting, a new member suggested the Fundraising Masterminds podcast and introduced the "Perfect Vision Dinner" concept. This proposed moving away from galas and auctions to an event focused squarely on sharing the school’s vision and engaging the community at a deeper level. (15:48)
• Jenna recalls: "We left that board meeting... I brought up a podcast on my phone. I was listening to it on the way home and I was texting Jennifer... you need to hear this." (15:53)
• The team’s initial apprehension was mitigated by faith and a commitment to "follow the recipe" provided by Fundraising Masterminds. (20:06)

3. Overcoming Obstacles: Faith, Teamwork, and Adaptation

• Skepticism surrounded the no-ticket, no-auction model—removing upfront guarantees for covering costs was a major leap of faith.
• Jenna: "Not charging for tickets... that was ultimately a huge leap of faith... Because at least with tickets, the mentality is at least, you know, your expense is going to be covered." (21:04)
• A donor underwrote the mentorship/workshop fee, reflecting the school’s willingness to invest in long-term solutions. (17:06)
• The analogy of "following the recipe" vs. improvising underscored the discipline required to execute the new model. (20:06, 22:04)

4. Execution: Vision Dinner in a Rural Setting

• Libertas faced logistical challenges due to their rural setting— the largest town has 4,200 people, with others as small as 700.
• With limited venue options, the dinner was held at a local winery, split over two nights to accommodate 300 guests. (23:33, 24:35)
• Involving students as dinner servers became a highlight, reinforcing the school’s mission and community ethos. The school’s head cried upon seeing the event’s execution. (25:44)
• The dinner showcased the school’s vision, excellence, and spiritual focus, deeply affecting both the community and internal stakeholders.

5. Results: Transformative Impact

• Fundraising outcome: Net of $43,000 with the last gala; first Vision Dinner netted $355,000. (12:24, 27:03)
• Jenna recounts: "...we just were following the steps... it was $355,000 or $354,000 and some change. And I was shocked." (27:56)
• The dinner not only filled the tuition gap but also empowered additional projects:
  • Accredited with Society for Classical Learning
  • Launched Leadership Libertas, connecting students with local leaders
  • Built a new obstacle course for the robust PE program (35:09)

6. Cultivating Widespread Community Support

• The Vision Dinner broke past the traditional donor base, attracting support from individuals with no direct ties to the school.
• Powerful story: A couple with no prior connection gave because they wished an education like Libertas existed for their own children, seeing themselves as partners in a broader Christian cause. (39:31–40:50)
• Jenna: "...what really matters is that we have Christian, solid, biblical, you know, Bible believing, God fearing Christians that are out taking those leadership roles." (40:48)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Changing the Fundraising Model
  "The core team... we committed to each other that we're doing this out of faith. We know what we've been doing isn't meeting the needs... We're going to follow the recipe."
  — Jenna (19:54)

• On Community Response
  "Having our students being able to participate was really impactful. And when our head of school came into the building... she actually started crying. She was so proud of our school."
  — Jenna (25:44)

• On the Power of Vision
  "When you present an actual plan before people, it's almost like putting a glass of water in front of someone who's thirsty, who's been in a desert. They're like, finally someone is going to do something."
  — Jason (38:42)

• On the Importance of Christian Education
  "Classical Christian education isn't about conveying information. It's about formation. It's about forming students in the character of Christ for his kingdom for eternity."
  — Libertas staff/testimony (07:07)

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Key Timestamps

• 03:07 — Overview of Libertas Academy’s mission and legacy
• 08:27 — Jenna joins; background on pre-Vision Dinner struggles
• 12:24 — Fundraising results from old galas
• 15:48 — Discovery of Fundraising Masterminds & Perfect Vision Dinner
• 19:54 — Committing to the new model and “following the recipe”
• 21:03 — Concerns about eliminating ticket sales and auctions
• 23:16–24:35 — Overcoming rural logistics, selecting the venue
• 27:03–28:43 — Counting the night’s donations; netting $355K
• 31:49 — Accelerators (accreditation, leadership, obstacle course)
• 35:36 — Community’s enthusiastic response and new donor base
• 39:31–40:50 — Testimony of donors with no previous ties to the school

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Conclusion

This heartfelt, practical episode is a blueprint for rural and small-scale Christian schools—or any nonprofit—yearning to break out of the traditional fundraising cycle. The Libertas Academy story demonstrates that with courage, shared vision, and the right strategic mentorship, a school can move from survival mode to thriving, catalyzing not just its operations but its capacity to shape the culture for generations to come.

For more information on Libertas Academy or to support their mission:
Visit libertasacademy.org

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Transcript

[A]

You're listening to the number one podcast for nonprofit leaders getting your nonprofit fully funded. This is the Fundraising Masterminds podcast. This is the state of the direction of our culture. And the solution to that is raising up a new generation of children that are going to go a different way. And we're going to lead the charge in that when you present an actual plan before people, they're like, finally someone is going to do something.

[B]

That's what I love about this. It's not just supporting one organization. It's supporting the role that they're playing in the bigger scheme of things. Because what really matters is that we have Christian, solid, biblical, you know, Bible believing, God fearing Christians that are out taking those leadership roles.

[C]

Right.

[A]

Welcome back to this episode of the Fundraising Masterminds Podcast. My name is Jason Galasinski and with me, my co host, Jim Dempsey.

[C]

Hey, Jason.

[A]

How are you today, Jim?

[C]

Oh, it's great. Beautiful day today in April.

[A]

We have an exciting episode lined up for our audience today. We're going to be talking about advancing freedom through education, how Libertas Academy grew from $78,000 to $355,000.

[C]

Well, this is an exciting episode for me. I know, especially because classical education is important and private schools are a big market and a big segment of the ministries that we help. And so I'm really excited. I think our guest today is going to represent well the, the Christian audience. And I especially like a little bit that this school that we're going to be talking about today comes from a very rural area.

[A]

No. And we've been working with a lot of Christian schools recently. Right. And we're going to be bringing on a special guest in just a little bit who was part of a Christian school in a rural community who actually took our program and did well. But we don't want to just talk about our programs and how they work for Christian schools. We actually want to talk about a strategy that is kind of booming right now. It's kind of starting to take off in the Christian school community about, you know, how to close the tuition gap or how to get funding for your school from the broader community. Right. Because a lot of Christian schools tend to focus in on just paying the bills through tuition. Right, right. And but then there's there a lot of times it barely, you know, pays the bills, you know, or like, or you're able to make payroll, but you're not able to do a whole lot more beyond that. And so we're gonna talk about how you can get beyond the basic operations and how you can actually build a thriving Christian school where you can have that great music program, you can have that science lab or that really great gym or whatever it is that you're dreaming about. It is achievable if you implement this strategy that we're gonna talk about today. So before we bring on our special guest, I'd love to learn a little bit more about the Libertas Academy in Northern California. So why don't we run this quick 3min and we'll come back in just a sec.

[C]

Sounds great.

[D]

So at Libertas Academy, we are just absolutely thrilled that we have had 35 years of excellent education serving Calaveras county, even Tuolumne, Amador County. What I love about it is it has survived the test of time. We've made it through all sorts of things because God is doing a great work here.

[B]

If I were speaking to a prospective family about attending Libertas or giving it a try one, I would say you have to come and see it with your own eyes. You have to. It's just. It's amazing. It's filled with God's love here, the peace I feel here. I don't know any better place to send a child that you want to thrive. Truly, I'm very passionate about that.

[A]

Yeah. Whenever I meet another parent that goes to the rotas, there's like an instant connection.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And it's like, oh, we have the same core beliefs. Absolutely. We want the best for our kids. I already like you, you know, that kind of thing.

[E]

Kindergarten is so conducive to classical education because we deal with themes in kindergarten all the time. Our science, our poetry, our books are all tied together. So the children are learning how to read using poem of the week, the Bible verse, the patriotic song. So the content that they're learning to read with is rich. Now, of course, we're still teaching phonics skills and sight words, but this just enhances it.

[F]

Working with such a broad age group from TK to high school and pe, it really is a joy. In the middle of the day, we kind of have to do this shift from older kids to younger kids. And it's really a delight because the younger kids, they make you laugh, they make you smile, they're full of energy. And with them, you know, we really just want to get them moving and working on sort of those manipulative and locomotive skills with the older kids. They're excited to be out there with each other. And I think the challenge with them is making sure that they're also Excited to then go push themselves and maybe feel a little discomfort in the workouts.

[A]

And that's good from the get go, like this is where we want to go. Please can we go? We went and did the interview and then it was like every week after the interview, like, did we get in, did we get in, did we get in? And then finally, boom, we got in. We were just like dancing in the kitchen, happy.

[E]

I think parents are bringing their children to Libertas because they want more for them. Small numbers of course, but the Christian atmosphere, every single subject is steeped in a biblical worldview. So I think that's what they're looking for. And then just the, the whole family feel we have here. Everybody knows each other. The kids are out together all the time in the different grades, the worship service starting our week and ending our week. I think they're just looking for that togetherness and family.

[D]

I have to say that Libertas is more than a school. We are a beacon. We're a beacon in a crazy culture. We're a beacon in a chaotic world. We're an outpost for your students to come to learn, to grow, to stretch, to dream. We believe Libertas is a calling and we're just so thankful for the families, for the partners that choose this calling with us.

[B]

So I would just say for either new families wanting to send their children here to Libertas or if you're a partner who's looking to help invest in Christian education options, Libertas really does come alongside the family and support you in that endeavor. And we always talk about that three legged stool of partnering with the family and the church and the school and how that all together works to support that child.

[A]

I say don't hesitate. I mean, you can't put a price on your children's mind and hearts and that foundation is key to their success in the future. And we have no regrets. It's the best investment we ever made.

[B]

Yep. And it's the responsibility we take on as parents. I mean, you're going to choose to be a parent. You should be investing in your kids. And what better way than to have them here? Classical Christian education isn't about conveying information. It's about formation. It's about forming students in the character of Christ for his kingdom for eternity. We're raising tomorrow's leaders and we're wanting them to be able to articulate their thoughts and ideals and be founded in truth and be able to think critically. That's what matters.

[D]

Here at Libertas Academy, we are committed to being the standard of excellence in classical Christian education for the glory of God and the blessing of our students.

[C]

Well, that was pretty neat, Jason.

[A]

I love it.

[C]

What a great story.

[A]

Shepherding the hearts and minds of young people.

[C]

Absolutely.

[A]

It seems like that would be a good solution to our culture's problem.

[C]

I think so. Yeah. We need some improvement as well.

[A]

I really love investing in the hearts of young people. It's really encouraging. Well, I want to introduce our guest. Our guest comes to us from Northern California. She is the treasurer of Libertas Academy. Jenna, welcome to the program.

[B]

Thank you for having me.

[A]

Yeah. Well, you guys started your fundraising masterminds journey not too long ago, right? It was like six months ago, maybe eight months. Has it been?

[B]

October of 2024 is when we heard about fundraising masterminds and this thing called A Perfect Vision Dinner.

[A]

Yeah. I would love to hear where you were at before you heard about fundraising masterminds. Kind of describe to us what the school was like, some of the struggles that you were having, some of the fundraising challenges you were having. Just kind of paint the picture of what life was like before you did the Perfect Vision Dinner.

[B]

Well, the school actually started 34 years ago.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

But under the name Christian Family Learning Center. And it was a traditional TK through 8. And then in 2019, they wanted to add a high school. And so they want. They said that if we're going to have a high school, the only thing that makes sense is classical. And so we started that journey. They started this, the high school, and they called it Libertas Academy. And it was a little bit separate at that time from the lower grades. And then they decided, this is great. We are just going to move everything toward classical. And so this melding began. But people knew us as cflc. And so we had not only transitioning to classical, but then you throw in Covid years and this anonymity of a name change. Then it was, are we Libertas? Are we cflc? And there was a lot of all of that going in once we kind of. The COVID bubble burst and things were settling back down. So when we're coming into the last couple of years, you know, we're catching our breath from that ride. And then we are. We were doing annual galas. That was our main fundraiser enough in the spring, and there were beautiful events. Very, very beautif.

[A]

Have you always done annual galas, or was that something that started recently?

[B]

It was I. Before my time that they had started. I believe we had had about three or four. And then before that it used to be sponsors dinners. And so it was just. We had individual donors and they would just go take them to dinner and treat them and kind of let them know what was going on at the school. But then we're getting a funding gap. And we started, you know, as the schools, I call it, growing up. Even though we've been around 34 years, as we're kind of growing and solidifying in who we are, we needed to raise a little more funds. And they converted to the gala model with an auction and entertainment, and there were beautiful events.

[A]

Where did they hear about that gala? Who decided, like, wow, we should do a gala instead of selling cookies or something?

[B]

We had a marketing consultant that was in the classical Christian space, based out of the Midwest, and he had recommended this model. And so we were selling sponsorships and tickets and having the silent auction and the live auction and there would be some sort of entertainment and. And it was a different theme every year. And again, it was a beautifully well done event. One of the things we found out of that it was the same people that would attend and we were grateful for them. I'm not knocking that. The same people that were attending and there was. If these three families would come, we would know we would have a good year. If they were out of town that weekend, we were not going to have a good year.

[C]

Very typical.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Well.

[A]

And what was the workload like? I mean, was it. Was it easy to plan? Was it stressful? I mean, like, like describe what it's like to put on a traditional fundraising gala with auctions, which include sponsorship and

[C]

auctions and everything else. Right.

[B]

Well, as I understand it from our now development director, she was the event coordinator at that time. It's exhausting, just truly exhausting. And we just never understood how she made it all come together at the ninth hour. And you know, it. It was a lot of work.

[A]

A lot of work. Well, and then give us a. Just give us a general sense of, like, how much, like, you know, a lot of work going into this event. How much money would you actually raise, you know, after the expenses are all paid and everything?

[B]

The last year that we did it, we spent. The gross was 75,000 and we netted 43.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

And I was. I kept had as my. With my treasure hat on. I knew what number we needed to cover the, you know, the gap that we were experiencing. And I. When I saw that number, I wanted to cry. I mean, I was grateful. I was very grateful to everyone who attended and supported, but I knew it wasn't enough. And I was a little bit needed.

[A]

What was. What was the number you were hoping?

[C]

What was your goal?

[A]

Yeah, what was your goal?

[B]

I knew we needed 181. Wow.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

Can you imagine knowing that you need 181,000 and then putting a lot of effort into something and only coming up with 43 or 45,000. Wow.

[B]

I'd heard in the past, you know, about 150. Oh, yeah. We make 150 at these events. Like, okay, well, that should be. We should be okay. And when it wasn't because a key family, you know, wasn't able to attend, then I was like, this isn't good, guys.

[A]

Yeah. And then did your heart. Were you immediately like, well, we got to do another one or we got to. We got to do more? Like, what. Where were you? What were you thinking of? How to fill that gap? At that point, we found.

[B]

Or. We wound up creating a development team. I think at that time, we were calling it a fundraising team because we, like, we need more minds, you know, because it was one person doing the model before. And again, she's great at what we were asking her to do.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So we. We got a team together, and we're like, we have to. We have to think outside the box. What should we be doing? And there was a lot of ideas being tossed around. It needs to be more entertaining. We need more people. We needed to have it at the

[A]

fairgrounds, you know, more people, whatever it is.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I just kept thinking, this doesn't feel right because more people that don't care about Christian education is just. We're going to be feeding them dinner. You know, I don't. That's not going to help us.

[A]

And, like, what other options do you have?

[B]

I didn't. We didn't know what else to do.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And we are a very small team of very dead. I mean, we have staff, but then a very core, dedicated volunteers that make all the extra fluff happen. And what do we do? Who's going to do this? And what does that look like? And we need to keep the doors open.

[A]

Boy.

[C]

Well, I. You told us the story, and I love it. Tell us how. How did you get introduced to fundraising masterminds?

[B]

That was such a God moment. I know it. And so we were sitting in a board meeting, and we were talking with the event coordinator to come in and pitched an idea for the next gala, because we're just trying to figure out, how can we. What can we do to make it better and bring in more? And when she left, we were Just talking like this doesn't seem like this direction is going to be helpful. And one of our board members, he was on the board three months, so he was very new. And he said, we need an event who tells. Lets people know who we are. Like, we need. It doesn't need to be entertaining. It needs to tell people who we are and what we're about. And with my marketing hat on, I was very excited. I'm like, yes, that's. That's what we need to do. And then he said, I've been listening to this podcast called Fundraising Masterminds, and there's thing called a vision Dinner. It's a perfect vision dinner. I remember him scribbling it on my notes, you know, very quickly and writing it all down. And he said, and that's where you just share the vision, you know, and embrace the community and engage them.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And we left that board meeting. I instantly. I didn't even drive out of the parking lot. I brought up a podcast on my phone. I was listening to it on the way home and I was texting Jennifer, who is our event coordinator, and I said, you need to hear this. Matt just brought this up. This is fabulous. And I wasn't sure how she was going to take it because we've been doing the gala model, and she loved it. She said, oh, my goodness, this is great. I love this concept. So we.

[C]

Well, see, you told me that she was getting on a plane and downloaded a whole bunch of episodes, which is so neat.

[B]

Yes. She was on her way to Italy for a birthday trip. As she said, she binge listened on the whole plane ride and wanted to get her.

[C]

And I'm not encouraging that for all of our audience, but if you want to do that on your trips, Fundraising Mastermind, a great binge thing to do. I agree.

[B]

It is very educational, that's for sure.

[C]

No, that's. That's terrific. So what was the next step then?

[B]

So we wanted to know how can we do this? And so we were all of. All three of us, there's three core people at that time on the development team. And we were trying to learn, and we thought. And we had heard about the workshop, you know, the perfect Vision Dinner workshop. And I said, we need to do this. If we're going to do it right, we need to do it.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

And, you know, it comes with a cost, as it should. It's. You get a lot for that and it's worth every penny. But again, knowing what our financial situation was like, can we really go to the board and ask for this. And so we did find a donor to underwrite that, and we all believed in it and prayed about it, and then we said, okay, we're doing it, and we booked our call with Jason.

[C]

Well, I love that. I mean, I love that you had an anonymous partner who came along and just provided the funding for that. Because sometimes people are. You know, I mean, we. We understand that. That sometimes people get a gulp when they see, okay, we know we need to do this, but there's a price

[A]

behind that chicken and egg thing like it is. I thought you guys were supposed to help me raise the funds that now I have to work. Yeah, you know. You know what? A lot of people, we. We talk to people all day long. You know, when people say, you know, I don't. I want to do the program, I have the. I have the vision. I really want to jump in, but I just don't have the funds right now. We don't let the funds get in your way because we have a lot of different kind of levers that we can pull. You know, we have monthly payment plans. We have installments. We have different things you can do. But if you. Even if you need more, what we recommend is that you actually go before a couple business owners and ask them if they would be willing to fund it. Right. And it's a little bit like asking a business owner, like, hey, would you mind teaching me how to fish so that I can fish for myself?

[C]

Right.

[A]

You know what business owner isn't gonna be excited about that?

[C]

Right?

[A]

You mean you're not gonna come back to me in six months and ask me for more money? You're gonna. My funds are gonna help you.

[C]

You. Instead of just giving me a fish, you're teaching me how to fish. Absolutely.

[B]

We've.

[A]

We've actually recommended that for a lot of people. Actually, our pre course accelerator teaches you how to go before business owners and ask to raise $10,000 so that you have the seed money to even do the perfect vision dinner, because there's. There's a couple upfront expenses, and that's. That's a really great thing.

[C]

So, I mean, you were ahead of your time then, and apparently getting someone to help cover the costs before we even encourage that. So you were ahead on that one. But tell me, how did you kind of process through? You had a model where you were using an auction. You were buying tables. All of a sudden now you hear from us that all those things. Set those aside. Those don't work. We've got a different model. How did you process that? And how did you work through with your. Your partners out there, your donors? How did you process through. Okay, now you. You're buying tables. Now we're going to do something a little different. How did you all process through that?

[B]

Well, the core team and development team that was going through it, we committed to each other that we're doing this out of faith. We know what we've been doing isn't meeting the needs. And so we, we called it. We're going to follow the recipe.

[C]

I love it. I love it.

[B]

And then we were like, this is just baking. It's not cooking. You gotta be really precise. So we're gonna do exactly what they're saying. And it was good having a team of three, because every now and again it does take faith because it's so counterintuitive and sometimes or counter programming that we're so used to doing, or everybody telling you what, oh, it's got to be done this way. Every now and again, one of us, it would rotate, would get a little nervous and like, should we really, like, no filing a recipe? Okay.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

Okay, we're doing it. And it's. If God wants this school to be here next year, this is his business, you know, and so we're just going to be faithful and just do what we're told. And. And we did.

[A]

What were some of the things that you've kind of felt like, you know, deviating from. Like, describe, you know, the situation where you're, you're like, you know, let's not do this. Exactly. You know, and then you're kind of. No, we gotta. Was it the auction stuff? Was it.

[B]

Oh, no.

[A]

Like what. Were there specific things that you remember?

[B]

The. No tickets.

[A]

No tickets.

[B]

That was ultimately a huge leap of faith, you know, because you get all

[C]

this money right up front when you sell tickets. And this was more a step of faith.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

When you have to.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So we have this contract with, you know, the venue and we have to pick the meals. And. You got it. We're following the recipe, so it's got to be really nice. Which, you know, that is a reflection of who we are.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

And the God we serve. So we want to honor him in that, but also be good stewards.

[C]

That's great.

[B]

But not charging for tickets. Because at least with tickets, the mentality is, at least, you know, your cut, your expense is going to be covered. And you don't know that with the vision dinner. I mean, we do know that, but we don't have that tangible assurance.

[C]

That's Right now you know it.

[F]

Yes.

[C]

But on the other. On the other end. Yeah. You know, it's funny, your analogy. I heard someone say recently that it's the difference between being a chef and a cook. You know, you use. They follow the recipe, but, you know. You know, we all can be cooks, but we can't all be chefs, and chefs do things a little differently. And we've got a chef model, and you have to follow the chef model.

[A]

Okay. So you've got. So you're at the point where you are. You're kind of struggling with the scale of thing. You're selling tickets, you're doing all this stuff. You binge watch the program. You join the Perfect Vision inner mentorship program. And then Jim and Jason are like, you got to get rid of tickets, you got to get rid of auctions. You got to get rid of all this stuff. And you're sitting there going, what did we just sign up for? Right. Is that kind of how it felt?

[B]

A little. We just. But we knew what we were doing wasn't working, so we were like, okay, we're gonna do it.

[A]

Yeah. So it does. It does take a step of faith to try something new, right?

[B]

Yes. Huge step of faith.

[A]

Yes. Yeah. But you guys. You guys walk through it, and probably, you know, in fear and trembling and praying and on your knees, Right? But, you know, 21 weeks later, and that's. That's just the beginning. You know, then we. We walk you through the name Storming. Then we walk you through, you know, getting table hosts and getting the matching gift and putting together your accelerators and all this stuff. There's a lot of things that we have to go through to get to the Vision Dinner. But describe to us what the perfect Vision Dinner was like and how it was different from anything you've done in the past.

[C]

The night of the dinner especially.

[B]

Okay, so because we're in rural California, there is no venue that exists in the county or neighboring counties that can accommodate 300 people. So that was our first challenge.

[A]

I remember that.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

What are we talking about? Rural. When we say rural, what do you. How many people are we talking? Rural.

[B]

Generally, the biggest town is about 4,200 people, and then there's little towns every about 10, 15 minutes. And they range in size anywhere between. Well, where I live, it's 760 people, but, like, so it's 2,000, 3,000, 4,000, just sprinkled throughout the county. So if you think we're above Yosemite, so it's forest, you know, and Foothills. So very rural.

[A]

We get this all the time. Like, I can see how the perfect Vision Dinner works in Chicago, in New York, but it doesn't work in rural areas. And.

[C]

And Jen is saying, yeah, it does.

[A]

Well, I mean, I don't know if you can get smaller than that. Can you get smaller than 700 people in a town? I guess, like, that's pretty small. And I remember when we were helping you pick out your venue, you said, jason, we only have one venue. That we can really do this. There's no choices.

[C]

Yeah, right.

[A]

But you still. We made it work.

[C]

Right?

[B]

Like, it is a beautiful venue.

[C]

Well, break it to us. What. What was venue like? What. What. How big? What could you get? All those things.

[B]

It is a winery, and they have. But they also. They do concerts there. It is a stunning facility. And so it's just not overly large.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

And we didn't want to do it outside because of the weather in April. And so it is this beautiful room. And we set it up, and so we had our dinner on a Friday. We had two dinners Friday and Saturday, and we could have 150 each night. So we filled them up, and the food was amazing. And one of the things, because of the tight timeline, which really is genius, I got to say, your timeline is so spot on. They said, the staff said, because we had historically always had our high schoolers help serve at our events. And we love it. They love to do it. And they said, no, we can only have our staff. Well, when they saw our timeline, they said, oh, I think can we have help serving? And so our students were able to be there, and they stole the show. I mean, everything else was really good and beautiful and showcasing the school. And again, I feel honoring God. Yeah, all of those things were in place. But having our students being able to participate was really impactful. And when our head of school came into the building, because she was busy, and so when she saw the room for the first time, like, just before the first dinner, she actually started crying. She was so proud of our school. And she's just like, I can't believe that we get to do this and we get to share who we are, and this is our heart, and this is what we're striving for. And again, as an act of worship as well. And so I love that about the Vision Dinner as well.

[C]

So are you using the same venue this year? Your dinner's in spring. I guess we. You know, we're. In fact, it's this month. Yes, that's exactly right. So are you Using the same venue. You're hoping you'll max them out again this year. What do you. What are you doing this year for.

[B]

Oh, yeah, we booked that same room, same venue, like the week after our last vision dinner. And so, yeah, we're filling the place up again. Two nights.

[C]

Perfect.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But, Jana, I would love to know, just on your first dinner, tell us how much you ended up raising from your first dinner. I know we were shooting for 100,000, right? That's what we typically are shooting for for our first vision dinner. I can't remember off the top of my head what the goal was, but it was. Is probably somewhere around the hundred or two hundred thousand range. But tell us where you guys came in at and tell us kind of what it felt like to go through all the giving envelopes.

[C]

I feel like I need to do

[A]

a kind of a. Yeah.

[C]

Little. But yes, please let us know.

[B]

I'll say I was praying for to net a hundred thousand and our faith goal. And I say it with quotes because we're like, you guys gave it to us. And I was like, that is definitely a faith goal is 250,000. And all of us are like, well, I'm just in my head. I'm sorry. I was in my treasure head. I was like, well, I'll just be happy with not 100.

[C]

Which is great. Which is great.

[B]

Which is twice. More than twice we had gotten.

[A]

I think if I remember correctly, we started with 150 or something. And then Jim came in later and he upped it, and he was Got to be like 250 or something. And then you're like, okay.

[C]

And we intentionally set, you know, kind of behind the scenes. We intentionally set what's a realistic goal? Do you feel like? And then what's a faith goal? And so we had treasure goal, but then we had the faith go out there. So please let us know.

[B]

It was. Yeah, it was beautiful. And so when we went to count each. At the end of the night, it was me and another board member. And we. We finally were like, we're just gonna hide the total columns. We're just gonna plug it all in. And then, you know, I'm trying to not do quick math in my head as we're going along, but, yeah, the first. I don't. Off the top of my head, I don't remember how it broke out each night, but at the end when we. It was Saturday was a bigger number, and we. The first night was very good as well. But then Saturday, when we looked at those columns, I Had no idea. And it was 355 or 354 and some change. And I was shocked. We were both just staring at my computer screen for a minute. And then I got my phone and I was texting the head of school,

[A]

like, is this real? Did we make.

[C]

Were there any tears? Maybe.

[B]

The head of school did tell me. She said, I saw the text. And then she said, I just. She was standing at her kitchen island and she just put her head down and started sobbing. And her daughter was like, are you okay? She's like, I'm good. I'm good. We're just. Praise the Lord. You know, praise the Lord and knowing that we're coming out of this. Well, you mentioned a tuition gap and. Yes. Knowing we have a tuition gap that exists, knowing that we had some ground that we needed to recover from recent past and trying to move the needle forward, too, and serve our families and honor God in that. And then seeing that number and this, we knew that God, you know, God be the glory. It's happening.

[A]

I mean, can you imagine going from, you know, kind of beating your head against the wall trying to do everything in your power? You know, it's like, it's not like you knew any different. You know, if you Google how to do a fundraising gala, Google will tell you, sell tickets, do an auction. Like, it tells you all the wrong things. And, you know, it's just not. It's not common knowledge to do a vision dinner. It's just not even common sense. Yeah.

[C]

Really, if you think about it, you know, when you could sell tickets, why not sell tickets? I mean, give. Give your meal away free. That's the success. To bed. It doesn't even make sense.

[A]

Yeah. Give your right people. But not just. We're not feeding the homeless or anything. But one of the things that has really gotten me excited as we've talked more and you're in the winner's circle now, and we've gotten to know you guys a lot more. But there's a lot of things. As we have been working with more and more Christian schools where we're discovering that Christian schools are. They're barely able to pay for the operational expenses with the tuition. But then there's so much more than tuition that is out there.

[C]

Right.

[A]

Like, you've got facilities and you've got. There's new programs need to be launched or athletic event.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Parents are putting pressure, like, why don't we have a great music program and then we have to buy instruments or we have to bring in a music teacher. And there's just more and more and

[C]

more take kids on trips or something.

[A]

And so what we've been finding is the perfect vision there, putting out the vision to the broader community and giving the community the privilege or the opportunity to invest in a school because it's great for the school, but it's also great for the community to know what's going on at the school. Right. Because there's a lot of people driving by the school and they see your sign or whatever and they just think, oh, it's just a school. But they don't really know what's going on there. So describe to me how the vision Dinner helped open the eyes of your community. And like some of the feedback that they were saying about that.

[C]

Can I piggyback Jason on your question?

[B]

No, I want to piggyback on your question.

[C]

Jason, can I piggyback on your question? Thank you for graciously responding for the videotape. What were some of your accelerators that so that people understand what kinds of things could you do to close the gap? And then what happened?

[B]

Okay, so I can answer both of those questions because they are very related. So see, one of the issues that I think I may have mentioned earlier was our anonymity with our name change and what is classical. And again, we're very rural, so not many people drive by where we're. We are and also building those and strengthening those partnerships with all the community churches because we are an independent 501C3 church. And so just even getting to know the church is better and how can we partner together? We're all, again, our main goal is to raise our children with the fear and ammunition of the Lord. So Libertas exists to fill that role a little bit it in where our community but it's the church's role and it's the families that we work for that you know. And so we want a partnership or partner with all of our churches. And so just let no people know what, how we're, what we're doing. What does Christian education look like? Why does it matter in today's culture? Why does it even matter?

[A]

Why does it matter? And why is it, why is this so important?

[B]

And so for me and my take off my treasure hat, I put on my marketing hat. And not even just from a business perspective, but just this matters that what is happening here. I know how it transformed my family and my kids. All three of my kids went there. My son just graduated and we still have two daughters there. And they asked me, please don't Ever make me go anywhere else. And I'm like, God willing, we're, you know, we're, we're here. And so, and we see what, what kind of product, if you want to say it that way, is coming out of these schools. This is why it matters. It's not just about Libertas Academy. It's not just, just keeping the doors open. It's advancing God's kingdom. And then. But yeah, we need a little bit of money to help do that because the tuition gap is significant. And right now it's $3,700 per student upside down. And we have to bridge that gap somehow. And so like last year, what you were talking about, our accelerators, we had a gap, a very sizable one last year as well. And we're like, but we need to move up needle forward. You know, we, how can we do, how can we do this but also serve our families better? And so one of our accelerators was to pursue accreditation through the Society for Classical Learning SEL because that's going to raise the bar for everything that every single, that nothing goes untouched. And so we were able to pursue that. We launched a leadership Libertas program for our upperclassmen. And that is a phenomenal program. And we are going and having sit down meetings with community leaders throughout the county and we're discussing leadership. We're doing a nehemiah study. We're also talking about personal growth and self awareness, but also like what is going on in our community. We're going out in the community and meeting with these people. So it's a beautiful program. And then finally we had, because we're a classical education model, the PE program is very robust. And one of the things is we have a gauntlet. And that was one of our accelerators. It's a very like JROTC style obstacle course. And so we have like a bouldering wall and scaling walls and these large obstacles, rope climbs. And that was something that had been in our plan for years to have and we just didn't have it. And so we thought, oh, we'll just scale it, you know, ADD now and again. But because of that, that night. And actually one specific donor who loved that idea and funded that specifically. So it was built in July.

[C]

Oh, now you said you, your husband's the athletic director. Yes. So he must have loved that one when he heard about it, right?

[B]

Oh, he was, that was his baby, actually. He put the plans together and I mean, we contracted a company who asked what they did, but yeah, yeah, he's former army and so he had put all that together, and the kids love it. Yeah, it is amazing.

[C]

It is a great.

[B]

Just seeing that character development. It's fun, too. It is very fun, but the character development. And not everybody gets that opportunity to, to dig that deep.

[A]

Yeah. So how did, how did the community respond, you know, to the dinner? You know, after the, did you hear any buzz and stuff like that afterwards? Like, did you feel like it really helped to raise awareness about the school?

[B]

Absolutely. And going into it, a lot of people were confused, like, where do I buy tickets? Like, nope, no tickets. You can just register for free. And they're like, what? You know? Or we want to sponsor a table. No, that's, you know, just come in here, what it's about. And I was very clear. I, I, I think this model also helped me when know who to invite to my table, because it's very clear this is a fundraiser, you know, as an auction. I don't know. It was just, anyway, it helped me know, winnow down my, my guest list or. I don't know about winnow down, but yeah, you know, be more specific on who I would think would be supporting Christian education. But everybody who attended was wowed by the event. They loved it and they really liked our students. I've always been there before, but I don't know. And then they just were like, I can't believe that you guys are going to do all this stuff. And this is great. And I can't believe how much you raised because we did announce it that Sunday and they were like, you could do that in this county and God did it. I mean, we didn't, we just were following the steps.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's so encouraging. And I hope that, you know, the people that are listening who are still with us, that you realize that you can do this, this too, right? Like, if you're, if you're a headmaster of a school or you're a Christian school or you're thinking about starting a school, you can get your school fully funded through the perfect vision in our mentorship program.

[C]

Right.

[A]

And what I love about it is, you know, the, like, you might be thinking, well, like, why would people give to a school? I mean, they, they, they don't have kids in there. You know, like, the, I could understand the parents getting excited, but, like, honestly, I think a lot of the reason why our schools do so well is because the business owners and the community leaders, they, they're the ones that have to hire the kids after they're out of school. And if the kids aren't raised well, then guess what? They're not great employees. They're not great leaders. They're not great business managers or. Or whatever it is. So, you know, investing in the hearts of children and really teaching them how to be diligent, these are future leaders.

[C]

Absolutely. And I. I think our kids coming out of Christian schools, classical education, are gonna set them separate themselves from everybody else in the world. Sadly to say, our other education is maybe going in a different direction, but we're setting ourselves above.

[A]

Well, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the fruit of the other education that we're talking about. When you have kids that are trained poorly, that become adults, you have adults that are trained poorly. And when you have kids that are trained well and they. They understand the difference between right and wrong, then. And they have a foundation on the word of God, then you're going to have adults that have a firm foundation, you know, so it just raises the bar for the community.

[C]

Well, these are our future deacons, elders, pastors, leaders in the community that, I mean, who wouldn't support?

[A]

So when you present an exciting vision to the community, I think sometimes we think like, oh, I don't feel comfortable asking people for money. But you're like, when you present it as an exciting opportunity, like, this is the state of the direction of our culture, and the solution to that is raising up a new generation of children that are going to go a different way. And we're going to lead the charge in that when you present an actual plan before people, it's almost like putting a glass of water in front of someone who's thirsty, who's been in a desert. They're like, finally someone is going to do something, you know, like. And so. So I just wanted to commend you guys, you know, for being those leaders and taking that charge. You know, you guys are on the front lines.

[B]

Can I share one of our conversations with our donors? So this is a part of the winner's circle that we've been doing.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

One of the first partner meeting that they sat. They sat down with a couple. They were very curious. They don't have any ties to the school at all. No kids, no grandkids, never been. But they came to the vision dinner. They were invited by somebody. They sat down, they were talking. You know, they said, well, why. You know, why did you support Libertas? You know, what prompted you to give what you did? And they. That's when they said, we're. We have limited means, but we do set aside. They're kind of a month to month kind of people, you know, and, but they said we do set aside money to, for ministry work. And when we heard what you were doing, I said I just wish so much we had something like this for our kids. And we didn't. And their kids are grown. And so they said we are just so grateful to this is here, we want to support it. And those kinds of. And that wasn't, that was just the first story we've heard like that. It was people who have no ties. One of them has a seven month old granddaughter. They want the school to be there, to be able to send their kid in a few years. So it is, it's a capital C church endeavor. Right. To raise our kids with this firm foundation in Christ. And so I, that's what I love about this. It's not just supporting one organization. It's supporting the role that they're playing in the bigger scheme of things. Because what really matters is that we have Christian, solid, biblical, you know, Bible believing, God fearing Christians that are out taking those leadership roles.

[C]

Right. Yeah.

[A]

Well, this has been a very encouraging episode, Jim, and thank you, Jenna, for being a guest on our program today. I hope that you've been encouraged. And if you're listening to this and you're like, you know, I really would like to jump into the perfect vision in our mentorship program. I think this kind of does it for me. I've got good news. You've got two weeks left to jump in. Our next cohort starts the first week of May. So you've got two weeks to jump in. So I'm going to put a QR code on the screen. You can scan that QR code or click the link in the description. That'll take you to a brief application, fill that out real quick and then you'll have a chance to book a call with one of our team members and they'll walk you through any questions you might have about the program and how you can get signed up and enrolled in this next program. The COHORT is a 21 week intensive program. Okay. We're going to walk you through everything from the very, very beginning. You don't have to know anything about doing a vision dinner. You don't have to have a team or anything like that. You just need to come in just like what Jana was describing. A willingness to just roll up your sleeves and follow the recipe. And if you follow the recipe, recipe, you're more than likely get the results. It's just we kind of liken it to baking. Right?

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, very much I don't know. I know one thing about making bread, which is if you don't follow recipe, it never works.

[C]

That's exactly right.

[A]

The only time that I've been successful in making bread is when I follow the recipe to a T. And then. And so. And that's just because, you know, an expert went before and figured out exactly the steps. Right. And so, you know, we're taking our 40 years, 40 to 60 years of experience doing vision dinners. Jim, you've been doing dinners all the way back since the 1980s.

[C]

Dinosaurs roamed the earth. Yes.

[A]

And we're putting all that knowledge collectively into this perfect vision dinner mentorship program. So if you are really wanting to learn more, scan the QR code, book a call with our team, and we will be happy to watch you through all the details. Well, Jim, any final words that you want to mention?

[C]

Well, you know, I don't know if our listeners are like me, but I was ready about halfway through to reach back and get my wallet out and make a gift. And so, Jenna, is there any how if some of our listeners are saying, I would love to help Libertas Academy, where should they reach out and how can they contact you guys?

[B]

Oh, well, thank you. Of course, we would welcome all support. Well, you can can see us@the libertasacademy.org is our website and you can find out more about the school and. But thank you guys for all of your work and for sharing your recipe with us. Really, it works. It's great.

[C]

Well, Jenna Salazar, thank you so much. We appreciate you.

[A]

Well, thank you for tuning in to this episode of the fundraising Masterminds podcast. We will see you next time.

[C]

Take care,

[B]

Sam.