Visiting Nurse Association of Somerset Hills
Bernardsville/Basking Ridge, New Jersey
www.visitingnurse.org

The success of its last capital campaign enabled the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) of Somerset Hills to open its doors in a residential Bernardsville neighborhood, with a single nurse and a horse-and-buggy for her transportation.  The year was 1905.  Multiple expansions and renovations later, the house was bursting at the seams with 150+ nurses, social workers, hospice employees, home health aids and friendly visitors serving the populations of Somerset and Morris counties in New Jersey.

With the VNA’s Centennial looming, a happy celebration did not seem likely as the result of the critical lack of space, which was only compounded by the incorporation of the Somerset Hills Adult Day Center (SHADC) under the VNA umbrella.  The space shortage meant that SHADC had to be housed in a separate location that was accessible to those in wheelchairs or with difficulty in walking.  The only solution was to embark on a capital campaign to find or build a new facility under whose roof the entire VNA could work in appropriate settings and all of its clients could point to a single destination.

Despite its location in one of New Jersey’s most affluent areas, the VNA’s fund raising efforts had been modest and, focused on the bi-annual rummage sales which netted in excess of $300,000.  However, since the organization was not a major medical facility, academic institution or affiliated with a specific cause, it was felt that the VNA was not an “A" Charity in the Somerset Hills.  Ghiorsi & Sorrenti, Inc. was retained to conduct a campaign planning study and to provide resident counsel for the subsequent capital campaign – The Centennial Campaign: Community, Caring, Commitment to the Future.

Ultimately, the VNA had three goals for its campaign:  financial success so that there would be no debt on the new facility, recognition as an “A” Charity and utilizing both new and the VNA’s existing leadership more effectively in raising funds.  The results were extraordinary in every respect and beyond imagination in some.

GSI tested the potential for raising $5 million – the anticipated cost of the new facility – during the planning study.  Ultimately, an initial “working goal target” of $4.3 million was put in place.  As the plans developed and matured, it became clear that the costs would be much higher, eventually approaching $9 million and, based on results and the addition of new prospects to the pool, GSI concurred in raising the target level.  The VNA’s internal and volunteer leadership remained committed to achieving its goals.  Led by the dogged determination of CEO Evelyn Savage and Director of Marketing and Development, Jacqueline Welch, and the unflagging efforts of campaign co-chairs, Grania Allport and Joseph Frelinghuysen, Jr., the campaign did, indeed, establish the VNA as an “A” Charity.

Through a unique partnership with Somerset County, the opportunity came about to purchase an easily accessible piece of property.  Leadership came together to ask for significant gifts for an outstanding cause. Gifts from all sectors were made at levels unprecedented for the VNA, including a prestigious $300,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation.

The result?  The campaign closed having secured gifts and pledges of $9.3 million.  It included a capstone gift in-kind from an international corporation, a VNA neighbor, of furniture for offices, lobbies and meeting rooms.  It all culminated when the VNA moved into its new home and opened its doors in Basking Ridge.  It is also clear the VNA of Somerset Hills has become an “A” Charity.