Case Study: Peterborough Singers Legacy Fund

The Organization

One of Ontario's most beloved community choirs.

The Peterborough Singers are one of Ontario's most beloved community choral organizations. The choir was founded 35 years ago by Syd Birrell, a local organist and choir director.

When the organization decided to launch the Syd Birrell Legacy Fund to mark Syd's retirement, they needed someone who could handle both the strategic demands of an ambitious campaign and the deeply personal nature of what it represented.

The Heart

More than a choir. A place of healing.

This was not a standard fundraising project. The choir Syd Birrell founded 35 years ago is not just one of the best community choirs in Canada; it has also been transformational in the lives of countless people, including Syd.

The deep heart in the choir can in part be traced to the role it played in helping Syd and his family navigate the cancer diagnosis and death of his son, James, in 2001. Syd conducted Handel's Messiah for the Singers on the very eve of his son's death. In the decades since, hundreds of people have found hope and healing as either choir or audience members.

This campaign needed a deep sensitivity to the unique heart and history of this choir.

Syd Birrell (centre) with his sister Diana (left), wife Pam (right), and daughter Rebecca and son Ben.

The Work

Storytelling first. Strategy second.

The work began not with spreadsheets, but with stories: conversations with Syd and his family, with long-time choir members, with supporters who had been part of the Singers' journey for decades.

I developed the campaign strategy, crafted the donor communications, and managed the engagement. But the heart of the work was storytelling: finding the language that honoured what the Peterborough Singers meant to the people who built it, and who have benefitted from it, and making that story compelling enough to inspire a new generation of supporters.

You can view the campaign materials here: Case for Support and Campaign Magazine.

"For 35 years I served as Artistic Director of the Peterborough Singers, a choir of 130 members that I founded. When I retired, it was suggested that a fund be established and money raised as a legacy to help the Choir with both transition and in moving forward once a new Artistic Director was chosen.

John Jalsevac was engaged by the board to run this campaign, which became known as the Syd Birrell Legacy Fund. In five short weeks, under John's guidance, we raised over $100,000, more than double any campaign total we had run in the previous 35 years. The campaign is still ongoing, and that number continues to grow.

John is smart, compassionate, intuitive, hard-working, and extremely knowledgeable when it comes to the art of fundraising. He is well connected and diligent. He is a leader. His writing is extraordinary. He has the ability to find stories that matter in the lives of both audience members and choir members as they relate to the Peterborough Singers, and to write extraordinary articles which are then shared in newsletters before the real asking for money even happens. This establishes great interest and arouses the desire to help financially.

John knows the databases and other tools of the trade that are necessary to track donations. He knows how to research and identify donors of high net worth. He speaks very well to our audiences during concerts.

I can wholeheartedly recommend John as the person an organization wants to run a campaign and handle every facet of that project. I am happy to take questions from prospective organizations."

Syd BirrellFounder & Artistic Director (retired), The Peterborough Singers

A campaign built on honouring a community's story.

One of Ontario's most beloved community choirs.

More than a choir. A place of healing.

Storytelling first. Strategy second.

Ready to build something like this?