The Jack & Kathy Donnelly
Capital Projects Fund
A $750,000 Network-Wide Facilities Matching Gift Challenge
The Opportunity
Independence Mission Schools (IMS) has received an anonymous $750,000 gift to strengthen and repair facilities across our network. This generous commitment has been designated as a dollar-for-dollar matching challenge, creating an opportunity to raise a total of $1.5 million for critical capital improvements. Every gift made to the Jack & Kathy Donnelly Capital Projects Fund during this campaign will be matched 1:1, immediately doubling its impact.
Why This Match Matters
Across IMS’s 13 schools, aging infrastructure and deferred maintenance directly affect the student learning environment.
This matching challenge allows IMS to:
- Address urgent, ready-to-go facilities projects at all schools in the 2026-27 academic year
- Direct funds where the need is greatest, based on a facilities assessment
- Make immediate improvements that support safe, high-quality learning environments
Most importantly, this match ensures that every donor plays a role in unlocking transformational impact.
Where Your Gift Goes
Matching funds will support high-priority capital projects for school year 2026-27, including but not limited to roof and masonry repairs, HVAC, boilers, electrical upgrades, exterior and interior facility enhancements, safety, accessibility, and infrastructure improvements. Projects are selected based on urgency, readiness, and impact, ensuring funds are used efficiently and responsibly. IMS has created a new network-wide five-year capital projects plan for school years 2026-27 through 2030-31.
The total projected cost for capital projects in 2026-27 is $1.5M.
About the Jack & Kathy Donnelly Capital Projects Fund
The Jack & Kathy Donnelly Capital Projects Fund was established to honor the legacy of Jack and Kathy Donnelly and their extraordinary commitment to the long-term strength of Independence Mission Schools. Jack, a founding member of IMS and CEO & Majority Partner of L.F. Driscoll Company, understood that strong schools depend on strong physical foundations. Together, Jack and Kathy believed that investing in facilities was essential to preserving academic excellence and ensuring students learn in safe, dignified environments.
Following Jack’s passing, and more recently Kathy’s, family members, friends, and colleagues established this fund as a lasting expression of their values and service to IMS. This matching challenge rejuvenates the Jack & Kathy Donnelly Capital Projects Fund and enables IMS to take a coordinated, network-wide approach to facilities investment, addressing needs that individual schools cannot meet on their own.