Sally Dunn - Retiree Tributes - McDonogh School

Sally Dunn

Most of you don’t know Mrs. Sally Dunn. That’s because everything she does is behind the scenes.

To borrow a company’s slogan, Mrs. Dunn has been “working for you” for the last eight years. As a key member of the Bowman House staff, she is one of the people responsible for raising money for McDonogh.

Raising money is both an art and a science, both of which Mrs. Dunn understands very well. The experienced administrator came to McDonogh in 2003 when she and her husband, Jim, relocated to Baltimore. She had several job offers at the time. But, like everyone else who travels up the main drive, Mrs. Dunn was awed by McDonogh. She realized right away that this was a great school and she wanted to do everything possible to make it better.

Having worked at Langley School in Virginia and Marist School in Atlanta, Mrs. Dunn brought some great ideas with her. When the board of trustees said, “We want to encourage more parents to donate to the school,” Mrs. Dunn made it happen. Sure enough, contributions from parents had increased a year later.

Mrs. Dunn is particularly good at finding ways to make people want to support McDonogh. She believes in the philosophy of friend-raising before fund-raising. Her efforts to inspire donors to increase their gifts to the school have been very effective.

Warm and friendly, Mrs. Dunn has established great relationships with volunteers. McDonogh Forever Campaign Chair Henry Rosenberg, one of the school’s biggest donors, calls her regularly to check in. He also relies on her for information. And so do we. While she has a master’s degree in English, Mrs. Dunn also has a knack for numbers. She’s the one we call on for fundraising statistics and reports.

Those of us who know Mrs. Dunn best find her delightful, capable, and passionate about McDonogh. She’s an avid reader who joined the McDonogh Book Club early in her tenure and has thoroughly enjoyed being part of this group. She also loves McDonogh-Gilman football games and participating on McDonogh’s Race for the Cure team.

Mrs. Dunn has decided to retire so can spend more time with her daughter, son-in-law, and two young grandsons in Pasa Robles (Ro-bless), California. Enjoy your retirement, Mrs. Dunn, and thank you for all you have done for McDonogh.

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