30 S G M A G A Z I N E | W I N T E R 2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8 When we booked Governor Huckabee, a lot of people thought it was a fluke. But then when we had Laura Bush that solidified what we were doing, and of course, having President George W. Bush was a grand slam. - Brad Lawson The next three years, the benefit dinner continued to garner attention from across the region with singer- songwriter Vince Gill, talk show host and author Bill O’Reilly, and legendary football coach Lou Holtz. Warren, who along with his wife, Nikki, serves on the benefit dinner planning committee, said there are numerous issues to consider when selecting a speaker. “There is a balance of cost when you can only put about 480 people in the room,” Warren said. “You look at what it will cost to bring a big name speaker, as well as the positive exposure for the school. Some years, we sacrifice making more money so that we can bring in a speaker that creates more exposure for the school.” It is the positive exposure for Georgia Christian that Lawson said has proven to be a valuable outcome of the dinners. “After the first couple of dinners we realized that it was more than a fundraiser,” Lawson said. “We have a captive audience to tell our story. We have found that the marketing value of the dinners sometimes far exceeds what we bring in financially.” Each dinner includes a video that highlights Georgia Christian academically, socially, and spiritually. “Through these videos, we are able to get our message out to the community about who we are and where we are going,” Lawson said. “Many people who come to the dinners have never been on our campus and the videos help tell the story.” Historic Past, Strong Future As part of Georgia Christian’s 100th anniversary, members of the board of directors developed a master plan that outlined capital improvements for the school through the year 2030. The comprehensive plan includes renovations to existing buildings and construction of new facilities, with a focus on fostering growth while maintaining the historical integrity of the campus and remaining debt free. “The master plan represents a roadmap,” Warren said. “We laid out what needed to be done, and we were very strategic in our approach, but remaining debt free is very important to the school.” The master plan’s short-term goals that included renovating the cafeteria PHOTO CONTRIBUTED In 2012, Former First Lady Laura Bush was the annual dinner guest speaker. She also took time earlier in the day to read to Georgia Christian students in the school’s library.