Perspectives – Spring 2014 Issue
Welcome to the Spring 2014 edition of our online newsletter.We are delighted that you continue to follow the services our firm provides to churches throughout the United States and Canada.
Spring is my favorite time of year. After a particularly long and very cold winter, I am welcoming the birds singing, the flowers blooming, the sun shining and even the bugs buzzing more than ever. I suspect you are too.
We are such big fans of nice weather we decided to open another regional office in beautiful, sunny California earlier this year! We are anxious to meet the great folks of California and build relationships for years to come. If you are on the West Coast and have campaign needs or know of colleagues who may benefit from our services, we would love to hear from you. Anything you can do to help us get the word out of our presence in California, would be greatly appreciated.
I hope you enjoy this issue of “PERSPECTIVES”. The consultants and staff of our firm offer ‘our perspectives’ and experience regarding capital campaign topics. We hope that you find our articles relatable, friendly and helpful.
We certainly pray the weather is treating you well, putting a smile on your face and a warmness in your heart.
Blessings,
Erin West
Vice President of Operations
Preparing Focus Group Presenters
By Wayne Spaulding
Among the sound principles that guide the undertaking of a James D. Klote and Associates capital campaign is the requirement that a Readiness Assessment be conducted. The Assessments main objective is to test the plan that leaders have decided will best address the current and urgent needs of the church. The Readiness Assessment is the opportunity to test the feasibility of the church leaders’ proposed plan.
Testing the Plan
The plan that church leaders developed is the subject of the Readiness Assessment. Through individual interviews and focus group meetings, the plan’s feasibility is explored and tested. Certainly the individual interviews are important, but it is during the focus group meetings that the vast majority of members will have their opportunity to learn about the proposed plan for themselves and offer their input. From a strategic perspective, the Readiness Assessment is an indispensable component in the firm’s overall approach to conducting a capital campaign.
Read more…
Request For Proposals
By Erin West
We are often surprised when a church leader sends out a request for proposal for directing a capital campaign. Usually, there is little information to delineate what the real ministry and financial needs are for the church. Seldom do they share when they feel they would like to conduct a campaign or what the annual giving is or the total number of households there are at the church.
It is unfortunate when church leaders want to make a decision on which firm to hire based on a “boiler-plate” proposal. Deciding on which firm to partner with is as important as calling a new pastor. It is incredibly important to find the right match.
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Put simply, the answer is ‘yes.’ When I first became a pastor I was given conflicting advice about this issue, but after a few years in the parish the answer became clear. Moreover after 15 years of service to the church at large and directing capital campaigns for churches of all denominations that answer has remained crystal clear, especially if you take the following five points into consideration.
Edith Rankin United Church in Kingston's Collins Bay area has an exciting holiday season ahead. On Nov. 9, members of the congregation kicked off their long-anticipated fundraising campaign to make additions to the church. The congregation has a goal of raising $2.5 million and by end of November they had already surpassed $1 million.
"I'm quite proud," says church elder Christopher Sproule, who also chairs the advanced gifts phase of the project. He has been collaborating closely with Chuck Wilson of James D. Klote & Associates Inc., which is a consulting company for philanthropic causes.
As capital campaign consultants we have worked with hundreds of churches across many denominations for a wide variety of capital campaign causes. We have been on-site at Central since the beginning of September. As professionals we are very serious about what we do and how we evaluate the readiness of a church to initiate a large scale project like yours. What have we seen so far at Central Community Church? How does Central stack up against other similar campaigns?
