Perspectives – Spring 2015 Issue
Welcome to the Spring 2015 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.
This edition of “PERSPECTIVES” has a lighter and more humorous tone to it. For our hard working Directors keeping a sense of humor and high energy going during a campaign is an area that is extremely important and forever evolving. Campaigns can be intense, require a lot of commitment, time, and energy. It’s a very serious business, however sometimes it’s necessary to bring a little laughter along the way. We hope that one, if not all, of our articles speak to you or at least make you smile.
Our firm wishes you a safe, joyous and healthy holiday season!
Erin West
Vice President of Operations
How Important Is It To Ask The Right Questions When Interviewing Stewardship Consultants?
By Jim Klote
At nearly every presentation I make regarding the services we provide, I am asked ‘what other questions should we be asking?’ Actually, I appreciate the question. It indicates an initial trust and willingness to invite advice. There are many questions I believe church leaders should be asking when considering partnering with a stewardship consulting firm. Naturally, there is a significant difference between stewardship consulting for churches, and fundraising consulting to any non-profit.
Now, the first question is, ‘how do we even find firms to interview?’ You can look on the Internet and pick a few to interview, or you can call around to area churches that have done campaigns and ask for recommendations. You can call your conference or diocesan development office and ask if there is a recommended firm. In the end, you are going to have to choose from a few recommended firms and interview them to see which method best suits your expectations.
Read more…
How to sustain Energy in a Campaign
By Jesse Winters
Almost every Capital Campaign starts out with a lot of energy and enthusiasm behind the project. It probably isn’t much of surprise that the most successful ones, however, sustain their enthusiasm all the way through to the end of the campaign. By keeping the energy of the core leaders and volunteers high the passion for the project is more easily ignited in the hearts and minds of others.
In the early stages of any campaign a passion for the project ignites the energy of core leaders and volunteers, but as we get further into a campaign it is the energy of those same leaders and volunteers that ignites the passion and energy of those they talk to. Quite often though, those key leaders and influencers begin to get tired and their energy begins to wane. So, how does a church keep up their energy during a campaign? Here are a few key points to keep that energy pumping.
Read more…
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You’ve been there: the “new person” on a job or in a school, trying to break into an existing social structure. You’ve finally been allotted a spot at the outer edge of a “click” in the act of discussing the absurdities of the day. All of a sudden, you can’t stop yourself; you commit the social faux pas of injecting a humorous observation into the conversation. The “dead air” and stone-faces make it clear that you have intruded. “Who are you and when did you fall off the turnip truck?” hangs in the air like a pre-color TV rainbow. You’re considering that what you just said was ten-times funnier than the most recent comment by the “good ol’ boy” next to you but he or she received a full round of laughter.
Now more than ever, churches play diverse and crucial roles in their communities. As the need for guidance and leadership grows, churches have become more than spiritual refuges. Along with expanding responsibilities comes the need for more funding to ensure that they are adequately equipped to carry out mounting missions and developing duties. Without question, times are financially tough. It’s no great surprise, then, that people are giving less money to churches and charities, even as these institutions require it now more than ever. It’s also no great surprise that James D. Klote & Associates, Inc., a fund-raising consultancy leader, is finding its services so greatly in demand.
Greenwich, CT - Christ Church Greenwich launched their “Rise Up, Restore, Rejoice!” Capital Campaign at a festive celebration in the Tomes-Higgins House on the church’s ten acre campus on Saturday, September 21st with $4,300,000 in pledges and gifts. Cater Harris, Senior Warden shared the $10 million needs to preserve the 1910 church building and Parish House, restore spaces for worship and learning, upgrade campus infrastructure and grow the endowment. The campaign is being led by Jim Elrod, Chair with Marnie Dawson Carr and KC King, Vice-chairs and a twenty four person Steering Committee. James D. Klote & Associates (JDK&A) is the full-time, on-site capital campaign consulting firm that has partnered with Christ Church on their campaign effort.
