Sacred Places Spring 2011 | Page 18

THE HALO EFFECT (cont.) scholarly study and served as a catalyst for a growing public conversation on the role that faith-based organizations play in their neighborhoods. In the years following, Partners used the data and methodology to provide new tools and training so that congregations could document their own public value and then use this information to attract new resources to sustain their buildings and the community-serving programs they housed. Piloting a New Approach Although groundbreaking, SPAR did not attempt to look at all of the ways that congregations impact their communities. While the tools that SPAR made possible were effective, they were limited. They measured the value of space and volunteer time of some social programs, but couldn’t account for the vast and more complex impacts of lives improved. In 2007, then-Associate Director Tuomi Forrest proposed a framework for a larger study to a group of researchers from the non-proft and academic sectors, who affirmed that such a project would break new ground. In 2010 Partners secured a grant from the William Penn Foundation to pilot this new study. Partners joined once more with Dr. Ram Cnaan of the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice, and began to lay out a new, ambitious, quantitative approach to understanding the full value congregations provide to their local economy – an approach that could be used by government, policy analysts, and advocates. Designing the Study: Criteria and Methodology The goal of the pilot study was to develop and test a methodology for measuring economic value – in other words, to attempt to assign monetary value where the market does not reach. By applying different methods of valuation to a variety of factors, the study sought to create the first systematic measurement of a congregation’s annual impact on its local economy. Selecting Factors to Value As a first step, Forrest and Cnaan, assisted by interns Joe Carlsmith, Kelsey Karsh, and Daniel Duffy, created a list of factors that would reflect as many congregational contributions as possible, using items presented at Partners for Sacred Places’ 2007 meeting and in Cnaan’s 2009 conceptual article (“Valuing Urban Religious Congregations”) as a springboard. They also consulted with a set of experts, including Katie Day, Lutheran Theological Seminary of Philadelphia; David Listokin, Rutgers University; Lee Huang, Econsult; Ira Goldstein, The Reinvestment Fund; and John DiIulio, University of Pennsylvania. Based on these conversations and an extensive review of available, academically sound, and vetted methodologies, 17 • Sacred Places • www.sacredplaces.org • Spring 2011 Many congregations host educational programs, like this science-oriented class at First United Methodist Church of Germantown. Photo courtesty of FUMCOG. the group identified 54 areas in which congregations made a measurable economic impact on their communities. Selecting Congregations Initially, Partners created a list of potential study congregations that met two criteria: those with buildings that are at least 50 years old and were constructed as houses of worship; and those with a prior relationship with Partners, in order to make use of personal connections with key clergy, staff, or lay leaders. To narrow down the list while providing diversity to the final study participants, congregations were selected based on their size (both budget and active membership), geographic location within the city of Philadelphia, faith affiliation, primary ethnic or racial group represented, type and size of their physical plant, and the range of programs or services supported. The final study group included Arch Street United Methodi