FEATURE STORY
D
uring the past decade, the combined effect of the economic recession,
dwindling attendance, and aging buildings has created new and seemingly
insurmountable challenges for many congregations. Historic houses of
worship are at the nexus of important changes in American life – shifts in
religious participation, neighborhood demographics, community priorities,
preservation policies, and charitable giving. Amidst these changes, there has
been one nearly universal constant for the leadership of sacred places: the
need for capital campaigns.
A New Dollars Approach to
Capital Campaign Consulting
Faith and lay leaders are starting to find that traditional
approaches to capital fundraising are inadequate to address
the new set of 21st-century challenges that they face. To be
successful, sacred places need a strategic, new approach to
capital campaigns, one that accounts for the seismic shifts in
the landscape around them.
Partners has developed a highly successful, new approach
toward capital fundraising called New Dollars/New Partners.
In addition to being a capacity-building training program
that Partners has brought to over a thousand congregations
across the country, New Dollars is also a model, mindset,
and framework that faith and lay leaders can use to
approach their capital campaigns. Its origins have roots in
an important study published by Partners in 1997, Sacred
Places at Risk, which reports that more than eighty percent
A new approach to capital campaigns
frames building improvements – new roofs
and boilers, renovations and restoration,
accessibility upgrades – as important to the
life of the congregation and the community.
of individuals who cross the threshold into a historic house
of worship are not members of that congregation. They
could be there for an artistic performance, a Girl Scout troop
meeting, a food pantry, a neighborhood block party, a GED
class, a wedding – the list goes on.
In a traditional approach to capital campaigns, these
individuals, who benefit from programs hosted by
congregations, would not be approached to participate in or
give to the campaign. Put another way, the vast majority of
congregations are not reaching out to eighty percent of the
stakeholders in their building. These individuals are vital
to the success of a campaign, and congregations are missing
a huge opportunity if they do not tap this potential source of
funding.
However, this is often easier said than done. How
does a congregation begin to identify these potential
supporters, steward relationships with them, and
cultivate them as donors to their congregation? How
does a faith leader begin to understand the priorities
of these external stakeholders and how they fit with the
congregation’s most urgent needs? How can a parish or
congregation know if these individuals would give to its
campaign – and if so, how much?
The answer is simple: you have to ask. In the wake of the
economic downturn and amidst the changing dynamics
13 • Sacred Places • www.sacredplaces.org • Summer 2014