ST. FRANCIS ZIONSVILLE
Success Story
OVERVIEW
Which is more important when it comes to raising funds to support a capital campaign: Defining WHAT you are going to do with the money or explaining WHY that need is important?
Certainly defining “what” is essential. People deserve to know on what their donation will be spent. However, explaining WHY the defined project will make a positive impact is essential to inspiring greater giving.
The Church Buildings for Collaborative Partnerships (CBCP) project enhanced both the “what” and the “why” of a capital campaign at St. Francis-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church in Zionsville.
“CBCP helped us realize we were pretty insular in our approach about uses and needs for our building. It’s not that we weren’t using our space in collaboration with several groups, but CBCP helped us think much bigger. ”
PROJECT DETAILS
The need to renovate significant areas of the church was recognized by St. Francis leadership prior to 2020. Planning was underway when the Covid pandemic put everything on hold. Lay leader Lesley MacKellar said the experiences of CBCP provided a new lens through which to view their potential impact:
CBCP helped us realize we were pretty insular in our approach about uses and needs for our building. It’s not that we weren’t using our space in collaboration with several groups, but CBCP helped us think much bigger.
It had never crossed our mind that we might sit down with the mayor, with the superintendent of public schools, and with other religious leaders – all of whom we did invite to the CBCP Site Visit. What emerged from that incredible conversation was that youth mental health was the biggest unmet need in our community. We learned that our space could support agencies addressing mental health issues. We now host a monthly group meeting in partnership the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness
PROCESS + OUTCOME
Bigger-impacr thinking also inspired some changes in capital improvement plans. For example, to allow for more community use of the church, including weddings and community events, the kitchen is being moved to where it can be accessed easily by caterers.
The Rev. C. Davies Reed, Rector of St. Francis, says broader community engagement and impact resonated with the people of St. Francis.: “When the emphasis changed to include how the projects will enhance our service to the community, that gave us a relevancy that helped us appeal to more people. After all, churches are about things that are bigger than us, so our reasoning for making changes should also be about things that are bigger than us.”
Learn more about St. Francis-in-the-Fields capital improvements progress.
GET STARTED
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