Thank you Father Schrader and Beth Lucia of Cunneen!

To Any Pastoral Leader Pondering a Fiscal Campaign:

This past Spring when our Facilities Committee came up with a 5-year plan for the upkeep and improvement of the twelve buildings on our parish’s three church sites, the cost when linked with our annual diocesan appeal for this year came to $900,000. Wondering what to do at a time of rapidly escalating gasoline prices and other related increases, our Pastoral and Financial Councils decided to contact Cunneen to see what was possible. I was severely skeptical that anything could successfully be done to reach that amount in such a year of economic stress. After all, we had difficulty reaching just our $123,000 diocesan appeal alone in the better-off 2007-08 fiscal year.

All I can say now is that anything is possible for those who believe! Thanks to a special gift by bequest to the campaign in the summer, we went over the $900,000 mark on October 29th, the end of one of the worst Octobers in recent history. Then, two days before Thanksgiving, the pledges alone (apart from the $150,000 bequest itself) reached the $900,000 mark. The people were elated when I announced at our Mass on Thanksgiving morning that we had over $1,050,000 committed to the campaign. I know one thing for sure: I simply could not have done it without Cunneen. I also know that challenging economic times are no hindrance to success if your need is genuine and you convey it convincingly to those who have in their hearts the same mission that your campaign supports. It was Cunneen that helped us to map out a strategy and get the message conveyed in a clear and compelling way. Consider this a strong endorsement of their services!!!

Rev. Robert J. Schrader, Pastor
Peace of Christ Parish
Rochester, NY

A drill or a hole? The what or the why?

I've linked to this blog before-and even wrote an earlier blog article about how closely related sales is to fundraising-this article quoting sales guru Zig Ziglar does a pretty neat job of it.

And I agree-we are in the "hole" business! Or as I say often enough the "why" not the "what".

http://fundraisingcoach.com/2008/12/02/fundraising-secret-28-nobody-wants-to-buy-a-drill/

Enjoy and thanks again Marc for the excellent blog post.

Enjoying the success of a client.

Bishop Tobin of the Catholic Diocese of Providence RI, Jim Cunneen and Ray Coogan both of the Cunneen Company, enjoy a moment of celebration as the guests of Father Spina, pastor of St. Martha's in East Providence.

Bishop Tobin was congratulating Father Spina and the parishioners of St. Martha's on their recently completed $1 million capital campaign to conduct major renovations.

Seeing these projects completed is by far the most rewarding part of our jobs. Congratulations to Father Spina and the good people of St. Martha's.

Good stewards have faith.

Bad Economic Times can provide a Healthy Perspective

“It is the heart that makes a man rich.
He is rich according to what he is, not according to what he has.”
-Henry Ward Beecher

Whether or not we are in an official “recession,” there is now no denying that our country is experiencing an historic and catastrophic downturn in the economy. While it is the large banks and Wall Street firms that have received all the publicity and “bailouts”, it is in the individual family wallet and budget where we all are feeling the pinch of the tough economy more acutely than anywhere else. When difficulties are experienced and our safety is threatened, we find out if our religious beliefs are more than mere slogans or platitudes. Is it possible to find a silver lining in the economic rain cloud hanging over our heads?

If we are to find our way through these tough times, we must first understand the “motivation of crisis.” You know the old saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” Well, bad economic times can create the pressure needed for us to finally review our financial stewardship and how faithful and disciplined we are in the way we use our personal financial resources. The economists tell us this particular crisis was brought on by unwise debt and mortgage lending. If we have personally overextended our family finances with too much debt, these times will be very tough for us indeed and we will have to make serious cutbacks in our expenses. But if we learn this painful lesson and begin to live within our family’s financial means, the future can hold great promise. When finances are flush and times are good, it is easy to be less disciplined in our spending and how we use our money. Yard sales are testimonies to how much “junk” most families have and could easily live without. When times are difficult, we are much more careful how we spend our money and we come much closer to limiting our purchases to useful necessities.

When we experience financial woes, we must remember Jesus’ teaching in Luke 12:13-34 that if we build our treasures here on earth, moth and rust can destroy them and thieves can break in and steal them. But treasures built in Heaven are safe from these dangers and will provide a safe and secure foundation upon which a life can be built that will endure the financial struggles that will inevitably occur. Further, Jesus promises that just as the birds of the air and the flowers are provided for by God, so too will He provide our basic and essential needs. To worry about these things, Jesus taught, is folly and doesn’t help the situation at all.

As times improve, and they eventually will, good stewards will remember the lessons learned and the more disciplined priorities of these lean times. We will keep our future expenditures under control and representative of the teachings of our Lord. These economic times will pass, although we don’t know how soon. But people of FAITH will make the most of the time to review and re-order their lives and stewardship, and will look back on 2008 as a great year when they rediscovered the power of their faith and trust in their Lord to provide their needs.

A Capital Campaign for needed improvements or additions can provide an excellent opportunity for your parishioners to step out in faith and make a Statement of Intention that will be a testament to their faith in the future and their trust in God to provide their needs

Article by: Ralph Salzgaber. Cunneen consultant, campaign director and author of Cunneen's Stewardship in Motion newsletter

The payoff!

Our profession, fundraising consulting, is a very rewarding one. We get to work with committed volunteers on interesting projects-many of which help and/or benefit our communities! As a firm that works closely with the Catholic Church and as a lifelong Catholic I get the additional benefit of getting a chance to participate in my faith in ways that have a direct, tangible impact.

However, there have been few projects that I have been more committed to than the capital campaign at my former high school Hamden Hall. This campaign to build a new athletic center is something my brother and I, as well as our firm took a personal interest in. Not so much because of our committment to athletics, I think sports are fun, but tend not to take it much further than that-but because Hamden Hall itself had such a meaningful impact on my life, my brother's and now our children.

Giving back has never felt so good.

Following please find a link to our groundbreaking. I was given the oppurtunity to speak at this event and it was a real special moment.

http://www.hamdenhall.org/ground_breaking.asp