Flight Path Dance Project

Flight Path Dance Project: who are they?

Flight Path is a tuition-free repertory training program for NYC dancers age 14-20. Beyond the studio, they engage in professional development workshops and experiences (business skills, injury prevention and management, financial literacy, meditation and wellness, professional interfacing, and performance outings), as well as an arts literacy initiative, providing a new book each month (artist biographies, science and anatomy texts, poetry, critical nonfiction, and more), all in an effort to prepare their dancers for the whole of a career in the performing arts.

Fundraising

Founded in 2018, Flight Path Dance Project established its first company of dancers in 2019. Just as they were creating a community, dance program, and the systems that would support them, the pandemic started. From their inception, they have needed to be agile and creative about their organization's sustainability. Now, we're working together to shift into a place of proactivity in their fundraising and visioning work. Together we will:

• segment and assess giving data

• create year-long fundraising plans that can adapt to changing realities

• align communication with donor needs and culture

St. Michael’s Episcopal Church

St. Michael’s: who are they?

St. Michael’s is a joyful community grounded in the love of Christ. Located in Bristol, Rhode Island, they are committed to meaningful worship, service to their community, and growing as faithful Christians.

Annual campaign

We've been brought in to help St. Michael’s reflect on how they think about and organize their annual campaign as they navigate a pastoral transition.

Alongside each other, we're working on:

• developing an infrastructure for donor record data segmentation

• providing guidance in aligning data analysis with giving strategies and formation

• coaching leadership in the creation of a theme for their annual campaign

• developing a plan for ongoing tracking and coaching of volunteers

Presbytery of Southern New England

Presbytery of Southern New England: who are they?

The Presbytery of Southern New England is comprised of 26 congregations, each of which is a unique community rooted in the love, peace and justice of Jesus Christ.

One of the ways the Presbytery seeks to support these congregations is by empowering leadership for each community to guide their congregants as they discern how to use and maintain their properties in service of their various needs, ministries, and priorities.

We’re providing support for presbytery leadership, and working with three congregations exploring land and property possibilities. We've organized this complex work into two phases.

Phase I: congregation + property assessment

• assess the needs and opportunities in the three individual congregations

• engage in congregational and community listening

• communicate with member churches about potential property strategies

Phase II: theology, core values + strategic filter

• articulate a theology of land and property that is rooted in their context

• discern core values that will reflect that theology

• develop a strategic filter for property decision-making based on these values

St. David’s Episcopal Church

St. David’s Episcopal Church: who are they?

St. David's Episcopal Church is "on a mission to know God in Jesus Christ and to make Christ known to others.”

St. David’s gives over a third of its operating budget to both local and international outreach programs to help share the love of Christ with those who are in need. There is an energizing spirit there, and a lot of programs and activities to help their community build a Christ-centered life.

Fundraising, strategy + vision

St. David’s hired an interim rector after a long-term pastorate while they engaged in a call process. Transitional periods present opportunities to reflect on how things have been done, assess what has been working, and make plans for future change. 

Our work with St. David's includes considering stewardship practices because when done well, fundraising provides opportunities to strengthen relationships, create a robust year-round ministry, deepen commitments and articulate a vision for the future. 

Together, we are:

• developing an infrastructure for donor record data segmentation

• providing guidance in aligning data analysis with giving strategies and formation

• examining individual and collective money narratives, as well as training volunteers for annual giving, at an on-site retreat

• creating a plan for growth potential to prepare for annual giving

• developing a plan for on-going tracking, education and management of volunteers

Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church: who are they?

The people of Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church seek to witness God's love in word and action. Located in State College, PA, they're a parish committed to students through their mission Episcopal At Penn State, and to local outreach at their Community Cafe.

Core values + strategic thinking

Leadership at Saint Andrew's understands that — given rapidly changing cultural understandings and expressions of faith and religiosity — churches are best served by articulating the core of who God is calling them to be in the world, and by making decisions consistently based on those values. We worked with leadership to:

• articulate their core values

• lead a Vestry retreat to practice the work of collective decision-making based on those core values

• translate their core values into a strategic filter for the entire congregation to utilize so that every decision, no matter what the scale, can be rooted in this parish's most meaningful shared beliefs

• utilize their new strategic filter to evaluate three areas of their life together — such as stewardship, buildings and grounds, and programming

Ascension School Camp and Conference Center

Ascension School:

who are they?

Ascension School Camp and Conference Center is a vital ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Oregon. Situated on approximately 100 acres of land, they are, in their own words, "A Place Apart to connect with God's mystery, celebrating the dignity, diversity and oneness of all creation."

Ascension's identity is rooted in the core values of the diocese: human dignity, creation care and spiritual formation.

Phase I: feasibility

We worked with leadership to understand if and how, through collaborative partnerships, they could raise funds for capital projects that would transform their facilities, impacting campers and their families and conference attendees, as well as the local community at-large. Our feasibility study laid the foundation for a healthy capital campaign. In this phase of our work together, we:

• honed in on and articulated the vision for a potential capital campaign

• created spaces for listening to current and potential donors, as well a variety of stakeholders (campers and their families, conference attendees, diocesan contacts, several community partners, and neighbors in Cove) to understand what is important to them and where their concerns or resistance may lie

• created opportunities for relationship-building and strengthening of partnerships for a common cause

• determined the quantifiable level of financial support that can reasonably be anticipated for the proposed projects and determine a feasible fundraising goal

The feasibility study showed 100% support for a capital campaign (a first for us!) and excitement to get started immediately. 

Phase II: solicitation

This capital campaign is one of the entire diocese, as well as the community of Cove, OR. We will begin by raising funds for the pool, which will be open to the entire Cove community, and also used for camp. Kickoff for this is at Cherry Fair, a day where people come from all over the region for a "family-friendly day of old-fashioned fun, music, and food" on the grounds of Ascension School. 

We then turn to the diocese by kicking off at the convention in the fall of 2024. A series of "Come and See" events will take place where all members of the diocese are welcome to come and experience Ascension School, and the magic it offers that just can't be communicated through words. 

All in, we are working to raise funds for the pool, the endowment to care for the costs of the pool, and to build the organizational endowment for long-term sustainability. 

The solicitation phase of capital campaigns requires dozens of volunteers, dedicated staff time, and imagination. Walking alongside them we are leading the campaign through: 

• writing and designing the case statement ← check it out!

• event planning

• tracking of gifts

• training and coaching solicitors

• creation of strategy as the campaign unfolds

Episcopal Church of the Nativity

Episcopal Church of the Nativity: who are they?

The Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Huntsville, Alabama is a congregation committed to the theological principle of being one body in Christ. In their own words, "when all the members of this body are able to be together, we will be made whole; we will be one body."⁠

Feasibility study

To be one body, Church of the Nativity is considering a capital campaign to make their buildings accessible to all bodies. We worked with this community on a feasibility study to determine next steps toward making their buildings reflect their theology. Together, we identified:

• the projects that rank highest in importance to congregants

• the level of financial support and volunteer support leadership can expect from the congregation

• best practices for communication and education if a capital campaign is planned, so the process is engaging and transparent

• money narratives at play among congregants that will be important for leadership to keep in mind as they navigate fundraising

Christ Episcopal Church

Christ Episcopal Church: who are they?

For nearly two centuries, Christ Church been a presence in downtown Little Rock. As the city has changed over that time, so has this congregation, but their commitment to love God and their neighbors has not. They gather to remember their common bond in Christ, and seek to fulfill the promises made at their baptisms to “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.”

Phase I: feasibility

As leadership considers capital improvements, they seek to understand what it means to be a part of a reawakening community, and how working together for the common good includes their congregants and neighbors alike. We worked with this congregation on a feasibility study to determine the level of support for a campaign that would:

• create a new entrance hall to improve accessibility, visibility and welcome

• expand their performance space and pub to accommodate and expand communities who gather there for artistic programming and more

• renovate their parish house with a commercial kitchen and accessible restrooms to expand welcome and hospitality to all

• refresh outdoor spaces to demonstrate gratitude for God’s gift of the land that they steward

National City Christian Church Foundation

National City Christian Church Foundation: who are they?

National City Christian Church Foundation was established in 1926 “to hold in trust, preserve, and maintain for all Disciples the physical facilities of National City Christian Church.”

Feasibility + fundraising

National City Christian Church’s neoclassical building in Washington, DC requires significant work. Their donor base is both local and national, as the building is actually owned by the denomination and yet inhabited by a local congregation. Alongside leadership of the Foundation, we worked on their year-end fundraising and in conducting a feasibility study to understand their fundraising potential and possible roadblocks. Our work included:

• coaching on creation of team and structure for feasibility study

• creation of project budget

• board facilitation

• writing and design for end-of-year fundraising letter

• writing and design for feasibility case statement

• creation of feasibility infrastructure

• receipt of surveys and conducting interviews

• data analysis

• creation of comprehensive report for next steps

Episcopal Diocese of Missouri

Deaconess Anne House: who are they?

The Deaconess Anne House was founded in 2012 as a ministry of the Diocese of Missouri and as a branch of the national Episcopal Service Corps program. This residential ministry sought to house young adults who spent a year living in intentional community, working at partnering social service/non-profit organizations, rooting all their work in Benedictine spiritual formation, and sharing in a communal rule of life.

Strategy + vision

In an on-going effort to ensure the program was meeting the needs and priorities of the Diocese of Missouri, Bishop Deon Johnson placed a pause on the program and engaged Vandersall Collective in August of 2022 to perform a review. This review included:

• a document review of over 300 pages of founding documents

• 19 stakeholder interviews

• creation of a diocesan-wide survey of delegates

• data analysis

• competitive analysis of the field

• comprehensive report with recommendations for short and long-term next steps

UKirk SMU

UKirk SMU: who are they?

UKirk SMU is a place where all belong on the campus at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Just a few years into their LGBTQIA-affirming, anti-racist ministry, they identified a need: their students need a long-term, permanent space where they can connect, share meals, study, engage in service, rest and most of all, call home.

Phase I: feasibility

We conducted a feasibility study to explore possibilities in establishing their own place of belonging. Alongside leadership, we:

• facilitated conversations that crystalized and articulated UKirk SMU's vision

• aligned potential projects with organizational values in a way that resonates with potential donors

• laid the groundwork for ongoing communications related to developing a case for a capital campaign

• created spaces for relationship-building and strengthening partnerships in common cause

Phase II: annual giving + fundraising

After an invigorating feasibility study, we recommended that UKirk SMU establish an annual giving program. An intentional and robust fundraising infrastructure is essential for the success of potential capital campaigns, and this infrastructure also creates meaningful opportunities for community and donor engagement.

Equipped with data generated by feasibility work, and after analyzing UKirk SMU's giving data, we:

• created a 12-month fundraising plan

• organized events for individual and congregational donors to experience the power of the UKirk SMU community

• prepared for one-on-one invitations to pledge to the UKirk SMU community over both an annual and multi-year period

• created a thank you rubric which engages fundraising committee, board and staff

• implemented an of year-end campaign

• planned a gala fundraising event with volunteers and staff

St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church

St. Cyprian’s: who are they?

St. Cyprian's was founded in 1866, and is both the oldest and first Black Episcopal parish in North Carolina.

Known for their legacy of creating spaces of refuge and belonging for people of color in their local community, St. Cyprian’s has been described as the "center of ripples" throughout New Bern. This community welcomes all people to join them for worship and ministry. 

Strategy + vision

After Hurricane Florence in 2018, St. Cyprian’s building was severely damaged and the congregation was not able to meet. Then, after a long period of building repairs and years of being closed due to the pandemic, St. Cyprian's partnered with us to ask deep strategic questions about their identity.

To support this congregation in their work toward reconnection and deepened engagement in their community, we:

• engaged their leadership planning group in measurable goal-setting

• identified problems of gatekeeping and systemic racism to be addressed

• provided an analysis to both the leadership group and the judicatory body as to how variables within the system impact the ability to proceed

New York Aikikai

New York Aikikai:

who are they?

Aikido is a traditional Japanese martial art focused on learning to "become an integrated and balanced individual and explore our full human potential." — Yoshimitsu Yamada

Since 1964, the New York Aikikai has cultivated an energy that is unique to their dojo and community. The energy of Yamada Sensei and those who trained with him has transformed this dojo into the unique place it is today, making aikido accessible to everyone who finds their way to this special school in Manhattan.

Phase I: annual campaign

New York Aikikai has been a center for this beautiful martial art for more than fifty years. For their community to continue to thrive and to adhere to city regulations, their school needs a variety of improvements. We saw the need for a capital campaign, but first, we knew it was essential to establish a fundraising base.

In the middle of laying this foundation, the aikido community experienced a great loss: the first chief instructor of the New York Aikikai passed away in early 2023. Fundraising generally and capital campaigns specifically are deeply linked to who a community is, who they have been, and who they are becoming. Grief, of course, plays a part in all of this. We walked alongside leadership as they navigated reflections on their community’s identity, and helped them strengthen their bonds with each other as they moved into a new era.

When we first started working with the New York Aikikai, there wasn't a history of strong annual campaigns. When done well, annual campaigns thread the needle between donors motivations and giving, and also train leadership to communicate, organize and ask. Annual campaigns train fundraising muscles for capital campaigns. Prior to launching a capital campaign, we ran two annual campaigns.

Phase II: feasibility

On the heels of the pandemic, we conducted a feasibility study, which continued to thread the needle between motivation and giving. We communicated the great care that this community has for each other through:

• creating a case statement

• interviewing and surveying individuals throughout the world

• making recommendations not only for an appropriate goal and timeline, but also for necessary changes in infrastructure to ensure long-term success.

• onboarding a new database, procedures for thanking, and more regular communication and transparency

Phase III: solicitation

As we were preparing to begin the solicitation portion of the campaign, the school’s beloved chief instructor and leader Yoshimitsu Yamada Sensei passed away. After a few months of adjusting to the new normal and hosting a memorial service that drew people from all over the world, we started up again.

New fundraising goals were set, leadership recruited, and we utilized the legacy of Yamada Sensei as a way for people to honor their relationship with the dojo, while looking squarely forward to the strong promise that the future holds for this community. Finishing the campaign at the end of January 2024, we raised funds from individuals, dojos and communities in 14 countries. The organization surpassed their primary and stretch goals, and exceeded everyone's expectations.

Phase IV: new website

Coming out of the gate with such strength in 2024 we turned our attention to a new website. Between the community having been gathered in new ways through the capital campaign, and the expectations for strengthened communications, we translated much of the learnings from the campaign into a brand new, interactive website.

Phase V: maintenance of website + communications

We continue to maintain this site, and manage New York Aikikai’s communications.

Good Samaritan Episcopal Church

Good Sam: who are they?

Good Sam’s close-knit community enjoys fellowship time together, highlighted by an annual outdoor worship service and parish picnic each autumn where they can truly marvel at the beauty of God’s creation all around us while we worship.

Good Sam’s parish motto is “Grow in Faith, Live in Hope, Share God’s Love,” and at Good Sam, we daily strive to meet these goals as our parish looks forward to the future together.

Phase I: listening

In the midst of the pandemic, the Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan was asking crucial questions about their identity. As the congregation experienced online worship and virtual community, parishioners were reflecting what was of value and remained true over a changing season. Through a parish-wide listening phase we:

• implemented a process for all voices to be heard

• identified and defined the core values of the faith community

• created a core filter for making decisions together

• trained the leadership on how to use the filter across the organization.

In addition to identifying core values, the strategic visioning process prepared the congregation for a capital campaign as it provided a process for asking what it means to be a good neighbor in their context.

Phase II: feasibility

For some time, members of Good Sam dreamed of engaging in capital improvements. In the spring of 2023, they engaged in a feasibility study to determine the level of support for a proposed campaign. They wanted to move forward with the support of the congregation and, not having done a capital campaign in more than two decades, wanted to make sure they knew the:

• level of awareness of the proposed plans within the parish

• level of support for moving forward with a capital campaign

• level of engagement by the congregation with the projects and their perception of priority

• realistic and feasible goals should a campaign move forward

The results of our feasibility study strongly suggested that Good Sam move forward, and also provided insights into the congregation that would be invaluable to running a healthy capital campaign and to Good Sam's overall strategy for fundraising going forward.

Phase III: solicitation

With the feasibility study as as our infrastructure, we moved into the solicitation phase with confidence. In the fall of 2023, Good Sam launched Assurance of Things Hoped For, a capital campaign with a goal of $1,203,071. Leadership and volunteers invited gifts while also making sure to keep the congregation informed and engaged, and the process transparent.

In January 2024, Good Sam raised $1,305,155. They surpassed the goal the feasibility study pointed us toward, and just as importantly, they strengthened relationships and inspired the congregation to imagine new possibilities for love, active caring, and servanthood. A healthy capital campaign by all of our standards.

Synod of Alberta and the Northwest

Synod of Alberta: who are they?

75+ years ago, members of the Presbyterian Synod of Alberta saw the need and recognized the rewards of camping for families.

In our fast-paced society, church camping gives people the opportunity to learn about Jesus Christ in natural surroundings and to develop a sense of worth and to know they are important.

Fundraising, strategy + vision

A Synod in the Presbyterian Church of Canada that covers a wide geographic region, they came to us to assess their needs and priorities, and to suggest a way forward based on this understanding. We conducted a financial and missional audit of two areas of their ministry with recommendations for how to proceed. In our work, we:

• recruited and worked with a core team

• did a comprehensive document review

• conducted interviews throughout the province

• created a comprehensive report with findings and recommendations

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

St. Stephen’s: who are they?

St. Stephen’s was founded in 1822 as a racially integrated congregation that strives to be a “house of prayer for all people” by living into the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. 

In the mid-2000's it became a leader in the diocese as one of the few who welcomed LGBTQIA+ members in the midst of controversy over the ordination of the Bishop Gene Robinson in New Hampshire.

Mindful of their roots, they carry forward this mission of inclusivity and radical welcome in 21st century Charleston and beyond.

Phase I: listening

As St. Stephen's continues to live faithfully into the commandment to love their neighbors as themselves, they've begun to burst at the seams. To support them in understanding how best to accommodate their growth, we engaged in a listening phase in which we asked the congregation critical discernment questions.

After three months of congregational conversations, St. Stephen's successfully articulated how their building and plant allow them to live into their identity of being a house of prayer for all people, and just as importantly, how their building and plant limit them from living into this identity.

Phase II: feasibility

To test the level of support for projects named during the listening phase, we moved into working on a feasibility study with St. Stephen's. We conducted personal interviews as well as a congregation-wide survey, and our analysis of the results — both quantitatively and qualitatively — provided leadership with data to answer these tough questions:

• what projects do you prioritize? what projects are less of a priority? 

• what is the level of support for a capital campaign, both financially and volunteer-wise? 

• what are your opinions about debt?

African Dream Academy Foundation

African Dream Academy Foundation: who are they?

The African Dream Academy Foundation (ADAF) was established to support the African Dream Academy (ADA) — a tuition-free, independent, co-ed school located in Monrovia, Liberia. By fundraising to support the school, the Foundation contributes to the Academy’s larger mission to break the cycle of poverty in Liberia through increasing the literacy rate.

Phase I: audit + retreat

After receiving a grant for board development, our team was hired to conduct a development audit and lead a board fundraising retreat. During our audit and retreat, we:

• reviewed fundraising procedures

• reviewed thanking procedures

• interviewed donors

• analyzed donor data to understand growth potential

• wrote comprehensive report with recommendations

• led fundraising retreat to present findings and work on money narratives 

Phase II: implementation

Taking the results and recommendations from our audit work, we led them through a 6-month process to revamp their fundraising efforts. During the implementation phase, we:

• created annual fundraising timeline

• wrote and designed case materials to match donor motivations heard during Phase I

• wrote and designed a donor website

• trained volunteers

Arlington Presbyterian Church

Arlington Presbyterian: who are they?

Arlington Presbyterian Church is an open congregation committed to welcome, nurture, and serve all of God’s children; and to live out God’s radical call to love neighbor as you love yourself.

Fundraising + vision

After years of faithful discernment, Arlington Presbyterian was challenged with a new three-pronged vision: to create affordable housing, to be a place of crossroads and connection, and to nurture disciples of Jesus Christ. APC was called to sell its building and land to the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) in order to build Gilliam Place, a 173-unit affordable housing apartment community on the site of our previous building on Columbia Pike. This vision was shaped by the stories of their neighbors, in particular their struggle to connect within the community and to find affordable housing in South Arlington. As one church member recalls, “the call to create affordable housing was bigger than the old building itself – so, the walls came down.”

We started working with Arlington Presbyterian in the wake of this major change and identity shift for Arlington Presbyterian Church. In the fall of 2020, we:

• lead a retreat to explore their money story and release anxiety in the system

• write an intensive recap report with extensive recommendations.

• facilitate a strategic thinking process to identify core values

• create a strategic filter rooted in core values for decision making

• work with leadership to develop a MOU with the judicatory body for future money considerations

• engage in ongoing coaching to provide professional support for ongoing culture changes around money.

Currently we are walking alongside them to implement recommendations, including coaching on the budget process, financial policies and procedures, a financial screen and rubric, and writing of a Lenten Bible study with the topic of What does God say about poor people and rich people?

Rev. Ashley Goff joined us for our webinar on strategic filters in 2022. Check it out below!

Arts, Religion, Culture (ARC)

ARC: who are they?

ARC is a collaborative community for those who cultivate embodied and just ways of knowing and being through creative and spiritual practices. It is the result of the 2017 merger of The Society for Arts, Religion, and Contemporary Culture (SARCC) and the Association for Theopoetics Research and Exploration (ATRE).

Fundraising, strategy + vision

Looking to strengthen their partnerships, board leadership, and income streams, ARC worked with our team to increase their giving and position itself for the next phase of organizational life. Together we:

• segmented giving records and created a plan for reaching out to previous donors

• created a concrete timetable that included both major giving and new givers

• developed an infrastructure for inviting and receiving gifts

Calvary Episcopal Church

Calvary Episcopal: who are they?

Calvary Episcopal Church is an eclectic bunch of Christian people who don’t all think the same thoughts, or dress the same way, or vote for the same candidates, or even believe all the same things about the mystery of God and what it means to be human.

Listening + feasibility

Together, we helped Calvary discern how their space reflects their core values and what is needed for the congregation to live into their collective vision. ⁣We created and led a listening process where guided conversations fostered deeper relationships and capital improvement projects were identified. We then engaged in a feasibility study, concluded that there was indeed a campaign to conduct and are currently in the midst of implementation of soliciting gifts. 

An excellent sermon regarding feasibility study results in which The Rev. Scott Walters speaks beautifully about how and why we do our work.

Christ Church Episcopal

Christ Church: who are they?

The people of Christ Church Episcopal are passionate about living and loving more like Jesus every day. It is their collective belief that their community isn't only called to go to church but to be the church. To be the church, they're engaged in worship as well as active care for their community through food justice work at Shalom Farms, and through housing justice work at Habitat for Humanity.

Fundraising

Our team has worked with this congregation since 2020. Over the past four years, they have undergone a cultural shift in providing transparency around giving and the culture around confidentiality in pledges.

Now, as they have successfully called a new rector, their congregation is ready to implement a year-round stewardship model that will allow formation and education throughout the year.

Christ Episcopal Church

Christ Church: who are they?

The mission of Christ Episcopal Church, New Bern, NC, is to welcome and inspire all people to faith, hope and spiritual growth through worship, Christian fellowship, and service to one another and to the community beyond.

Phase I: feasibility

Christ Church came to us with meaty goals for a capital campaign, but with the need to test out those goals through a feasibility study. We led the congregation through the study by writing and developing case materials, interviewing prospective donors, and facilitating an online survey. We were pleased to find feasibility and are have now completed the implementation of their capital campaign.

“We chose Vandersall Collective because they care as much about the life and future of the whole parish as they do about the campaign they are assisting with. This challenges us to look beyond where we are and see where we can be, both financially and spiritually.”

— The Rev. Paul Canady

Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee

The Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee: who are they?

The Diocese of Tennessee is open to the power of God and obedient to Jesus’ command to make disciples: proclaiming the Good News of Jesus’ death and resurrection to the whole creation.

They are responsive to the needs of the world that God created and for which Jesus died. They are committed to our life together, for the sake of the life of the world.

The Diocese of Tennessee is committed to providing its congregations with formation and support in the area of stewardship. Every year, it sponsors a day-long workshop for clergy, vestry, and stewardship committees to attend.

We created and ran a workshop with content that included:

• exploring money narratives

• the theology of stewardship as a contextual ministry

• learning who are in our pews and their donor needs

• generational characteristics and strategies

• information on how the fundraising landscape has changed the past three years and how to respond

Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina

The Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina: who are they?

The Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina are a diocese committed to renewal, to sharing the faith that has changed our lives, and to increasing diversity among their ranks.

In so doing, they celebrate and affirm the broad Anglican tradition, which welcomes seekers, embraces inquiry, and offers a wide variety of worship styles grounded and unified by the liturgy in the Book of Common Prayer.

Fundraising

The Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina is committed to providing its congregations with formation and support in the area of stewardship.

Vandersall Collective organized and ran a workshop with content including:

• exploring money narratives

• the theology of stewardship as a contextual ministry 

• information on how the fundraising landscape has changed since 2016 (donor motivations, IRA giving, change in charitable tax law) and how to respond

First Presbyterian Church

First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto: who are they?

First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto’s DNA is rooted in a deep call to faith, a passionate yearning for justice, and a vigorous intellectual curiosity.

This plays out in worship, casual conversations, and how their community is active outside the church.

Fundraising

First Presbyterian sought a development audit to help them understand how their fundraising processes lined up with their members desires and needs. After leading a retreat on money narratives, reviewing processes and conducting a series of interviews, we created a lengthy report with findings and recommendations.

Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion

The Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion: who are they?

Holy Communion in University City, MO is a welcoming and diverse community seeking to walk in the way of Jesus and to reveal Christ’s reconciling love in their city, nation, and world.

Feasibility

To prepare to do a feasibility study for Holy Communion, we developed case materials and through this process, helped define the goals of the campaign.

Then, alongside leadership and volunteers, we conducted interviews and facilitated the process for a congregational-wide survey. Once we found that there was feasibility for the campaign, we successfully led the congregation through their capital campaign, exceeding their goal!

Middle Collegiate Church

Middle Collegiate Church is a celebrating, culturally diverse, inclusive and growing community of faith where all people are welcomed just as they are as they come through the door. As a teaching congregation that celebrates the arts, our ministries include rich and meaningful worship, care and education that nurture the mind, body and spirit, social action which embraces the global community, and participation in an interfaith dialogue for the purpose of justice and reconciliation.

At a crossroads of funding sources and with a need for a plan, we conducted a development audit, provided an annual calendar and implemented their year-end campaign.

Music that Makes Community

A non-profit organization working with ecumenical communities and leaders, MMC empowers and liberates communities’ spiritual life through singing.

Case Study

When Paul Vasile took the reins as Executive Director, Music That Makes Community needed to raise funds urgently and quickly. A small, but engaged and energetic Board, took up the challenge to envision with Vandersall Collective how to bring the organizational skills and larger vision of their Executive Director to life in vibrant new ways.

1. How do we tell our story in a way that will foster active participation and financial engagement?

2. What are our priorities as an organization?

3. What are the new horizons we can explore as we invite people to support us?

VEHICLES FOR CHANGE

Fundraising—A customized fundraising initiative that incorporated the small pool of major donors and the wide-ranging group of individuals and organizations that had experienced the power of the ministry of Music That Makes Community over the years.

NEW DIRECTIONS

Collateral Materials—A fresh new face for a new era in the life of MMC, communicated in clean, bright, high contrast visuals, and accessible words to reflect an organization that is all about human connection

Board Member Training—Working with Board members in the basic mechanics of donor cultivation and funding requests, Vandersall Collective planted seeds that would outlive our hands on engagement

Donor Strategy—Creating a tracking system, tailored to the donor base, needs, and vision of the organization, along with communication and note-taking features to support tracking and maintaining relationships

Major Donor Campaign—Vandersall Collective then conceptualized, wrote, designed and launched a fall campaign, telling the story of the organization through the testimonies of those who had received MMC’s services and requesting support. We seized this opportunity to increase the grassroots supporters and also to increase the number of larger donors as well as opening the way for multiple conversations with prospective board members.

Grass Roots Cultivation—By connecting with those who had received MMC’s services, we not only gleaned beautiful stories, we helped to build another, broad-based constituency of individual giving and engagement for the future vision.

ON THE HORIZON

Having exceeded fundraising goals and met our quick timeline, we continue to work toward a bright and creative new era of transformation and community through music.

“On our own, we would not be able to navigate these waters. We’re grateful for the partnership we feel with Mieke and her team.”

— The Rev. Donald Schell, Board President

Society for the Increase of the Ministry (SIM)

All people and all societies need wise spiritual leadership to inspire, inform and renew our lives. The Society for the Increase of the Ministry (SIM) guarantees the identification and education of outstanding faith leaders whose public imagination and witness matter in our world. SIM is expanding scholarships to increase the positive impact of faith leadership on our common life.

SIM, having served the Episcopal Church since 1857, found themselves at another crossroad with a renewed desire to influence theological education and church leadership for the 21st century. We began our work with SIM through leading the board on a retreat to explore strategic direction, and then then continued our work together through their year-end fundraising efforts, and the creation of a strategic plan and development plan. We continue to provide support through year-end fundraising campaigns.

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church

At St. Andrew’s, Austin, TX, they try their hardest to be a warm, creative, justice-oriented community, rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

St. Andrews’s came to us wanting to test out their goals for a capital campaign, which would enable the congregation to live into their mission and values to serve their neighbors through significant building improvements. We conducted their feasibility study and created their case materials, conducted in-person interviews and facilitated their on-line survey. We then wrote a detailed report with recommendations for living into their goals.

St. Anne of Grace Episcopal Church

St. Anne of Grace Episcopal Church is a church plant in the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida. Looking to move from mission to parish status, the leadership invited Erin to provide a 2-day training on year-round stewardship, speak at the kick-off dinner, and preach at all services on All Saints Day.

St. John's Episcopal Church

A thriving program-sized congregation with a history that reaches back 200 years, they are in the midst of cultural shifts in their money stories to move from transactional giving to deeply rooted theological practices in giving.

We have led a retreat to explore money narratives with the congregation's leadership and conducted a development audit in order to better understand the congregation's money stories. We also led their annual campaigns for 2021 and 2022.

St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral

St. Paul’s Cathedral serves as a center of transformative love, faith and service: an inclusive, Christ-centered community that welcomes all people on their journey of faith.

To plan for a comprehensive capital campaign to help their physical structure reflect their values and mission, we led a period of listening and stakeholder engagement.

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

St Paul's Episcopal Church, Franklin, TN is the state's oldest Episcopal Church. A community rich in history, St. Paul's is now asking how its space can best be utilized to live more fully into God’s vision for the future. It's our job to work with the congregation to conduct a Feasibility Study, which will help them determine what resources are available and how the energy and passion of their community can be harnessed to help their vision come to life.⁣⁣

We are delighted to have worked with as partners committed to raising funds as part of a ministry that responds in meaningful ways to the needs and possibilities around them. Together we engaged in a feasibility study and a revamp of annual giving during the pandemic year of 2020. We then implemented a capital campaign and are thrilled that they exceeded their fundraising goals!

Episcopal Church of Minnesota

The Episcopal Church in Minnesota (ECMN) is a network of faith communities - churches, schools, non-profits, care centers - that is called to transformation by engaging God’s mission.

We worked with the Episcopal Church of Minnesota on a two year fundraising campaign to raise money for its scholarship programs for youth and children to attend summer camps. The scholarship fund is a new one and has required a grassroots approach to ensure broad support and engagement across the diocese while adapting quarterly to the realities of COVID-19.

Trinity Episcopal Church

A small but thriving parish in urban St. Louis, this congregation bridges long-held divides in the city. Committed to Anglo-Catholic worship and social justice, they sought to both align their money narratives with their core values and increase giving. We worked with the leadership to articulate those core values, translated them into a strategic filter, conducted a development audit, taught leadership how to utilize giving data, and coached them through their 2021 annual giving campaign.

Trinity Episcopal Church

Trinity Church is a congregation in the suburbs of the Twin Cities. In order to meet the programmatic needs of the congregation, the leadership needed to increase the budget. We worked with them to establish an aspirational budget, grow its major donor base, create annual material, and ultimately meet its goal by raising almost $50,000 in increased funding.

The next year we were hired to conduct a feasibility study and at the same time successfully run their 2021 annual campaign with a 20% budgetary increase.