The Greatest Gift We Have to Give Moving Beyond Fundraising to Truly Help our Congregations Thrive...
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The Greatest Gift We Have to Give Moving Beyond Fundraising to Truly Help our Congregations Thrive in Today’s Society Presented and Facilitated by Gregory
The Greatest Gift We Have to Give Moving Beyond Fundraising to
Truly Help our Congregations Thrive in Todays Society Presented and
Facilitated by Gregory J Griffin Congregational Director, Mission
Advancement Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities
Slide 2
The Greatest Gift We Have to Give Our Calling Whatever you do,
work at it with all of your heart, as working for the Lord, not for
men (or women), since you know you will receive an inheritance from
the Lord as a reward - Colossians (3:23-24)
Slide 3
The Greatest Gift We Have to Give Our Challenge The Incredible
Shrinking Catholic Church - American Spectator Nuns, a Dying Breed
- NY Times Where Have all the Sisters Gone? - Catholic Observer
Number of Priests and Nuns in Marked Decline - The Telegraph Crunch
Time for American Catholicism American Catholic Online
Slide 4
The Greatest Gift We Have to Give And Today there are 54,018
religious sisters in the U.S. compared to179,954 in 1965. The
average age of the Catholic Sister/Nun today is 74. Religious
Brothers have declined from close to 13,000 in 1965 to fewer than
5,000 in 2012 While the number of Catholic priests in the United
States more than doubled to 58,000, between 1930 and 1965, since
then that number has fallen to fewer than 13,000 active ordained
priests. The average age of active ordained priests is 64. In 1965,
1,575 new priests were ordained in the United States. In 2012, the
number was 487. In 1965, only 1 percent of U.S. parishes were
without a priest. Today, there over 3,000 priestess parishes, 15
percent of all U.S. parishes. Between 1965 and 2012, the number of
seminarians dropped from 49,000 to 3,723, a decline of over 92
percent. Two-thirds of the 600 seminaries that were operating in
1965 have now closed. Over half of all Catholic high schools in the
United States have closed since 1965. The student population has
fallen from 700,000 to 386,000.
Slide 5
The Greatest Gift We Have to Give The Greatest Gift We Have to
Give The harsh reality is that our congregation, without a
transformational change in the way we steward our resources, will
run out of money long before we run out of sisters. And the real
kicker is that we cant earn our way out, we cant save our way out,
and I dont think we can fundraise our way out. - Gael Sopchak
General Manager Sisters of St. Francis
Slide 6
The Greatest Gift We Have to Give We Cant Fundraise Our Way
Out?!! WHY WERE WE HIRED?! Experience Fundraising Success Expertise
Perspective To Fill a Void The Bigger Question What did we get
ourselves into?!!
Slide 7
The Greatest Gift We Have to Give What is the greatest gift we
have to give as development officers for our congregations? Passion
Experience Perspective Vision Skill Charisma
Slide 8
The Greatest Gift We Have to Give A LOVE STORY True Love is
your souls recognition of its counterpoint in another Love is Trust
Understanding Deeply personal Desire to go above and beyond
Slide 9
The Greatest Gift We Have to Give What are we expected to do?
Raise Money!!!!! Build relationships with donors Create fundraising
programs Acknowledge donors Fundraising events Development
communications Build a database of friends and donors What do we
really do? Create, revitalize and build relationships Help to craft
and carry the message Tell and retell the story Enrich and enable
progress Help people to see and to celebrate the good Support and
advance the mission Evolution of Thought About Who We Are
Slide 10
The Greatest Gift We Have to Give Who do we need to be?
Apostles Partners in planning Truth seekers and providers
Expectation managers Cheerleaders Matchmakers Facilitators
Visionaries Change agents
Slide 11
The Greatest Gift We Have to Give The Greatest Gift We Have to
Give Why us? We bring experience Weve worked in other organizations
that have either been successful or have failed miserably We are
resourceful We are skilled in the art of persuasion We know how to
communicate We know how to motivate and mobilize others We are good
listeners We are dedicated to service We make lemonade from lemons
The glass is always half-full
Slide 12
The Greatest Gift We Have to Give My friends tell me I have an
intimacy problem. But they don't really know me." Garry Shandling
LOVE IS UNDERSTANDING How well do you know your congregation?
1.History 2.Mission and Ministries 3.Members 4.Leadership &
Governance 5.Culture 6.Current Trends and Issues 7.Partnerships and
Associates 8.Patron Saint 9.Macro Issues facing US Catholic
Orgs
Slide 13
The Greatest Gift We Have to Give Getting to Know You, Getting
to Know All About You Best Resources Congregational Archivist(s)
Walk around Inspiration Membership biographies Chapter/Mid-term
meeting minutes Leadership team meeting minutes Strategic planning
materials Annual reports Consultant reports/audits Vendor proposals
Congregational financial statements Books written by members of the
congregation
Slide 14
The Greatest Gift We Have to Give Becoming an Asset to your
Congregation Great Resources that Provide Context to Our Work and
our Mission as Development Officers Books The Remarkable Rise,
Meteoric Fall, and Uncertain Future of Catholicism in America by
Russell Shaw Sisters: Catholic Nuns and the Making of America by
John Fialka Why Priests? A Failed Tradition by Gary Willis Nuns, a
History of Convent Life by Silvia Evangelisti Double Crossed:
Uncovering the Catholic Church's Betrayal of American Nuns by
Kenneth Briggs Out of Chaos: Refounding Religious Congregations by
G. Arbuckle Articles Authentic Responses to the Future of Religious
Life Brother Paul Michalenko and Dominic Perri in HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT, Winter 2012, Vol. 33, Issue 4
Slide 15
The Greatest Gift We Have to Give Resources (Continued)
Articles (contd) Gather the Wisdom, Weave a Dream, Transformative
Visioning as a Refounding Process by Ted Dunn; Human Development,
Vol. 31, No.2 Refounding Religious Life: A Choice for
Transformational Change by Ted Dunn; Human Development, Vol. 30,
No. 3 The Challenge of Reconfiguration: New Opportunities for
Religious Congregations by Patricia Wittberg, Human Development,
Vol. 30, No. 3 The Way We Were: Legacy, Organizational Identity and
the Role of Leadership by J. Walsh and M.A. Glynn; Corporate
Reputation Review, Vol. 11, No. 3
Slide 16
The Greatest Gift We Have to Give Resources (Continued)
Associations/Organizations You Should Know U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Leadership Conference of Women Religious
(LCWR) Supporting Our Aging Religious (SOAR) Center for Applied
Research in the Apostolate (CARA) National Religious Retirement
Office (NRRO) AND OF COURSE. National Catholic Development
Conference (NCDC)
Slide 17
The Greatest Gift We Have to Give "My wife was afraid of the
dark... then she saw me naked and now she's afraid of the light."
Rodney Dangerfield LOVE IS DEEPLY PERSONAL Why must we turn our
jobs into our mission? 1.Obligation Our congregations are counting
on us! 2.Pragmatic We may be out of work in 5 years 3.Practical The
more we know the better we can fulfill our mission 4.The Greater
Good Its the right thing to do 5.Personal We can and will make a
difference 6.Whimsical Its just so much fun! 7.Spiritual It is our
calling to do so
Slide 18
The Greatest Gift We Have to Give Turning Our Jobs Into Our
Mission Earning your seat at the table Engaging your congregation
at all levels Leading by example Assimilating to the culture
Speaking the language Demonstrating your resourcefulness (NCDC)
Being a person of excellence Being transparent
Slide 19
The Greatest Gift We Have to Give "I love you no matter what
you do, but do you have to do so much of it?" Jean Illsley Clarke
LOVE IS GOING ABOVE & BEYOND What is our mission? Traditional
Fundraising Developing and managing a comprehensive program for
development Annual Giving, Major Giving, Planned Giving Engaging
our congregation Special Events planning and management Development
communications Donor acknowledgment and stewardship programs
Managing Website
Slide 20
The Greatest Gift We Have to Give Going Above and Beyond
Non-Traditional Merchandise and Memorabilia Programs Congregational
Strategic Planning Congregational Vision Planning
Vocations/Formation Programs Associates/Lay Membership Programs
Facilitating Governance and Decision Making Structures Prayer
Ministry Residential Community Planning Congregational Financial
Management and Planning Sponsored Ministry Support and Planning YOU
HAVE A ROLE TO PLAY IN ALL OF THESE AREAS!
Slide 21
The Greatest Gift We Have to Give A Love Story Part II The
Sisters of St. Francis and Us! Since 2009 (First Year of
Congregational Mission Advancement) Traditional Mission Advancement
Success Gift Income increased from $950,000 to $6.5 million Donors
increase from 3,200 to close to 5,000 5 separate regional databases
combined into Raisers Edge. Increased active prospect records from
around 17,000 to 28,000+ Annual, Major and Planned Giving Programs
developed and sophisticated each year. Regional newsletters
replaced with congregational newsletter (winner of NCDC 2012 Best
in Class and Best in Show) Developed on-line Mission Advancement
pages including on-line giving option. Developed congregation-wide
Benefactor Day to complement full suite of signature special
events.
Slide 22
The Greatest Gift We Have to Give A Love Story Part II The
Sisters of St. Francis and Us! Non-Traditional Mission Advancement
Success Developed a congregational merchandise and memorabilia
program Developed and executed a St. Marianne canonization
strategic plan which included the distribution of over 150,000
prayer cards and novenas to Catholic schools, parishes and dioceses
around the U.S. Conducted strategic analysis and recommendations
for 3 SOSF unincorporated ministries. At Leaderships request, have
conducted best-practice research on vocations programs, associates
programs and prayer enrollment programs. Will be starting research
on prayer ministry programs in the fall. One of two lay staff
(Business Manager is the other) to support Leaderships strategic
and vision planning endeavors (with an outside consultant) Write,
review and/or edit a majority of Leadership presentations/written
communications to congregation.
Slide 23
The Greatest Gift We Have to Give Your talent is God's gift to
you. What you do with it is your gift back to God. - Unknown The
greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest
things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest
things. Ronald Reagan Start with what is necessary, then do what is
possible, suddenly, you are doing the impossible - St. Francis of
Assisi Youve been called to share your gifts...