Dear siblings in Christ,
I want to thank you all for your generosity that led to the resounding success of the Music Center major gifts campaign. This was no ordinary campaign, in general terms or for our Cathedral community. I wish to provide a bit of insight into how it was able to be so successful through all of you. It was a lot of work in the background starting in my earliest days here, and while I do not want to bore everyone with too much detail, I hope it illuminates what successful planning is like. I hope we can all learn and apply in the future, and not just for fundraising.
The first question to ask before beginning of any large venture: What can we do? Two years before I arrived, the clergy and lay leadership, and staff, asked the community what about the campus could be changed, especially considering the construction of 525 Olive. Through many small group meetings and other data gathering, a Master Plan was created with the architectural designs. The Master Plan identified several areas of investment; it became our task to position the funding needs as opportunities for change and growth. Chapter then authorized us to explore the possibilities further.
Working from there, we hired consultants, as guides for the journey are always necessary, and the campaign would not have been as well structured without them. Once we hired Netzel Grigsby Associates (NGA), things really took off. We established a feasibility study process and an attached committee to see what was possible, doing one-on-ones and other interviews. It included all the proposed changes of the Master Plan as a sort of menu to potential donors, for a total proposal of $12.5 million. It became clear that there was capacity to do a Music Center campaign, a $2.5 million project. We presented the findings to Chapter, which voted for us to move forward with a campaign.
This began the “quiet” or “whisper phase” of the campaign. The next step was starting the Leadership Giving Committee to encourage Chapter members to give up to 10% of the overall goal to kickstart the campaign, which was successful. We then created the Campaign Steering Committee, and the larger work began. And now, here we are, completed and over goal by 2%.
My biggest take away? It’s personal connection that drives success. Working the phones, personal meetings and solicitations are always far more effective than broad communications. While we may look at success as something that is inevitable in the rearview, we often fail to realize that motivated leadership and other supporters calling people personally gets us all where we want to go. Mission-driven success requires full commitment, passion, and a willingness to take personal risk for communal gains. Each person involved in the structural success of the campaign lived that out. Whether it is the strategic plan, the next major gifts campaign, or any other wider effort we choose to enact, I hope we take the lessons from this successful campaign and make it part of our culture, so we can continue to bear the fruits of God’s reign among each other in our pursuit of becoming evermore the Cathedral for the City. Thank all of you for ensuring our next step forward in that endeavor.
For those interested in where we are with the actual construction, we have a couple of updates. As you may recall, Voices of Our City Choir occupies the space under the Great Hall which will become the Music Center. Seeing as we all wish to continue our partnership, they will be moving to the 3rd floor of the breezeway. The first step to moving them into their new space is putting in a 3rd floor restroom. Due to the unfortunate floods from irrigation issues that have affected Voices’ current space, mitigation work for discovered asbestos, which requires abatement. Once that’s complete, drilling for plumbing from the third flood down can commence. Once Voices is able to move to the third floor, we can begin work in the basement, which we are anticipating having permits to move forward by the end of this month. We anticipate using the old library/former Bishop’s office as the music library for the choir while construction is underway.
With joy and hope,
~Rev. Richard
