In 2019, UCE will be embarking on a capital campaign. A capital campaign is a focused effort to raise additional funding for specific needs identified by the church community (such as new facilities or significant repair to existing facilities).  Most congregations have a capital campaign every seven to ten years; the last campaign at UCE was ten years ago. We wanted to share with our congregation the steps we took over the last several years to arrive at the decision to engage in a capital campaign.

Initial Planning

In 2015, church leadership started evaluating the needs of our church building that exceeded what we could cover in our annual budget. We asked committees, councils, and individual members about their long-term vision for their work in the congregation and community, and then, what would make them more effective in pursuing that vision. We identified a variety of building needs, including:

  • upkeep needs (e.g., resurfacing of the parking lot, roof repair)
  • upgrades (e.g., remodeled kitchen, air conditioning the sanctuary)
  • emerging needs (e.g., playscape for our youngest members)

After gathering this input from the congregation, a group of congregant and staff members worked to gather additional information about each potential project, such as options, costs, plans, and pictures. At this stage, the group determined that the next step should be to determine the feasibility of a capital campaign. With board approval, UCE contracted with Pratapas and Associates, a consulting firm specializing in capital campaign work, to conduct a formal feasibility study.

UCE formed a feasibility team to work alongside Pratapas and Associates. The team worked to refine the list of projects, to write a case for a campaign, and to survey the congregation. That final part of the study was the most exciting, because it connected us with you, the congregation!

The Feasibility Study: Asking the Congregation!

To determine the feasibility of embarking on a capital campaign, the study team reached out to the congregation in 2018 through newsletter notices, emails, phone calls, visits, and through a survey. During this outreach, we shared the purpose and need for a campaign, along with the list of tasks and projects developed with input from the congregation during the initial planning phase. You—our congregants—responded to questions the about strengths and weaknesses of the congregation, about the relative importance of each of the proposed projects, about whether you supported the idea of a capital campaign at this time, and about what you might consider giving to such a campaign. The Pratapas team analyzed and summarized the feedback, and presented the results to the UCE board and executive staff, and then to the congregation at a meeting on December 16th, 2018.

During these presentations, we shared that the majority of UCE members’ responses were, “Yes!—we should proceed with a capital campaign.” We also learned from your responses during the feasibility study that we can expect to raise between $900,000 and $1,000,000 during the campaign.

Next Steps: Forming the Capital Campaign Team

With the blessing of both the board and the congregation, we are forming the team that will plan and execute the capital campaign in 2019.  Our campaign co-chairs are Martha Holman, Gillian Lawrence, and Dan Lawrence. The co-chairs will be working to build out the team over the next two months. Our preliminary timeline is to start the campaign in March and end with a big celebration in October! More details will follow about the team, the projects, the detailed timeline, and what you can expect as we move forward together to strengthen UCE and its mission. In the meantime, please let us know if you would like to be a part of this exciting team to help build our abundant future!