Dear Christian Church in Ohio Members and Friends,
On behalf of the If Not Now, When? If Not You, Who? Campaign Committee Campaign Coordinator, Jim Bane, Chairperson, Roger McKinney, our Regional Church Moderator, Brenda Sanford, and Regional Church Treasurer, Lena VanBuskirk, I wanted to give you an update on our major fundraising campaign.
The Campaign Committee and many volunteers working with it have been hard at work for the past year designing, launching, and leading the campaign. We began soliciting major gifts last summer and that effort continues steadfastly. We presented the campaign to the Regional Church at our Regional Assembly last September. In late February of this year a series of Congregational Cluster Meetings began to take place, and the Congregational Phase of the campaign will begin in many congregations immediately after Easter or later this year.
In working with the Disciples Church Extension Fund we learned that almost no Regional Churches have run a campaign since the global financial crisis of 2007-2008 and ours is the first in about 15 years. In light of this we have been facing new challenges as well as learning new practices for major fundraising campaigns. This has been exciting even if daunting, and other Regional Church leaders are observing our learnings. It has also presented us with some complexities.
One of these complexities was managing the intense excitement and desire for a new pool with the need for thoughtful financial benchmarks for the various components of the campaign. Over the last six months a significant amount of work has been done in conjunction with our partners at Andrews Construction Company to lay the groundwork for the building of the pool and the related pool house (bathrooms, mechanical room, picnic pavilion). We had in the meantime announced the groundbreaking for the pool this spring. The work already completed is firm and will serve us well when we do begin construction, but the leaders of the campaign and the Regional Church Council have determined that it was premature to have named a date for the groundbreaking and so the building of the pool and pool house have been put on hold.
We are continuing with the If Not Now, When? If Not You, Who? Campaign confident that we will reach our $2.5 million goal. We currently have almost $600,000 in pledges and gifts received. What we are now working on is that we will have clear benchmarks of exactly how much in pledges and how much money we will have in the bank before any of the elements of the campaign will be initiated, including the pool. Those will be shared with the Regional Church Council and announced publicly.
We are aware that the delay of the pool will be a disappointment for many, but we believe this step is fiscally responsible and will build even more trust in the Regional Church. We continue to be committed to the other elements of the campaign, including the accessibility improvements to Camp Christian, the Conference Center Program Director position, and the half-time program positions. As for our three "Outreach Projects” (Hiram Farm, Cleveland Christian Home, Disciples Overseas Ministries), those donations are already being sent out as your donations arrive according to the percentage of the campaign assigned to them.
If you would like to know more about our If Not Now, When? If Not You, Who? campaign, please explore our website www.ccinoh.com/campaign. There are lots of wonderful information and resources about the campaign, as well as a chance to give and set up a recurring donation, either via credit card or a withdrawal from your bank account.
If you have any ideas or suggestions, questions or concerns, about anything in this email or the campaign please do not hesitate to reach out to me or to one of the other leaders below. If you would like to be contacted to talk about a major gift to the campaign, or know of someone who might be honored to be asked, please contact Jim Bane via the email below and he will gladly work with you.
We are committed to making our Regional Church's greatest physical asset, Camp Christian, finally what it was envisioned to be by so many: the Ohio Regional Ministry Center serving all of our congregations, leaders, and so many others across Ohio and beyond. Thank you for helping us make this dream a reality.
Ever Faithfully Yours,
Allen
Rev. Allen V. Harris, Regional Pastor & President
aharris@ccinoh.org
Rev. Jim Bane, Campaign Coordinator: jwbane@hotmail.com
Rev. Roger McKinney, Campaign Committee Chair: rlmck5@yahoo.com
Pastor Brenda Sanford, Regional Church Moderator: bssanford1221@gmail.com
Lena VanBuskirk, Regional Church Treasurer: lvb04@icloud.com