With the end of the fiscal year looming, St. Raymond de Penafort parish needed to quickly raise $30,000 to cover a budget shortfall and keep parish operations on sound financial ground. But how? The answer lies in a longterm commitment to nurturing donor relationships and regular communications that didn’t always ask for money.
St. Raymond de Penafort parish consistently uses the GiveCentral electronic communications feature to create a dialogue with parishioners and strengthen the community. Monthly emails celebrate the vibrant community and showcase stories about the good work ministries are doing, the success of the school children, parish happenings and much, much more. Through these stories St. Raymond built intimacy, demonstrated how donor dollars were helping and kept parishioners engaged in and tethered to their shared mission.
When the parish faced the budget shortfall, naturally they turned to their parishioners for help. They sent out a different type of note, one that detailed the parish’s financial shortfall and asked for help. The response was immediate and powerful, raising $30K in less than a week, wiping out the parish debt for the year.
How GiveCentral Made a Difference
The positive response and outpouring of support was rooted in a strong relationship the parish built with parishioners through a commitment to consistent communication that went well beyond asking for money. These regular electronic communications sent from the GiveCentral portal fortified the relationship between parish and parishioners and played a key role in the community coming together in a time of need. When the email came asking for financial help, parishioners didn’t hesitate to generously give. What’s more, providing supporters a way to give electronically offered supporters a quick and easy way to answer the call for help.
“I didn’t know what to expect, but we were very pleased with the outcome”
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Roberta Nicholas – Communications Coordinator/Accounting
How often are you sharing your story s to strengthen your donor community? If you don’t have a donor communication strategy in place, it’s time to start planning!
