A Community of Pilgrims
art direction - fundraising - Photography - graphic design - marketing - community engagement
How do you create an authentic fundraising campaign that goes deeper than just a financial appeal? In 2019, when I chaired a $1,000,000 church fundraising campaign, this question grounded my creative process. A Community of Pilgrims was a multi-channel stewardship campaign that has been applauded by national leaders of the Episcopal Church, one calling it “the new gold standard for stewardship campaigns.”
A Community of Pilgrims consisted of both digital and print materials aimed at increasing contributions, gathering important member data, and sparking meaningful spiritual conversations. The campaign materials I designed included direct mailings, social media features, targeted email campaigns, physical signage, and of course, a presence in the old church bulletin.
After a period of brainstorming alongside church leadership, we chose to center our efforts on what it means to live deeply as a pilgrim of God in this world and not just as a tourist. This theme was chosen as three parish pilgrimages occurred in 2019. Not all church members attended these trips, raising the question: Does one need to go on a spiritual trip to be a pilgrim? Short answer, definitely not!
Once the brainstorming concluded, my next step was to identify several parishioners whom I could interview about this topic. The eight members chosen were a diverse group of individuals who could each meaningfully speak to the specific financial needs of a ministry area: Christian education, outreach, music, adult programs, etc. After being photographed and interviewed by me, each individual was featured during a Sunday service, where they spoke directly to the parish, reiterating key portions of their interviews and urging their fellow parishioners to contribute as they were able.
Several touch points were created to engage parishioners in the campaign and to spark a larger dialogue about what it means to be a pilgrim. Church members had the opportunity to share their own “pilgrim story” online, to engage with one another on a Post-It wall, and to get more deeply involved with the parish by returning a participation pledge card.
What differentiated this campaign from most other stewardship efforts was the addition of a second pledge card: a participation pledge card. Using this second pledge card and a canvassing effort, we asked Christ Church members two central questions: “What particular gifts and talents would you like to offer to our CCBNY community?” and “What would you like to see more of at Christ Church?” As a result of the data from the pledge cards and canvassing, we adopted a new feature in the parish database, allowing the database administrators to log specific skills and interests of parishioners. Staff and group leaders have used this data to connect individuals to volunteer opportunities and other potential projects of interest.
The campaign surpassed its financial goal, meaningfully engaged church members, and has since been used as a model for fundraising campaigns nationwide. Since it’s creation, I have consulted with several organizations from New York to California, seeking to incorporate this level of meaningfulness in their financial appeals.