Methods of Capital Campaigns for the Cathedral of St. Helena

Abstract

The Cathedral of St. Helena is in need of structural renovations listed as follows in priority: inspect, repair, or replace any damaged stonework, sidewalks, bricks, copper roof on the clear story, the main staircase of the Cathedral, or anything else on the exterior of the Cathedral. Other necessities could include power washing of the bricks and redoing the carpeted areas in the Brondel and the Cathedral. Estimates for these renovations are $2-3 million dollars. The last time the exterior was inspected was in the 90’s. Five years ago the Cathedral did a capital campaign for $5 million dollars. This capital campaign enhanced the worship space, completed structural renovations, and covered other fees involved in the process. The Cathedral raised the money with the help of a third party company called Cosgriff Company. The organization did a feasibility study, helped plan the majors necessities of the campaign, and identified the donors with the highest wealth capacity. The third party was a large expense to the fundraising process. Now that the Cathedral is in need of another campaign the staff wants to consider whether is it necessary to hire another third party to aid fundraising efforts. Our investigation looks at three different capital campaigns in Helena measuring the successes, strategies, and overall performance of these campaigns to inform the Cathedral of practices that worked in this community.