provincial team Report to the Province

THE UNITED STATES - CANADA PROVINCIAL TEAM

✻ The In Mission for Life five-year $40,000,000 campaign was successfully completed December 31, 2012.  $39,000,000 was received in cash and pledges. In late December an anonymous donor pledged her $8,000,000 estate to the Society. The campaign policies, written and approved in 2007, stated that any pledged bequests which were given to the Society in writing by people 80 and older, would count as campaign pledges. Therefore, the campaign exceeded its goal by $7,000,000.

✻ Projects/activities: Campaign events and gatherings and updates were held this year in Southern California, Arizona, Seattle, Palm Beach, Woodlands and Oakwood.

✻ The Oakwood development records were transferred to the province mission advancement data base in July/August.  Oakwood donors will become a part of the province annual appeal beginning in August, 2013. Creating the procedure for thanking Oakwood donors and staying in touch with them is part of our plan for 2013-2014.

✻ Communication: Monthly UPDATE articles, campaign articles in HEART and the mission advancement annual report provided ongoing updates on the progress of the campaign to the province and the entire Sacred Heart family throughout the country.  Therese Meyerhoff, communications director, and Peggy Nehman, graphic artist, were essential in assisting with the publications and communications.

✻ Staffing: The mission advancement staff, specifically Anne Wiehagen and Cristal Backer, received continual training for Raiser’s Edge data base and kept the data base updated and accurate. They are exceedingly qualified, committed and understanding of the Society’s mission. Cristal and Anne kept all projects moving forward when the director was traveling.

✻ Committees: The campaign was served and led by two national committees:  the national development board and the campaign executive committee.  The committees were comprised of representatives from our major constituencies (AASH, Network, associates and province), with geographical representation.  They provided hands on volunteer support, expertise and experience from across the country and oversight for the campaign.  The Campaign Executive Committee completed its work at the end of the campaign.

✻ Fundraising counsel:  Our consultants from Dini Partners, Houston, specifically Deacon Larry Vaclavik, Kelli Fondren and Jessica Johnson, provided the expertise we needed to create the Society’s first campaign.  They were active participants in committee meetings and regional campaigns and met with the mission advancement staff at the provincial office at least once a month.

✻ Year of Thanksgiving: A year of Thanksgiving for the successful completion of the campaign was announced in January, 2013 on the web sites and in letters to volunteers and friends who participated in the campaign. RSCJ are praying for 15-20 benefactors throughout the year; thank you notes have been written to the benefactors, and RSCJ will send Christmas cards to their lists of donors. A video on Eucharist as Thanksgiving, presented by Kathleen Hughes, RSCJ, will be on the RSCJ web sites as another way of saying thank you. A campaign liturgy/reception was held at Oakwood, May 25, for all of the benefactors in that area. A similar event will be held during the Mater Tea in San Diego on October 19.

 

Reflection:

The national campaign provided a vehicle for renewal as a Sacred Heart family throughout the country. Its success was due in large part because of the collaborative efforts of the province, AASH, Network board and schools, associates, RSCJ and lay volunteers, alumnae/I, families and friends.

 

The campaign, through the 14 regional campaigns, provided individuals and groups across the country with a better understanding of the Society today, our needs, hopes, and dreams. It provided the opportunity for alumnae/i especially to reflect on their Sacred Heart experience and express their gratitude to the RSCJ for their Sacred Heart education in academies and colleges and their desire to renew those relationships, to reconcile past hurts, to become active participants in the Society’s future.

 

Fund raising is now seen as a positive value for the province. In being faithful to the province financial plan created in 2004 and updated each year, the mission advancement annual goal for the foreseeable future is $1,500,000. This will be accomplished through annual giving, major gift solicitation and planned giving.

 

There were three major outcomes of the campaign:

✻ Relationships were rekindled and deepened

✻ The spiritual and educational mission of the Society was strengthened.

✻ Our elderly sisters continue to be cared for in a manner which acknowledges their lives given in love.