Joining Hearts & Hands:
final report claims no victory
The Layman, September 29, 2008
Without drum rolls or high fives, the campaign to raise $40-million for the Presbyterian Church (USA) has issued its final report. It was not a victory announcement.
The report by Joining Hearts & Hands, a five-year campaign that was stretched to seven years, says $30.3 million was raised in cash and pledges. Of that amount, and including interest earned on campaign funds, the campaign’s cash contributions have totaled $12.7 million (42.5 percent) while outstanding pledges are $17.4 million (57.5 percent).
And 74.4 percent of the pledges are for new church development by presbyteries and congregations. New church development has historically been the responsibility of presbyteries and local congregations. They raised the money and mapped out their projects without depending on national fundraising campaigns.
In the beginning of Joining Hearts & Hands, officials did not consider including the money raised for new church development by presbyteries and congregations as part of the campaign because it did not represent new funds. But they were added to the tally after it became obvious that the campaign would never approach its goal. Furthermore, the development pledges are not handled by the campaign and therefore do not underwrite any of the campaign expenses.
Total campaign expenses were $4.45 million. That’s 14.8 percent, within acceptable fundraising guidelines if based on the $30.3 million in cash and pledges. But based on the cash contributions, the campaign costs stand at 57.4 percent.
The General Assembly Council paid $2.4 million of the expenses (54 percent). The campaign paid the rest. The final report also includes $1.49 million to support mission personnel as an expense. Some of that money was used to fund three new missionaries shortly after the denomination reduced mission assignments.
The council’s share of the campaign funds was $6.7 million. The expenses paid by the denomination represented 35.8 percent of that amount.
The 2001 General Assembly, which authorized the campaign but also cut foreign mission assignments by 10 percent that session, set a campaign goal of $20 million for new church development and $20 million for foreign missions.
Based on currently unfulfilled pledges for new church development, that goal was slightly exceeded. But with cash and pledges combined, the campaign would reach only 50 percent of the mission goal.
There’s one irony in the report. The final total of $30.3 million is about $3 million less than former Princeton Seminary President Tom Gillespie announced to the 2008 General Assembly. A footnote on the final report: “At the 218th General Assembly (2008) a commitment of $3,470,000 by a presbytery was included in the total that was announced. The commitment was subsequently corrected by the presbytery and withdrawn from the total.”
Another footnote addressed the campaign’s previous inclusion of unsolicited bequests in its reports. “Gifts in the form of bequests are no longer reported and this report reflects the reduction.”