Catholic Church Serving West Seattle Washington
This list of questions and answers is designed to inform our parish and school community about the parish capital campaign. Every two weeks we will include this information in the Parish bulletin, the School Family Communication Envelope, and the Parish and School websites for your information throughout the end of the campaign.
Advice from other parishes who have raised large amounts of funds, Archdiocesan guidance, and our own parish’s previous experience, all strongly suggested the use of an outside firm. Guidance In Giving is a Catholic stewardship and development consulting firm that has worked extensively with Catholic parishes and dioceses across the country, in the Northwest, and in the Seattle Archdiocese. Moreover, Guidance In Giving coordinated and facilitated our campaign feasibility study last spring, and parish leadership and staff were pleased with their professionalism, capability, expertise, and overall working style. They have an excellent understanding of the needs and opinions of our parish community through their work with us last year.
Most recently, the firm has been meeting with our pastor, Fr. Jack Walmesley, and stewardship and development director, Peggy Fine, to plan and prepare a campaign calendar and strategy. Beginning in mid-March, our Guidance in Giving consultant will be located on-site in the Campaign Office (located in the Parish Offices). Throughout the campaign, Guidance In Giving, Inc. will train various campaign committees, produce the necessary materials, coordinate a series of receptions, and provide the framework, computer/database support, and guidance to run a capital campaign. GIG is designing and implementing an organized campaign plan. GIG is paid a flat weekly fee for services rendered. They do not work for a percentage of the funds raised.
Unregistered and registered families alike are asked to reflect on how they benefit from their membership or affiliation with Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish and School—spiritually, educationally, and otherwise. Considering this, families are asked to evaluate what sacrifices they can make to express their commitment to their faith and this institution. This will ensure that they and other families continue to reap these same benefits while building for the future.
Since January 1, 2006, the estimated cost-per-square-foot for Phase 1 of our building project have increased from $148 per-square-foot to approximately $200 per-square-foot. The Archdiocese’s experience, in working on similar projects, is that building costs have doubled since 1995. To meet this challenge, we are asking for generous sacrifices from our parish community and we ask you to consider these increased costs in your discernment about campaign participation. In addition, we will also be pursuing foundation gifts and other organizational contributions.
They will be assessing whether our project fits their desired mission as well as how much time and energy the parish community is putting into the project. One of the predominant factors for such gifts is percentage of participation by parish and school families. Similar gifts from foundations to parish and school campaigns have required a 90-100% parish and school participation rate to be granted a significant campaign gift. The Archdiocese is currently helping us identify foundations and organizations that have been helpful to parishes and schools, like us, in the past.
Hard costs refer to the cost of construction materials, labor, site improvements and landscaping, as well as contingency and change-order fees.
Soft costs include expenditures such as architectural fees, fundraising fees, equipment and furnishings, as well as permits, taxes, and interest.
The amount of money that the parish raises upfront will drive the starting date. Some stages of design and construction could begin as soon as the campaign results are known. The more funds that we receive early-on, the sooner we could begin the design process. Our goal is to begin construction on the Parish Administrative Center in January 2008 and complete it in June of 2008. The goal for the Parish life Center is to start construction in July of 2008 and to occupy the Parish life Center in April of 2009. The start date for construction is dependent on the success of the capital campaign; more specifically, it is dependent on how quickly the parish can collect 60% of the total project costs. The Seattle Archdiocese requires all parishes undergoing construction or renovation projects to have 60% of the total project costs in the bank, prior to beginning construction. This is the primary reason parishioners are asked to include a 10% down payment with their completed pledge card.
Once construction begins, current estimates indicate that the renovation will be complete in April 2009; approximately five months to build the Parish Administrative Center, and nine months to build the Parish life Center. This will enable us to have the project completed in time for our parish’s 50th anniversary in February of 2010, when we will be able to dedicate the Parish life Center and Parish Administrative Center as part of our 50th anniversary celebration.
Although the new parish offices were included in the December 2005 Parish Master Plan, the parish offices had not yet been affected by the effects of severe winter storms and conditions that revealed some major facility problems. Many of these problems existed before winter, but were exacerbated by recent weather conditions. Parish office facility problems include sewer line repair, roof leaks, rodents, heating issues, ventilation, needs for window replacement, and electrical problems. These conditions have created an unsafe and unhealthy environment for parish staff, volunteers, and parishioners and school families who attend meetings in the parish offices. Winter conditions have forced this project to the forefront of our parish building plans and have necessitated its inclusion in Phase 1 of the Master Plan.
Currently, there is a moratorium on selling Archdiocese property unless there is a plan in place for purchasing a similar property for the parish. However, there are some creative options for utilizing the property that our parish currently owns and our parish leadership is exploring these alternatives.
A local, well-respected architect is currently working on the design for the Parish Administrative Center. The plan is to tear-down the current parish office building and build a new one in its place, or somewhere very close to the same location. The Parish Administrative Center will not be located above or below the Parish Life Center due to the need for a quieter, private, space for meetings between parishioners and parish staff.
Different locations for temporary parish office space are being explored. Some options include the church basement, an on-site portable trailer, a nearby rental house, and other locations in the church and school.
Fr. Jack Walmesley, Our Lady of Guadalupe’s Pastor, Karie Owens, OLG’s Pastoral Assistant for Administration, along with the Parish Finance Council, will oversee the management and allocation of all proceeds of this campaign.
The Archdiocesan Parish Revolving Fund (PRF) Committee has approved the plans for the Parish Life Center, the site improvements, and the Parish Administrative Center. In addition, the Archdiocese will oversee the building project and will be kept apprised of our progress through updates provided by the parish, once construction begins. The Archdiocese Office of Construction Management assists the parish by offering building advice. The Archdiocese does not contribute financially to parish projects but will provide low-interest ‘bridge’ loans, if needed.
For decades, there have been discussions among parishioners and school families about the need for a new parish center/gymnasium. The Archdiocese wisely requires that before a parish seriously considers any facility expansion, it must engage in a master planning process to consider all future needs for the community. This master plan is essentially a road map for the future to guide our community.
In 2005, a dedicated group of Our Lady of Guadalupe parishioners, under the guidance of Fr. Jack Walmesley, engaged in a master planning process with a well-respected architect from this area. Besides looking at our parish and school needs they studied city codes, water and power sources, and looked at the strengths and limitations of the current parish and school site. They determined the parish and school campus needs for the future including a parish center/gym, a new administrative building for the parish offices, improved lighting in the church, and a gathering space connected to the church for small receptions and parish hospitality. In addition, the master planning group determined the need for school expansion and renovation. In December 2005, the Master Planning Committee recommended to the Pastoral Council a Phase One for this plan. The Council accepted the recommendation on January 10, 2006.
In January of 2006, all of the parish needs were presented to parishioners in the form of the Parish’s Master Plan: a three-phase plan outline that included a new parish center, parish offices, an addition to the church, and school upgrades. In May of 2006, a feasibility study was conducted by the campaign consulting firm Guidance In Giving to assess parishioner and school family thoughts on the building projects and readiness to conduct a capital campaign to fund their completion. Based on the results of this study, the parish leadership decided to undertake this campaign to address these important needs.
In January 2007, the parish leadership made a change in the Phase 1 funding priorities—rather than building the addition to the church, the parish leadership decided to build new parish offices, along with the parish life center.
The reason for the change was prompted by an overwhelming number of serious, significant, building problems at the current parish office. A conservative estimate reported a cost of $100,000 to $150,000 to repair the current building. The Pastoral Council assessed that it would be unwise to spend a large amount of money on a building designed as a house and not a ministry administrative center. Therefore, the new building projects included in Phase 1 of the master plan and campaign program would include new parish offices and a new parish life center.
No. The church addition will become the third priority in the parish master plan. The church addition is still very much a part of the plans for the future of OLG Parish. And, if our capital campaign were to raise additional funding—beyond the $3 million goal for building the parish life center and the parish offices, the additional funding would be allocated for the church addition.
Our Lady of Guadalupe’s fundraising goal of $3 million is based on the number of registered families (including non-parish school families), the parish’s 2005-06 annual offertory income, the results of the feasibility study, early meetings with potential leadership donors in our parish, and the type of capital projects that are the focus of this campaign.
If Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish were to exceed its fundraising goals, the additional funds could be used to begin design and construction on the church addition. Also, additional funding could be used to reduce the parish’s debt sooner, or to retire it completely.
If you have additional questions about the campaign, please contact Peggy Fine, OLG Stewardship and Development Director, at (206) 935-0358, ext. 110 or peggyf@olgseattle.com.
