Kirby-Smith Associates Spiritual-based Fund Raising

Bringing years of pastoral experience to the table, Jeff Knauer displayed a good understanding of how local churches operate and was able to walk the fine line between challenging our people without seeming to pressure them.  He was always positive and helpful and often was used by God to inspire us to new levels of faith. The campaign has helped to deepen the prayer life and unity of our church.

The staff at Kirby-Smith was helpful and very professional.

Pastor Steve Johnson
Hagerstown Church of the Nazarene, Hagerstown, MD

One big advantage about using Kirby-Smith for your Capital Campaign is their ability to expedite all of your printing needs. They have the know-how to suggest what printed items you will need for your campaign and the connections with printing firms to provide very professionally printed materials that are so important to a successful campaign.

Larry and Sue Vituszynski, Capital Campaign Co-Chairs
Bern United Church of Christ, Leesport, PA

I knew from the onset of contacting you that Kirby-Smith Associates was the right company to help us. You systematically broke down the process, outlined each step, and offered the necessary help and counsel to ensure our success. At times, given the independent nature of our churches, I had my doubts, but with your optimistic and continued leadership, you quickly put aside my concerns and the success speaks for itself. Your fund-raising efforts enabled us to grow a net of 43 churches in your first campaign, bringing our community to 206 churches within the state of New Jersey. Your continued effort to secure additional funding to purchase land in our metropolitan areas is still in progress; however, the results have already exceeded our initial estimates.

Mr. David Dallenbach
New Jersey District Assemblies of God, Burlington, NJ

From the first meeting you had with our Fundraising Committee, over a year ago, to this date, we could not be more pleased with the direction, the guidance, support, and encouragement we have received from Kirby-Smith Associates. You have assembled a fine, well-honed team and are of invaluable assistance to a parish such as ours.

Rev. J. Robert Yeazel
Holy Cross Church, DeWitt, NY

I am writing to express my appreciation for the quality services which Kirby-Smith Associates provided our congregation during our recent capital fund campaign. Your representative was helpful, professional and thorough, sensitive to adapt existing paradigms to fit our specific congregation’s culture, and readily available when needed. It was like having an additional person on my staff for this project, which succeeded in raising more money than many thought possible.

Rev. Joseph F. DiPaolo
Wayne United Methdist Church, Wayne, PA

The Rev. Denny Emrick has been a tremendous gift of God to us throughout the campaign....He is able to define stewardship and mission in terms that everyone can understand. His gifts at story-telling have endeared him to a variety of our members and constituents. Denny's spiritual insight has been an inspiration to this pastor as well as to our congregation.

The most amazing stories that are told are from the skeptics in our leadership who weren't sure why we were paying a consultant to help us with this campaign. Your consistent grounding in Biblical principles of stewardship and sacrifice as well as the amazing results that we have seen have made believers out of so many.

Rev. Elbert Paul Dulworth
Laingsburg United Methodist Church, Laingsburg, MI

I'm excited to share with you about the ministry of Kirby-Smith Associates. In 2006, Kirby-Smith conducted our Feasibility Study for debt reduction, renovations, and accumulation of funds for future property!...As a result of this study, we learned very clearly that there was an overwhelming support for the project. From there we decided with confidence to go right into a capital Stewardship Campaign. We have already kicked off our Campaign and are very pleased at the great start!...I can wholeheartedly recommend Jeff Knauer and the excellent staff at Kirby-Smith to you, as your partners in seeing the kingdom of God built!

Rev. Garry Kipe
Bethel Assembly of God, Chambersburg, PA

This is the first capital campaign I have been involved with and the first one in our parish in many years. The materials that were provided by your company were so very helpful, especially in helping us with timing and sending the appropriate information at the correct time. Parishioners are still commenting on the wealth of information they received and how prepared they were to become involved in the project...We are very excited with the results of our campaign, and we are sure we couldn’t have done it without the materials, support, and guidance of Kirby-Smith Associates, and especially the commitment of Joe Purka. Joe was always available to answer questions and advise us on successful approaches...to support our goal.

Rev. Michael E. Williams
Saint Leo Catholic Church, Murray, KY

Kirby-Smith’s faith-based campaign was exactly what was desired by Zion stressing sacrificial giving, deep involvement of our membership, and a meaningful spiritual and prayerful approach throughout the campaign...The amount we wanted to raise was very significant for the size of our membership. But because of the direction provided by Denny, the program and internal support of Kirby-Smith and a sizeable number of dedicated members, not only was our goal met, it was exceeded.

Dave Falkenberg, Council President
Zion Lutheran Church, Valley City, OH

Kirby-Smith’s professional process is an effective process in moving congregations forward in ministry. St. Paul’s would highly recommend Kirby-Smith Associates to other congregations.

Cheryl A. Dorman, Campaign Chair
Saint Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Millersburg, PA

The Christ-centered, non-pressured style that you guided us to use was ‘just–right’ for the personality of our congregation. They especially appreciated the more hands-on guidance you gave us with your presence at so many of our meetings and events.

Rev. Marjorie Weiss
Saint Michael Evangelical Lutheran Church, Wellington, FL

Any apprehensions or uncertainties we had in engaging such a phenomenal task were subdued in Denny Emrick’s leadership and presence. He consistently emphasized that this was a spiritual task, that we are in the business of teaching and helping others understand that all we are doing is giving back to God what already belongs to Him. Here are some of the things the team wanted to share:

We appreciated the gentle, yet persistent manner in which Denny held us accountable for our responsibilities during the onset of this campaign. Denny challenged us to believe and see that our faith was greater and stronger than we thought it was.

Denny was true to his word when he said he will help us stay on top of things.

Denny encouraged us to stay on track in spite of us producing English, as well as Spanish, language drafts for our printed materials.
 

Rev. Wanda Santos-Perez
El Redentor United Methodist Church, Lancaster, PA

Kirby-Smith made the first Capital Campaign in our church’s history a smooth process! Jeff led us through every step and eased the minds of many of our church members as we set off on a new journey.

Andrea Halter, Campaign Chair
St. David's UCC, Hanover, PA

Kirby-Smith has helped us for the past 7 years, starting when a proposal from a developer fell apart to a very successful campaign. From the very first meeting with the staff of Kirby-Smith, we were led through every step of what we needed to do to raise the necessary funds to build our new church. The feasibility study gave us the amount we could raise, and we raised exactly that amount of money within a few dollars. It was a great experience from beginning to end of the campaign, and we are now in the beginning of our second campaign to pay off the remaining debt.

David A. Smith, Co-Chair Building Committee
Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church, Harrisburg, PA