Flight Path Dance Project

Flight Path Dance Project: who are they?

Flight Path is a tuition-free repertory training program for NYC dancers age 14-20. Beyond the studio, they engage in professional development workshops and experiences (business skills, injury prevention and management, financial literacy, meditation and wellness, professional interfacing, and performance outings), as well as an arts literacy initiative, providing a new book each month (artist biographies, science and anatomy texts, poetry, critical nonfiction, and more), all in an effort to prepare their dancers for the whole of a career in the performing arts.

Fundraising

Founded in 2018, Flight Path Dance Project established its first company of dancers in 2019. Just as they were creating a community, dance program, and the systems that would support them, the pandemic started. From their inception, they have needed to be agile and creative about their organization's sustainability. Now, we're working together to shift into a place of proactivity in their fundraising and visioning work. Together we will:

• segment and assess giving data

• create year-long fundraising plans that can adapt to changing realities

• align communication with donor needs and culture

St. Michael’s Episcopal Church

St. Michael’s: who are they?

St. Michael’s is a joyful community grounded in the love of Christ. Located in Bristol, Rhode Island, they are committed to meaningful worship, service to their community, and growing as faithful Christians.

Annual campaign

We've been brought in to help St. Michael’s reflect on how they think about and organize their annual campaign as they navigate a pastoral transition.

Alongside each other, we're working on:

• developing an infrastructure for donor record data segmentation

• providing guidance in aligning data analysis with giving strategies and formation

• coaching leadership in the creation of a theme for their annual campaign

• developing a plan for ongoing tracking and coaching of volunteers

All Souls

All Souls: who are they?

All Souls is a dynamic, 200-years young congregation serving the open hearts and open minds of New York City. They are an LGBTQ+ Welcoming Congregation, dedicated to creating a world of justice and equity for everyone.

Communications

All Souls is dedicated to the possibilities inherent in each person, the connections that sustain us in good times and bad, and the transformation of ourselves and the world.

We completed a communications audit to answer these simple yet critical questions: ⁣⁣

•  How do you communicate to the wider world? ⁣⁣

• What do you say? ⁣⁣

• How do you say it? ⁣⁣

•  To whom? ⁣⁣

Their answers reveal powerful new ways of communicating their robust offerings to their congregants and the world. 

Arlington Presbyterian Church

Arlington Presbyterian: who are they?

Arlington Presbyterian Church is an open congregation committed to welcome, nurture, and serve all of God’s children; and to live out God’s radical call to love neighbor as you love yourself.

Fundraising + vision

After years of faithful discernment, Arlington Presbyterian was challenged with a new three-pronged vision: to create affordable housing, to be a place of crossroads and connection, and to nurture disciples of Jesus Christ. APC was called to sell its building and land to the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) in order to build Gilliam Place, a 173-unit affordable housing apartment community on the site of our previous building on Columbia Pike. This vision was shaped by the stories of their neighbors, in particular their struggle to connect within the community and to find affordable housing in South Arlington. As one church member recalls, “the call to create affordable housing was bigger than the old building itself – so, the walls came down.”

We started working with Arlington Presbyterian in the wake of this major change and identity shift for Arlington Presbyterian Church. In the fall of 2020, we:

• lead a retreat to explore their money story and release anxiety in the system

• write an intensive recap report with extensive recommendations.

• facilitate a strategic thinking process to identify core values

• create a strategic filter rooted in core values for decision making

• work with leadership to develop a MOU with the judicatory body for future money considerations

• engage in ongoing coaching to provide professional support for ongoing culture changes around money.

Currently we are walking alongside them to implement recommendations, including coaching on the budget process, financial policies and procedures, a financial screen and rubric, and writing of a Lenten Bible study with the topic of What does God say about poor people and rich people?

Rev. Ashley Goff joined us for our webinar on strategic filters in 2022. Check it out below!

Arts, Religion, Culture (ARC)

ARC: who are they?

ARC is a collaborative community for those who cultivate embodied and just ways of knowing and being through creative and spiritual practices. It is the result of the 2017 merger of The Society for Arts, Religion, and Contemporary Culture (SARCC) and the Association for Theopoetics Research and Exploration (ATRE).

Fundraising, strategy + vision

Looking to strengthen their partnerships, board leadership, and income streams, ARC worked with our team to increase their giving and position itself for the next phase of organizational life. Together we:

• segmented giving records and created a plan for reaching out to previous donors

• created a concrete timetable that included both major giving and new givers

• developed an infrastructure for inviting and receiving gifts

Calvary Episcopal Church

Calvary Episcopal: who are they?

Calvary Episcopal Church is an eclectic bunch of Christian people who don’t all think the same thoughts, or dress the same way, or vote for the same candidates, or even believe all the same things about the mystery of God and what it means to be human.

Listening + feasibility

Together, we helped Calvary discern how their space reflects their core values and what is needed for the congregation to live into their collective vision. ⁣We created and led a listening process where guided conversations fostered deeper relationships and capital improvement projects were identified. We then engaged in a feasibility study, concluded that there was indeed a campaign to conduct and are currently in the midst of implementation of soliciting gifts. 

An excellent sermon regarding feasibility study results in which The Rev. Scott Walters speaks beautifully about how and why we do our work.

Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral

Christ Church: who are they?

A reverent, yet progressive, faith community located on Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis, Christ Church Cathedral values inclusion and compassion, and are dedicated to widening the circle of God’s embrace with heart and voice.

Communication

We worked with Christ Church to create communication strategies and implementation.

Christ Episcopal Church

Christ Church: who are they?

The mission of Christ Episcopal Church, New Bern, NC, is to welcome and inspire all people to faith, hope and spiritual growth through worship, Christian fellowship, and service to one another and to the community beyond.

Phase I: feasibility

Christ Church came to us with meaty goals for a capital campaign, but with the need to test out those goals through a feasibility study. We led the congregation through the study by writing and developing case materials, interviewing prospective donors, and facilitating an online survey. We were pleased to find feasibility and are have now completed the implementation of their capital campaign.

“We chose Vandersall Collective because they care as much about the life and future of the whole parish as they do about the campaign they are assisting with. This challenges us to look beyond where we are and see where we can be, both financially and spiritually.”

— The Rev. Paul Canady

Endless Field Band

Endless Field: who are they?

Endless Field is an instrumental guitar and bass duo featuring guitarist Jesse Lewis and bassist Ike Sturm.

They play original songs filled with intricate finger-style lines, improvisation and ambient textures. Drawing on inspiration from nature, the duo seeks to bring music to outdoor spaces, encouraging audiences to explore their own frontiers.

A bit out of our wheelhouse, Endless Field is a purpose-driven band who sought funding for an album they planned on recording in the wilderness.

They wanted to learn how to fundraise for this project, and we guided them to find a fiscal sponsor, write case materials, research potential donors, and approach those donors for funding. As a result of our work together, their album recording was funded and then released in 2020. You can listen to ALIVE IN THE WILDERNESS here — all proceeds from downloads are donated to the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to fight the climate crisis.

As part of our work together, we engaged in an intensive time of exploring personal narratives around money and the stumbling blocks that prevented them from claiming their gifts and talents through fundraising.

Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis

The Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis: who are they?

The Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis is called by Christ to welcome and witness in Central and Southern Indiana.

Grounded in God’s love in Christ, the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis and its people serve as beacons of Christ in central and southern Indiana and beyond, offer a generous invitation and welcome, stand with the vulnerable and marginalized to transform systems of injustice, connect with other Episcopalians, ecumenical and interfaith partners, and advocacy groups, and develop clergy and laity to lead the church of today and tomorrow.

Communications, identity, strategy + vision

We worked with the diocese to lead a restructuring retreat for their Executive Council, as well as implementing their vision for the future through design work.

Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee

The Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee: who are they?

The Diocese of Tennessee is open to the power of God and obedient to Jesus’ command to make disciples: proclaiming the Good News of Jesus’ death and resurrection to the whole creation.

They are responsive to the needs of the world that God created and for which Jesus died. They are committed to our life together, for the sake of the life of the world.

The Diocese of Tennessee is committed to providing its congregations with formation and support in the area of stewardship. Every year, it sponsors a day-long workshop for clergy, vestry, and stewardship committees to attend.

We created and ran a workshop with content that included:

• exploring money narratives

• the theology of stewardship as a contextual ministry

• learning who are in our pews and their donor needs

• generational characteristics and strategies

• information on how the fundraising landscape has changed the past three years and how to respond

Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina

The Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina: who are they?

The Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina are a diocese committed to renewal, to sharing the faith that has changed our lives, and to increasing diversity among their ranks.

In so doing, they celebrate and affirm the broad Anglican tradition, which welcomes seekers, embraces inquiry, and offers a wide variety of worship styles grounded and unified by the liturgy in the Book of Common Prayer.

Fundraising

The Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina is committed to providing its congregations with formation and support in the area of stewardship.

Vandersall Collective organized and ran a workshop with content including:

• exploring money narratives

• the theology of stewardship as a contextual ministry 

• information on how the fundraising landscape has changed since 2016 (donor motivations, IRA giving, change in charitable tax law) and how to respond

First Presbyterian Church

Echoing Jesus and his disciples, First Presbyterian Church, Rahway, NJ gathers to worship and joins in fellowship. creating community for all who come. This strengthens us to go out into the world to minister to the vulnerable. Emboldened by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we work and pray for a world where all people can live in peace.

We were asked to lead First Church through a process of education and discernment to untangle their complex relationship with money. Through multiple retreats, homework and coaching, we were able to explore money narratives, both personally as well as congregationally, and then provide the Session with a detailed report of our process with concrete recommendations for their future leadership.

Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion

The Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion: who are they?

Holy Communion in University City, MO is a welcoming and diverse community seeking to walk in the way of Jesus and to reveal Christ’s reconciling love in their city, nation, and world.

Feasibility

To prepare to do a feasibility study for Holy Communion, we developed case materials and through this process, helped define the goals of the campaign.

Then, alongside leadership and volunteers, we conducted interviews and facilitated the process for a congregational-wide survey. Once we found that there was feasibility for the campaign, we successfully led the congregation through their capital campaign, exceeding their goal!

Judson Memorial Church

Judson Memorial Church: who are they?

Judson Memorial Church seeks to be a just, diverse, vibrant, and worshipping spiritual community through the pursuit of social justice, creative expression, and sacred exploration of its own Protestant church roots and the wisdom of other traditions.

Fundraising

We are pleased to have engaged in a partnership with the Heller Fundraising Group to support Judson Memorial Church in New York City as they consider a capital campaign to make their building more accessible. Judson supports countless community arts, justice and religious groups in the thriving Washington Square neighborhood. So often it is hard to know where to start with a project of this size, and we’re helping them do just that: start!

Knox Presbyterian Church

Knox Presbyterian Church: who are they?

Knox is a Presbyterian Church that congregates on Sunday mornings to explore and discuss Christian faith.

They believe in social justice, community, and compassion. Their doors are open to everyone. Knox is a place of sanctuary; where you are embraced for being your authentic self.

Knox Presbyterian is an inclusive Christian atmosphere for spiritual nourishment and caring fellowship. Together with Parish Properties, through a series of interviews and retreats, we created a report with recommendations to help them discover how to become a sustainable community hub. We then worked to create and implement a season of fundraising plans.

Metro New York Synod (ELCA)

The Metro New York Synod came to us with a few short months to spare before their Reformation 500 Service at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. They needed a skilled event planner who could quickly onramp their work as they knew time was running out. In addition to needing help, the scope of the event kept growing!

The event grew from an expected audience of a few hundred to over 1,000. This included ecumenical guests from throughout the breadth and depth of the Christian tradition. In addition, liturgical planning was needed with two choirs, three ensembles, and dozens more liturgical participants. We coordinated countless details and subcontractors to provide a seamless experience for the guests who came and allowed the liturgy to shine through. A powerful event moving forward the ecumenical community committed to unity in Christ, we were proud to have played a part in creating this memorable night of a lifetime.

More Light Presbyterians

More Light Presbyterians engages over 230 congregations and thousands of individuals in the Presbyterian Church (USA), enabling Presbyterians to lead LGBTQIA+ service and advocacy in communities nationwide. More Light’s mission has always been to empower and equip individuals and congregations to live into their welcome for LGBTQIA+ people. 

We worked with them to increase their individual donor program, and set them up for many years of fundraising success. Through review of data, assistance in implementing recommendations, intensive training, and walking alongside the staff and the board, we are excited for what is to come for MLP.

Nevelson Chapel

Nevelson Chapel is the only remaining, permanent, fully intact sculptural environment by Louise Nevelson. Nine wall-mounted sculptures, a tranquil white-on-white presentation accented with gold-leaf and enhanced by the play of shadow and light from a single window, the Chapel is an incomparable example of this 20th-century art form which is intended to involve or encompass visitors. Nevelson was instrumental in the conception and introduction of the form, which “sought to break down the historical dichotomy between life and art.”

Vandersall Collective has served in many forms as we work together to restore and renew the Chapel. We are integrated into all aspects of the Chapel life. Together we manage all events and communications, including the case materials, social media, eblasts and the website, and serve as the primary fundraising council. In addition to advising the Chapel project, we have created systems and structures for fundraising administration, and are deeply embedded in the enactment of them running smoothly. We continue to implement communication strategies through the curation of their Instagram account.

“Our campaign isn't simply raising money. We are building relationships, recalibrating our culture and renewing our mission. Mieke and her team are integrated into every aspect with competency, dedication and heart.”

— The Rev. Jared Stahler, Nevelson Chapel

Saint Peter's Church

Saint Peter’s Church is a welcoming and diverse evangelical catholic communion nourished by God and publicly engaged with others in creatively shaping life in the city.

Working with the Director of Communications, we helped guide Saint Peter’s in articulating their needs for a new website and then enacting those needs through the creation of a design brief, guidance of verbal articulation, and then implementation through a new, easy to manage, website. We continue to provide regular maintenance support.

Society for the Increase of the Ministry (SIM)

All people and all societies need wise spiritual leadership to inspire, inform and renew our lives. The Society for the Increase of the Ministry (SIM) guarantees the identification and education of outstanding faith leaders whose public imagination and witness matter in our world. SIM is expanding scholarships to increase the positive impact of faith leadership on our common life.

SIM, having served the Episcopal Church since 1857, found themselves at another crossroad with a renewed desire to influence theological education and church leadership for the 21st century. We began our work with SIM through leading the board on a retreat to explore strategic direction, and then then continued our work together through their year-end fundraising efforts, and the creation of a strategic plan and development plan. We continue to provide support through year-end fundraising campaigns.

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church

At St. Andrew’s, Austin, TX, they try their hardest to be a warm, creative, justice-oriented community, rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

St. Andrews’s came to us wanting to test out their goals for a capital campaign, which would enable the congregation to live into their mission and values to serve their neighbors through significant building improvements. We conducted their feasibility study and created their case materials, conducted in-person interviews and facilitated their on-line survey. We then wrote a detailed report with recommendations for living into their goals.

St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church

With nearly 500 active members, St. John’s is a diverse, and growing parish, deeply committed to outreach both in the city and around the world. They are home to thriving youth and children’s ministries, celebrate an excellent music program for all ages,. welcome all people into our community of faith and find great joy in being together, in worship, in service, and in play.

St. John’s came to us seeking coaching for their staff person with the responsibility of Stewardship Programming. In order to prepare her for a successful campaign and the parish for a successful future, we worked together to create a long-lasting structure which includes both fundraising but also a healthy and spiritually fulfilling relationship with money. We continue to serve St. John’s through occasional coaching.

St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral

St. Paul’s Cathedral serves as a center of transformative love, faith and service: an inclusive, Christ-centered community that welcomes all people on their journey of faith.

To plan for a comprehensive capital campaign to help their physical structure reflect their values and mission, we led a period of listening and stakeholder engagement.

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

St Paul's Episcopal Church, Franklin, TN is the state's oldest Episcopal Church. A community rich in history, St. Paul's is now asking how its space can best be utilized to live more fully into God’s vision for the future. It's our job to work with the congregation to conduct a Feasibility Study, which will help them determine what resources are available and how the energy and passion of their community can be harnessed to help their vision come to life.⁣⁣

We are delighted to have worked with as partners committed to raising funds as part of a ministry that responds in meaningful ways to the needs and possibilities around them. Together we engaged in a feasibility study and a revamp of annual giving during the pandemic year of 2020. We then implemented a capital campaign and are thrilled that they exceeded their fundraising goals!

Sunnyside

Sunnyside is a United Methodist space in Portland, OR which has not had a faith community present for years. Working with a gifted church planter who is currently using the space, and who has been empowered to work out a plan for the transformation and upkeep of the space, we partnered with Parish Properties to refine their mission and vision, strengthen community partnerships and explore potential development of the building.

Episcopal Church of Minnesota

The Episcopal Church in Minnesota (ECMN) is a network of faith communities - churches, schools, non-profits, care centers - that is called to transformation by engaging God’s mission.

We worked with the Episcopal Church of Minnesota on a two year fundraising campaign to raise money for its scholarship programs for youth and children to attend summer camps. The scholarship fund is a new one and has required a grassroots approach to ensure broad support and engagement across the diocese while adapting quarterly to the realities of COVID-19.

Kaleidoscapes

The Kaleidoscapes is an eco-theatre company dedicated to performing accessible storytelling and facilitating experiential learning in nontraditional spaces with those most affected by the climate crisis. We worked with them to create systems of organization. Through our process we helped them come to the decisions that the right choice was closing shop, and led them through a healthy process to do so.

The Vine

The Vine NYC is a network of open, inviting campus ministries in New York City where all students are welcome. They are college and graduate students from institutions across the city who together are trying to figure out how to live in better relationship with God, one another and creation.

The past many years has seen a decrease in funding of campus ministry programs. We worked with The Vine to kick-start their fundraising efforts by conducting a mini-development audit, writing and designing case materials, analyzing their donor list, training their board and leadership, accompanying their leadership on “asks,” and organizing their first-ever major donor cultivation and ask event.

Trinity's SAFH (Services and Food for the Homeless)

SAFH provides a reliable source of food for those who are hungry, in the lower east side of Manhattan. In 2020 the need they filled skyrocketed, and we were able to provide some pro-bono work to raise funds to help them continue their work in the midst of COVID. In 2020 they distributed 200,000 meals.

Trinity Episcopal Church

Trinity Church is a congregation in the suburbs of the Twin Cities. In order to meet the programmatic needs of the congregation, the leadership needed to increase the budget. We worked with them to establish an aspirational budget, grow its major donor base, create annual material, and ultimately meet its goal by raising almost $50,000 in increased funding.

The next year we were hired to conduct a feasibility study and at the same time successfully run their 2021 annual campaign with a 20% budgetary increase.