St Andrew By The Bay Catholic Church

 

   

Development Committee Goals and Objectives

The Development Committee has laid the groundwork for a number of initiatives over the past year. Some are now ready to move to implementation. Others need further refinement. The initiatives are:

Electronic Giving

Objective: To allow a means through which parishioners can allocate their scheduled contributions to the parish without having to remember envelopes. Electronic giving also allows parish members to contribute to the support of St. Andrew even when they are away on vacation, business travel, or when visiting relatives insist on attending the Naval Academy chapel or the National Shrine in Washington.

Status: The committee has done extensive work on this and St. Andrew by the Bay is apparently a step or two ahead of the Archdiocese.The archdiocese continues to try to work out a volume payment arrangement for all of the parishes with Merchant&lsquo's Bank but final resolution still appears to be in the distant future.

FREE Financial Planning Workshops

Objective: The elderly are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population and of St. Andrew by the Bay.Society is quickly learning that preparing for retirement is one of the most stressful events in a person&lsquo's life. The National Institutes of Health report people experience a spike in healthcare demand during the first two years after retirement - regardless of the age at which they retire!

St. Andrew Development Committee is organizing a series of Financial Planning Workshops to help people better prepare for their long-term future.

Web Presence

The Development Committee will be studying other sites, talking with parishes about their strategies, programs, and their successes and failuresto help grow the parish community..  We will work closely with the Archdiocese of Baltimore as a test site for new ideas and approaches. 

New to Parish Outreach

One of the initiatives identified by the committee last year was the need to reach out to new parishioners.  There is general agreement among the parish council to support such efforts.  A mail piece, similar to that already used by many churches on the Broadneck Peninsula to new homebuyers has been discussed.

As the chart below demonstrates, the new to parish is the becoming one of the largest segments of the parish population and that the number of new households is growing every year.  Nearly as many households registered in St. Andrew last year alone as did in the three years from 1989 to 1992 combined.  One in every four registered households has lived in the parish three years or less.  If we define new comer as anyone who has lived in the area less than five years, we account for one in every three parish families.  Understanding the particular needs of this group is crucial to a successful development plan.

 
The Development Committee plans to conduct a series of focus groups with new parishioners over the next year.  The purpose of these focus groups is to find out what challenges and problems new parishioners face when they move into our parish and what St. Andrew can do to help make the transition less stressful and more successful.

Anyone who wants to learn how market research is done is more than welcomed to play.

For a subscription to Lifetimes, a Financial and Charitable Planning Guide visit:www.wpg.cc/stl/CDA/homepage/1,1006,220,00.html