Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

Telling your story, enlarging your potential audience, and making new friends: a lesson from the Sisters of the Community of the Holy Spirit.

Rebecca Earl, ECF Capital Campaign Consultant, tells of how an order learned how to tell their story more broadly during a capital campaign and made new friends in the process:

"The Sisters of the Community of the Holy Spirit had been busy, very busy, at Bluestone Farm and Living Arts Center learning sustainable farming and hosting others who wanted to learn about living gently on Earth. They had communicated with their followers in the usual way regular newsletters and occasional posts on their new website, but when it came time for their capital campaign, that wasn’t going to be far-reaching enough. They needed to tell their story to others.

"Through the use of Facebook (Bluestone Farm Fans), a beautiful on-line newsletter that connects to a newsier newsletter, the Sisters have found new friends interested in life on the Farm.

"These are friends who like the daily photos of the critters, the crops, the volunteers, the flowers, the food, and the peace of the Farm. They are also friends who have devoured their blogs...friends who have visited and worked in the gardens, friends who include the Sisters and their work in prayer and friends who, recognizing the need for capital improvements to the farmhouse and surrounding structures, have given generously to the capital campaign.

"While the majority of the gifts have come from old friends who were with the Sisters before Facebook, new friends have been surprisingly generous too. Reaching out to tell their story has made the difference and while the Sisters arent quite ready to tweet yet, their new e-presence is furthering their ministry and mission in ways they hadn’t imagined."

How have you used new tools to make new relationships?