{"id":4425,"date":"2014-05-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/?p=4425"},"modified":"2024-05-08T17:50:05","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T17:50:05","slug":"trinity-grace-church-crowdfunding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/blog\/trinity-grace-church-crowdfunding\/","title":{"rendered":"A Church Grows in Brooklyn: How Trinity Grace Raised Over $30,000 in 30 Days"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Planting Churches One Seed at a Time<\/h2>\n

Isn\u2019t it interesting that when we talk about moving from one place to another, we tend to describe ourselves as trees? We uproot and transplant. And in a city dubbed the concrete jungle, where buildings seem to outnumber trees, the gardening analogy stands out.<\/p>\n

Even more unusual is the notion of \u201cchurch planting.\u201d Would it be fair to say that New Yorkers are better known for making greenbacks than they are for a green thumb? That most New Yorkers fare better at growing a startup than they are at trying to keep a ficus tree alive?<\/p>\n

Yet in the commercial capital of the U.S., churches have been springing up all over the New York metropolitan area. Trinity Grace Church (TGC)<\/a> is one of them.<\/p>\n

Or rather, TGC is a family of neighborhood churches, called parishes \u2013 similar to the Roman Catholic and Episcopalian traditions. TGC began as a seed, a congregation that met in a school auditorium in the Upper West Side of Manhattan.<\/p>\n

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Growing Communities Into Congregations<\/h2>\n

The congregation didn\u2019t just grow, it multiplied, spreading to other neighborhoods in Manhattan. Then about three years ago, Trinity Grace Church (TGC) took a step of faith by branching out, across the East River, and planting a parish in Park Slope, Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

The fledgling parish began as a community group. Taking their cues from the business & nonprofit sectors, the pioneering parishioners of TGC Park Slope turned to God by way of crowdfunding<\/a> to fertilize their growth.<\/p>\n

They chose CauseVox to power their campaign. On their website, they created and shared a compelling video<\/a> to tell the story of the budding parish.<\/p>\n

James Cernero is one of the original members of TGC Park Slope and served as the parish\u2019s Media & Community Life Coordinators.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI moved to Crown Heights \u2018cause I was poor,\u201d he said, and eventually, \u201cfell in love with the neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

James wasn\u2019t alone and emerged as the \u201cspearheader\u201d among fellow Crown Heights residents\/TGC Park Slope parishioners.<\/p>\n

In addition to joining \u201cGod in the renewal of all things,\u201d including their lives and their neighborhood, their desire is \u201cfor people not just to attend church, but to be the church.\u201d<\/p>\n

As this nascent community group got to know their neighbors over the course of two and a half years, they grew aware of the neighborhood\u2019s needs. Though there were other groups doing great work in Crown Heights, there were few places for the youth to turn to, James noted.<\/p>\n

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They learned of other ways to get involved and along the way, connected with other community<\/a> groups who already shared the same burden and heart for the neighborhood. This approach of coming alongside already established efforts was \u201csuper important,\u201d said James.<\/p>\n

Over a year ago, TGC\u2019s central leadership gave the blessing for community group to transplant as a parish when Rashad Clemons joined TGC Crown Heights parish. James and Rashad tag teamed, as it were, and Rashad serves as the soon-to-be launched parish\u2019s lead pastor.<\/p>\n

Using CauseVox to Crowdfund a Transplant<\/h2>\n

While the cause for TGC Crown Heights was more organic than that of a typical nonprofit, the fundraising campaign was a savvy, structured one. TGC Crown Heights also turned to CauseVox to fuel their efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cFundraising can be hard without a deadline,\u201d said James. And so they set their campaign duration at thirty days, a \u201cnice round number that corresponds with the amount being raised.\u201d<\/p>\n

James deemed thirty days a sufficient amount of time \u201cto get people aware and figure out how much to give and give it in a timely fashion.\u201d<\/p>\n

So the campaign began October 2, 2013 and ended November 2, 2013. About a month and a half prior to the launch of the campaign, they built up anticipation by telling the story of their church, presenting a narrative with a clear past, present, and future. The \u201chard ask\u201d was made in the video and homepage of the campaign website.<\/p>\n

How did they figure out the timing and how much to raise<\/a>? There was no exact formula used to arrive at either decision.<\/p>\n

Three years since the missional community started and a year since Rashad joined as pastor seemed a \u201cgood all-in moment\u201d to Rashad and James. In addition to the actual need to raise money, the timing of the campaign was a way for the members of second of TGC\u2019s Brooklyn parishes to put their \u201cskin in the game to plant the church with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The initial goal was $30,000 \u2013 not a number pulled out of thin air. That was how much TGC Crown Heights would need to begin operations, but also goal that would motivate community involvement.<\/p>\n