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Steier Tips

After nearly a quarter century of helping nonprofits plan, reach and exceed their fundraising goals, we’ve accomplished a lot – and learned a thing or two. Our Steier Tips page features the latest Steier Group fundraising advice from our team of experts, case studies and helpful insight to consider as you plan your next campaign.

Sep 24 2025

Supporting Higher Education with Fr. James Burns

By podcast, Steier Tips
The Steier Group is proud to present our podcast, Twelve Wicker Baskets with Christopher Beaudet. Subscribe now on your favorite podcast app. In the Gospel, Jesus fed 5,000 with only five loaves and two fish. After the crowd was satisfied, there were 12 wicker baskets left over. God provides the abundance. In each episode of this podcast, we will explore, with pastoral leaders and development professionals, all the many ways God meets the spiritual and temporal needs of our parish communities, our Catholic schools and the diocesan church. And not only meets those needs but provides in abundance. The 44th…
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Sep 22 2025

How to engage alumni in a Catholic school campaign

By Steier Tips
At the Steier Group, we are often asked this question by school leaders: How do we get more alumni to give? It’s easy to think the answer to this question might be another big event – a volleyball tournament, golf scramble or downtown bar crawl. The photos look great. The energy is high. For a night, it feels like a win. But here’s the truth: unless those events are followed by personal connections, they’re just a moment, not a movement. Events alone rarely create lasting connection. Before you send out the “Register now!” emails, ask yourself: Do the same people…
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Sep 16 2025

Stewardship, campaign success go hand in hand for Diocese of Wichita

By Steier Wire
The Diocese of Wichita has a reputation that stretches far beyond this rural Kansas diocese of 90 parishes. Across the country, it’s admired as the stewardship diocese – where giving is a way of life. For the past 40 years, Wichita’s parishes have embraced the call to give generously, sacrificially and proportionally. It’s a spiritual commitment that has allowed the diocese’s Catholic schools to thrive without tuition, kept second collections off the calendar, eliminated the need for a diocesan annual appeal and fueled thriving ministries. When the diocese decided to embark on the largest capital campaign in its history, it…
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Sep 16 2025

Designing success: The power of graphic design in capital campaigns

By Steier Wire
In the world of capital campaigns, where extraordinary funding is at stake and long-term visions take shape, messaging is key. But even the most compelling messages can fall flat without the visual impact to match. That’s where graphic design becomes a silent yet powerful force, an essential ingredient in the success of any fundraising effort. At the Steier Group, graphic design is more than aesthetics. It’s strategic. Our in-house design team plays a pivotal role in transforming complex campaign goals into clear, engaging visuals that inspire support. The Visual Language of Philanthropy Capital campaigns are not just about raising funds,…
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Sep 16 2025

Q&A about stewardship with the Diocese of Wichita

By Uncategorized
Mike Wescott and Connor Meier are in the Diocese of Wichita’s Office of Development, which helped guide the recent One Family, Fully Alive in Christ! campaign. In this conversation, they share the history of Wichita’s stewardship way of life, how it shaped the campaign and the lessons they’ve learned along the way. HOW DID THE CONCEPT OF STEWARDSHIP AS A WAY OF LIFE BEGIN IN THE DIOCESE OF WICHITA? The roots go back to the 1960s when Monsignor Thomas McGread at St. Francis of Assisi Parish began teaching that parishioners should give generously, sacrificially and proportionally of everything – time,…
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Sep 04 2025

The one conversation churches keep avoiding — and why it’s costing millions

By Steier Tips
By Viken Mikaelian / Founder of PlannedGiving.com and Philanthropy.org Harvard built a $50 billion endowment — without a single weekly worshipper. Yet your church has them. Every Sunday. So why aren’t we asking for gifts that don’t come from the wallet, but from the will? I recall when I approached my former church and talked to the pastor about mentioning legacy gifts before the sermon. His answer was, “We do not do things like that here.” My current church? Different story. The CFO gets up before every sermon, gives a 2-minute update about our financial health, and reminds us to consider legacy…
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Aug 28 2025

Capital Campaign Feasibility Study Step-by-Step Guide

By Steier Tips
By Matt Vuorela / Chief Executive Officer of Steier Group The first step in a capital campaign should always be a feasibility study. In fact, at Steier Group, we call them campaign planning studies for a reason – a well-run study will acquire the right information to allow us to customize a capital campaign plan to best achieve fundraising success. During a capital campaign feasibility study, your entire donor database is invited to participate and voice their opinions about the goals of a capital campaign. You will learn important information about the goals most important to your community and the…
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Aug 27 2025

The Role of Catechesis in Evangelization with Dr. Eric Westby

By podcast, Steier Tips
The Steier Group is proud to present our podcast, Twelve Wicker Baskets with Christopher Beaudet. Subscribe now on your favorite podcast app. In the Gospel, Jesus fed 5,000 with only five loaves and two fish. After the crowd was satisfied, there were 12 wicker baskets left over. God provides the abundance. In each episode of this podcast, we will explore, with pastoral leaders and development professionals, all the many ways God meets the spiritual and temporal needs of our parish communities, our Catholic schools and the diocesan church. And not only meets those needs but provides in abundance. The 43rd…
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Aug 26 2025

Engaging children in a Catholic church capital campaign

By Steier Tips
It can start with a story. Teaching children about the importance of giving and sharing God’s gifts – adults call it “stewardship” – can begin at a young age. And a good way to start is with a story as simple as this one: “Sarah, you have two cookies, but Catherine doesn’t have any. Sarah, would you like to give one of your cookies to her so you both have one?” So simple, according to experts in child development, but so important and so effective. The stories you tell children – whether they are your own or the ones you…
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Jul 30 2025

Servant Leadership with Dr. Dan Ryan

By podcast, Steier Tips
The Steier Group is proud to present our podcast, Twelve Wicker Baskets with Christopher Beaudet. Subscribe now on your favorite podcast app. In the Gospel, Jesus fed 5,000 with only five loaves and two fish. After the crowd was satisfied, there were 12 wicker baskets left over. God provides the abundance. In each episode of this podcast, we will explore, with pastoral leaders and development professionals, all the many ways God meets the spiritual and temporal needs of our parish communities, our Catholic schools and the diocesan church. And not only meets those needs but provides in abundance. The 42nd…
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