St. John Catholic Student Center at Oklahoma State University

THE CHALLENGE

St. John Catholic Student Center serves as the heart of Catholic life on the Oklahoma State University campus, the true “third place” where generations of students found belonging, friendship and a living relationship with Christ. After years of discernment and an early gift to start momentum, St. John completed construction of a new student center in 2023. While the project provided a beautiful and permanent home for campus ministry, it also carried significant remaining debt and growing operational demands. Sunday masses quickly reached capacity, ministries expanded rapidly and the need to sustainably fund evangelization became increasingly urgent. Leadership recognized that without a focused strategy to eliminate debt and strengthen long-term funding, the ability to serve future generations of students would be constrained.

THE VISION

St. John’s vision was rooted not simply in financial goals, but in the mission to form saints and preserve a faith-filled “home away from home” for Catholic students during a pivotal stage of life. The campaign would focus on essential priorities including:

• Eliminating remaining construction debt from the new church.
• Growing the Mission Advancement Endowment to create sustainable funding for evangelization efforts such as additional campus ministry staff, missionaries, retreats, speakers and formation programs.

THE SOLUTION

Realizing the need for strategic planned and expert counsel, St. John’s leadership elected to partner with the Steier Group to guide the capital campaign with clarity, discipline and a mission-centered approach. Building on the remarkable generosity that started the original construction, the Steier Group helped leadership translate vision into a structured plan to truly build on a stewardship way of life that balanced financial responsibility with evangelization goals. Through customized strategy, donor engagement and clear and visually inspiring communication pieces, the campaign focused on connecting supporters to the life-changing impact of campus ministry. The campaign effort raised well over two-times the projected low-end goal, making this successful campaign the path toward financial freedom and long-term sustainability for the Catholic student center serving students seeking faith, community and belonging at Oklahoma State University.