St. Louis de Montfort Catholic Church and School

THE CHALLENGE

As St. Louis de Montfort Catholic Church and School in Fishers, Indiana, continued to experience tremendous growth, parish leaders recognized the need to expand their facilities to better serve both parishioners and students. While enthusiasm for the parish’s future was strong, campaign leaders faced two significant challenges. Some families expressed concern that school-related needs would be overshadowed by plans for a new church and adoration chapel. Additionally, the project experienced a substantial cost increase due to an architectural firm’s error in square footage calculations. Maintaining trust, transparency and momentum became critical as parish leaders prepared to launch a major fundraising effort.

THE VISION

This community embarked on a bold vision to support the parish’s continued growth and strengthen its mission for generations to come. Campaign funds would support:

• Construction of a new church to accommodate the growing parish community.
• A dedicated adoration chapel to enhance opportunities for prayer and worship.
• Expanded gathering and event space that would also benefit parish school programs and activities.
• Improved facilities designed to serve both current and future parishioners.
• Long-term investment in the parish’s spiritual, educational and community life.

THE SOLUTION

Parish leadership chose to partner with the Steier Group for the effort. The strategy included implementation of an extensive cultivation strategy that included 11 cultivation events, numerous major donor gatherings and one-on-one lead gift meetings with the pastor before the public phase began. Through consistent communication, personal outreach and transparent messaging, parish leaders successfully demonstrated how the project would benefit both the parish and school communities while maintaining trust amid unexpected project cost increases. The result was an extraordinary campaign that far exceeded expectations, raising more than $18.5 million against an original goal of $10.5 million.