CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF OKLAHOMA CITY

A Client Success Story: Coaching for Revenue Increases

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City (CCAOKC) has just launched the first phase of a $5 million capital campaign to renovate and expand their Sanctuary Women’s Development Center – a day shelter for women and their children experiencing homelessness.

Executive Director Patrick Raglow, Board President Ray Haefele and Board member Vi Le, Chair of the Development Committee, and also the newest member of the CC USA National Board approved the inclusion of a “coaching contact” to their Service Agreement with Greater Mission as part of the agency’s capital campaign preparation.

“The staff coaching was the step that made the difference. The campaign readiness factor increased exponentially.”

“We took a 4-step approach,” says Donna Marino, Senior Vice President of Greater Mission who has been working with CCAOKC on their campaign. “Our first step was the Development Audit, which revealed that the agency certainly had all the right ingredients for success, but the Development and Outreach staff team needed some help in focusing on financial success and on what we call hard outcomes – moving the revenue needle and learning all the essential strategies that successful fundraising organizations employ to meet AND exceed campaign goals.

“So…very simply we took Step 2 and ‘coached up’ the Senior Director, Jessi Riesenberg. She was a quick study and immediately implemented our recommendations. From there we just kept the ball rolling, and with the enthusiastic approval of the Executive Director, we extended the coaching contract to the other 7 members of the Development and Outreach team.”

From there the Feasibility Study was Step 3. and now we are in Step 4: the initial phase of the capital campaign is underway.

“The staff coaching was the step that made the difference” reports Marino. “The campaign readiness factor increased exponentially:  the team has completely embraced their campaign roles and responsibilities and how the campaign fits in with their regular day-to-day work. This group is on fire!”

Harvey Mackay, CEO, well known author and a regular columnist for the USA Today Network recently authored an article entitled “It is hard to be successful if you’re not coachable.”

Here are a few pearls of wisdom from Harvey MacKay that Greater Mission uses in coaching development professionals:

• Coachable people embrace change and look for better ways to do things.
• They seek out best practices.
• The don’t make excuses.
• Coachable people are action-oriented and get things done.
• They are good listeners.
• They seek insights and perspectives from others and pursue mentors.
• Coachable people are open and receptive to receiving feedback.
• They are not afraid to adjust their thinking to improve results.