How many congregations leverage building and property to bring resources to their communities?

As you may know, The FaithX Project is partnering with TryTank Experimental Laboratory in running a proof-of-concept experiment with the idea of using weekly microsurveys to keep a finger on the pulse of The Episcopal Church

Every week on Tuesday afternoon we send out a new survey on a pressing issue. Then our volunteer respondents have until Friday afternoon to submit their responses. 

Last week we asked these two questions:

  1. Does your congregation leverage its building and property to bring resources to the community it serves?
  2. If so, what kinds of service organizations have your congregation brought to its building(s) and property?

The responses to question #1 were encouraging:43% of respondents said their congregation had used their property and building(s) to bring at least 1 resource to the community. 36% of respondents said their congregation had used their property and building(s) to bring at least 1 resource to the community, AND they want to do more. Together, “No” and “No but would like to do more” made up 15% of the responses.

The responses to question #2 were similarly interesting:

The top three were Nonprofit Services Organizations at 61%, Homeless, Housing, and Hunger Services at 33%, and Education and Literacy Services at 30%.

The second tier included 12-Step Programs at 27%, Health Care Services at 22%, and Community Development Services at 21%, Mental Health Services at 20%, and Recreation Services at 18%.

The remaining services together – Disability Services, Internet Access, Financial Services, and Employment Services – accounted for just over 20%.

“Other” – coming in at 27% – included Arts Organizations, Childcare Services, Other Faith Communities, Scouts and similar organizations, and Voting.

Questions that came to mind as we reviewed this data included:

  • What types of service did all those nonprofit service organizations provide? 
  • How many of these are the result of opportunistic choices? (“bring in the usual suspects”)
  • How many of these are the result of strategic choices? (directly supporting the vision and mission of the congregation)

FaithX specializes in helping congregations make strategic decisions around leveraging their property and buildings for the sake of their neighborhoods and their mission. 

For more information, contact us here.