December 31, 2024

Good Newsletter


Greetings and Blessings to you all,


December began with the gift of many people of all ages attending our three Advent retreats, gracing us with their spirit and joy. December ended with many Christmas gifts from congregations and individuals, helping us prepare for abundant 2025 programming and visitors.


It has truly been an incredible year and there is so much to be grateful for. We are most grateful for your participation and partnership. Thank you.             


During this season of giving, please consider a generous end of year gift to Koinonia. We would not be where we are without your support, prayers, and donations. Thank you! Together we can enact what God has planned for this ministry. Please click HERE to read our Christmas Appeal letter.


Please read below for our updates and good news.


December Photo Meditation


BOARD NEWS

Board President Report


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We hope you had a wonderful Christmas season and wish you a happy and healthy new year. Below are our latest updates from camp.


Goal 1:  Identify a staffing structure for current and future needs by June 2024 and implement the plan by December 2025.

All our new staff continue to do well in their positions, and we are hearing good feedback from the groups that visited for Advent. Thank you to our incredible team for all of their hard work in December and for creating a warm and welcoming environment for all of our guests.  

 

Goal 2:  Raise operating revenue to achieve a balanced budget in 2024 and 2025.

Mark Wilson, Treasurer, and Kathleen continue to meet weekly to look at balances, projections, and decisions. The Board iks on track to propose our finalized budget at the Annual Meeting in February. We have raised additional funds over the past month through several campaigns including Giving Tuesday, Advent, and our end-of-year appeal. We also had strong rental income during the Advent season. We appreciate you considering Koinonia in your end-of-year giving plans and hope you will make a gift today, if you haven't already.


Goal 3:  Grow the Koinonia community by retaining current users/programs and attracting new/first-time visitors.

Esther Schulze continues to lead on this goal and our recent meetings focused on continued promotion of the Conference Center and the cabins in 2025. We continue to develop monthly social media posts and have created a LinkedIn page for Koinonia. Please click here to follow our page. 


If you have any recommendations for new Board Members for 2025, please email Kathleen at kkruen@koinoniany.org.


With gratitude,


Katie Cunningham

Board President

CAMP NEWS

Fundraising/ Finance Update


As of December 31st, we have received

$106,519.40 in donations (not including Capital Campaign funds)! Thank You!


The Christmas appeal and Winter Newsletter were sent out the first week of December. You can make a donation this evening or the first few weeks of January to help meet the $50,000 match from the Jeanine Heller Foundation. Read the letter HERE.


Our Capital Campaign Gifts and pledges are, as of December 31st, $1,600,978. Total gifts (2020-present) are $1,363,828.90. We are making progress!


The Staff Alumni Capital Campaign team have started raising funds to build the Oasis Showerhouse near the rafters. If you would like to give a generous gift and be listed as one of the lead donors, email Lora HERE.


Kathleen continues to engage with major gift donors, in order to get us over the 2 million mark.


Your generosity helps Koinonia thrive!

Property Update


The Caritas House is finished and much improved.  Mike and his family officially moved in on December 30th.  The Pump house repair is nearly complete and is in good shape for winter and for use for the new shower house.


The locksmith has all the parts in stock and we are expecting him to get the job done in the beginning of January. 


 The Caritas contractor met with Mike, Jim, the Vorstadts, and Bob Bliefernich in the beginning of December to discuss the placement of the shower house and its design. 


The cold snaps froze pipes in the conference center, but damage was minimal and quickly addressed.

 

The Property Team met on December 19th and reviewed the accomplishments of the year. They came up with additional questions to bring to the contractor making a plan for the shower house, and also made a list of projects for 2025. 


The contractor for the Conference Center Generator was selected, and if we secure a Grant from T-Mobil, we will be more likely to move ahead with this needed electrical backup during power outages. 


Mike was able to reconnect with a company he has worked with before called Youth Build, which will bring up 30 youth at a time to learn building skills three times in 2025, starting mid-February. He is looking for volunteers to help. Email Mike HERE.


Thank you Staff and Volunteers!

Outreach/Marketing


Facebook 90 day Facebook post reach was down 14% vs June 13 – September 20, we held at the same amount of followers in the past month, and post engagements hover between 350 and 3,500. The last newsletter had a 51% open rate, up from 49% the past month. 


Jackie will be working on the website until March 1, when it will be turned over to Mike to run. The Outreach Marketing team/Goal 3 Team’s survey continues to bring in responses on new programming, with a Music retreat in the lead. We are planning to put together a website taskforce for January & February to help Mike in creating a new design for the website.  


Kathleen had Lunch with The Rev. Tiina Talvitie from the New York Finnish Lutheran Congregation in the West Village on December 11, 2024.


Kathleen and Mike presented on Nature Camp at the December Town of Highland Town Hall meeting and were well recieved. Koinonia will host the Barryville Chamber of Commerce Benefit in 2025 in the Conference Center in March!


In order to apply for the T-Mobile Community Hometown Grant, Koinonia needed to secure 5 letters of support from the Town of Highland. The town Supervisor, President of the Senior Center, Fire Department, Ambulance Corp. and the Superintendant of schools all supplied letters ahead of the grant deadline. We pray we win it!

Programming Survey

Two Minute Survey


The Goal 3 team has come up with some ideas for programming weekends for the spring and summer.


Please take two minutes and let us know which programs might bring NEW people to Koinonia! Thank you.


Take the survey HERE.

Last Chance for Confirmation.....

We have an excellent Confirmation weekend planned - a special opportunity for families that have one or two confirmands at thier church. The whole family of your confirmand is welcome to come up for the weekend or just for Saturday. This is a wonderful opportunity for your child to meet other confirmands and deepen thier faith.


Please email Lora ASAP if you would like to join us.


Program HERE

Thank You

Our Mission is reaching more people, and our vision to become "a flourishing outdoor community that cultivates transformation and ripples peace and reconciliation to the world" is leading us to the future. Thank you for reading this newsletter, for your prayers, your volunteering, your booking of buildings and rooms, and for your financial support. Together, we can build a ministry that will last for the next 60 years and beyond.

God Bless,

Katie Cunningham    
Board President 
board@koinoniany.org                                            

Kathleen Ruen
Executive Director
kkruen@koinoniany.org          
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