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September 30, 2024
Good Newsletter
Greetings and Blessings to you all,
As we pray for world peace and an end of human suffering from the effects of war and natural disasters, we are at the same time full of tremendous joy in sharing the good news of what has happened at Koinonia this September.
Every weekend the conference center hosted retreats, reminding us that Koinonia is a place for people (and even pets!) to experience rest, connection, laughter - and transformation and healing.
The dry weather brought earlier changes to the fall foliage, and during the last week rain filled the lake, refreshing the grass and flowers. Our retreat groups included Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, Holy Trinity Digmans Ferry, Emanuel Pleasantville, and the Rosemalers group. We held our Fall Women's retreat, led by Deacon Dawn Talley, and doubled attendance from last fall. Last but not least, we welcomed members of the Board last weekend for our fall Board Retreat!
The blessings of the fall included the hiring and onboarding of year round staff we have been searching for. The new staff are professional, creative, collaborative, future thinking, and fun! We think you will be glad to meet them.
With adept staff and a bookkeeper managing and tracking finances, under Treasurer Mark Wilson's leadership, Koinonia now can produce records that give a clear status of our financial picture, AND project income and expenses into the future.
So yes, our cup overfloweth.
We would not be where we are without your support, prayers, and donations. Thank you! Please continue to give generously during this next, more stable phase of our rebirth. Together we can enact what God has planned for this ministry.
Please read below for our updates and good news.
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Welcome Statement & Land Acknowledgement | |
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During the Board Retreat a Welcome Statement and Land Aknowledgement was discussed and approved to post on our website, in buildings, and when welcoming new and old people to the camp.
Read it HERE
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Board President Report
Happy Fall! The Board was together at Koinonia this past weekend for our retreat. We had a productive meeting and enjoyed meeting some of our new team members. Please see a few key updates below.
Goal 1: Identify a staffing structure for current and future needs by June 2024 and implement the plan by December 2025.
Mike has joined the Koinonia team as our new Associate Director. He is off to a great start and we are thrilled to have him on board. Lewis is also doing very well as our Head Cook and the Board enjoyed meeting him this past weekend and sharing in his delicious meals. We have also hired Jim as our part-time Maintenance Director. He is already making an impact with a wide range of priorities around the property. It is wonderful to see the team coming together in this way as we prepare to host many guests this fall and anticipate the Advent season in a couple of months.
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. We approved a revised rate sheet and contract for bookings during our retreat. Salesforce has been a helpful tool (Thank you, Lora and Kelly!) in tracking our philanthropic and rental revenue, as well as in projecting our financials through the end of the year. We are continuing to work on our capital campaign and have about $450k more to raise to reach our goal of $2M. The alumni campaign and pursuing additional gifts from major donors are two areas of priority.
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. We continue to develop monthly social media posts and will be creating a LinkedIn page for Koinonia. We will also explore additional channels for promoting the camp including brochures, ads in church bulletins, and blurbs in email newsletters for other congregations.
In addition to these goal updates, we reviewed, revised, and adopted our Welcome Statement to be used during worship and to be posted to our website and at the Conference Center. This will help us continue to live out our core value of inclusion.
Thank you, as always, for your ongoing commitment to Koinonia!
Katie Cunningham - Board President
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Fundraising/ Finance Update
As of September 5th, we have received
$67,932.98 in donations (not including Capital Campaign funds)! Thank You!
A letter was sent to current donors to encourage them to renew their gift from last year and consider increasing their current gift. You can read this letter HERE.
Our Capital Campaign Gifts and pledges are, as of September 5th, $1,536,198.10. Total gifts (2020-present) are $1,276,929.71.
Our Reedeemer Seaford completed their Capital Campaign on Sunday and have raised more than $6,000! Thank you! This is a great kickoff to involving more congregations in the campaign this Fall. Please contact Lora Baumhardt if you are ready to run a congregational campaign in your church.
The Staff Alumni Capital Campaign team has decided to raise money to build a new shower/bath house with flush toilets in the campground. If you would like to join this wonderful team email Lora HERE.
Kathleen has begun contacting major gift donors and asking them to prayerfully consider renewing their Capital Campaign pledge to help meet our goal.
Your generosity helps Koinonia thrive!
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Property Update
The Property Team met on September 17th.
The tree work in the Chapel in the Pines, including taking down four dead trees and also removing the giant windowmaker pine was completed on September 13.
With guidance from the Executive Committee, we are moving ahead with three projects for the fall:
- Exterior renovation and replacement of the septic tank at the Caritas House, including new siding and windows
- Replacement of Locks for the Conference Center room doors, ensuring easy access and security.
- Connecting the phone service to the Caritas house, and an estimate to bring land line phone service to all the cabins.
We are continuing to investigate the two generator companies to see which is the best to install in the Conference Center.
Gary, Art, Tom, Danny, Val, and Bob S spent time at the camp tending to electric, tree, and construction needs. The pole barn is getting a newer, larger door! Thank you Volunteers!
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Outreach/Marketing
90 day post reach was down 12.4% vs March 4-June 11, we added 7 more followers in the past month, and post engagements hover between 350 and 3,500 The last newsletter had a 52% open rate, up from from 47% the past month.
Esther Schulze created social media posts about the Advent, Winter, and the Asdal House.
Kathleen meets regularly with Jackie Lund to keep the website up to date. Kelly Kandler continues to meet with Lora, on tweaking the online registration and creating surveys.
The Outreach Marketing, in its new iteration, met on September 9 to plan posts for Instagram and Facebook for October and solidified pilot programming and descriptions for a survey.
Kathleen and Mike attended a celebration for Sullivan 180 and its community partners on September 25. They will be working together on building relationships in the local area, and also in NJ, PA and NY.
Kathleen visited Our Redeemer in Seaford, and Calvary in Allendale NJ on Septmeber 8th. She would love to visit your church in 2024 and 2025. Reach out to her HERE to schedule a date.
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The Two Family is now the Hillside Cabin ! | |
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It was close, but the Hillside Cabin came out as the winner. Thank you to everyone who participated in naming this beautifully renovated cabin. Special thanks to Tom and Sue Vorstadt and all the people who helped them re-imagine this space, making it relevant for the NEXT Generation of Koinonia Campers!
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Our two last searches were completed and our new hires onboarded by the end of September. They join our current year round staff to fill out needed positions to run retreats and programs.
We are thrilled to welcome these new talented people to Koinonia!
Mike O'Brien is our new Associate Director. He started on September 2oth. He and his wife and two children will be living in the Caritas House once it is renovated. Mike worked at a nearby camp, and can live there until the Caritas is ready.
Jim Kelty is our new Maintenance Director. He started September 27. Jim lives in the area. He will work between 24 and 30 hours a week.
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ADVENT is filling up!
Advent I: November 29-December 1
Led by Pastor Paul Johnsen
11 rooms, 0 cabins available
Advent II: December 6-8
Led by Pastor Ron Klose
2 rooms, 1 cabin available
Advent III: December 13-15
Lead by Pastor Kathleen Koran
12 rooms, 2 cabins available
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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
Kathleen Ruen
Executive Director
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