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Capital Campaign
On Sunday, July 20, the vestry of St. Mark’s announced a five year capital campaign to raise money toward the principal on the Rafters mortgage.
Background
Prior to construction of the Rafters, a capital campaign was held. The building was built using those funds and a construction loan, which was paid off with a 5 year, $1.4 million mortgage with a balloon payment at the end. Some funds from the original capital campaign were reserved for outfitting the kitchen, and the remainder was used to pay down the principal of the mortgage. We are now facing a balloon payment of about $1.1 million, due in October. A team is working to secure a new loan to cover that payment. Among the requirements to secure a new loan is the implementation of a new capital campaign, to show financial stability on the part of the church and commitment on the part of the congregation.
The Campaign
We are asking members to make a single pledge payable over 5 years, and if possible, to make an initial payment of 10% of that pledge. We have opened a special savings account at our bank and will get a favorable interest rate if we can add $25,000 to it in the next several weeks. The funds raised via this campaign will only be used to pay principal on the new loan, over and above the regular monthly payment. This will most likely be done at a strategic time during future refinancing, so as to reduce our monthly payment for the next loan.
Nuts and Bolts
Pledges to the capital campaign can be made via the “Giving” link in Realm, then selecting “Pledge”, or to go directly to pledge, copy this URL into the address bar of your browser: https://onrealm.org/StMarksEpiscopal/-/form/pledge/default.. We recommend making an “as can” pledge and specifying the total amount for 5 years. Setting a schedule will cause the amount entered to be multiplied by the number of periods selected (i.e. weeks, months, etc.) by the number of periods in 5 years, so it can get confusing.
Once you have made your pledge, the “Giving” menu provides a “Give” option which will let you actually contribute to the campaign. Like all gifts made via Realm, the money will go into a general deposit account, with the donation credited in Realm to the capital campaign. Funds will be transferred from the general deposit account to the capital campaign savings account weekly or monthly. To go directly to the “Give” page, you can use this URL: https://onrealm.org/StMarksEpiscopal/-/form/give/default.
Please pledge and contribute faithfully. We have some wonderful youngsters in attendance at St. Mark’s. Let’s not leave them a million dollar mortgage to deal with.
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