Levell puts experience to work with new firm

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The local minister is now a consultant, helping churches in |ret||ret||tab|

the area raise funds|ret||ret||tab|

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Throughout his career, Dorsey Levell has been in the business of working for churches. In recent months, the minister and former director of the Springfield area Council of Churches has made it official.|ret||ret||tab|

Levell opened his consulting business, Church Fund Raising That Works, with partner Wayne Groner to help churches employ better fund-raising tactics. Groner has a background in journalism and fund raising, and is also a minister. The business is based in Springfield; Levell has an office in Suite 523 of the Woodruff Building on Park Central East.|ret||ret||tab|

"I spent 35 years working for churches as a fund-raiser for churches, and I could see that churches were not getting their fair share of the philanthropic dollar," Levell said.|ret||ret||tab|

He and Groner first wrote a book on the topic, then developed seminars, which they now travel around the state to deliver. The company also has a web site, |bold_on|www.churchfund raisingworks.com, which contains a daily tip sheet for pastors on raising funds.|ret||ret||tab|

The book, "The Pastor's Guide to Fund-Raising Success," was published in March 1999, and the pair began conducting seminars that summer. They then incorporated their business in February of 2000. |ret||ret||tab|

A large portion of the company's work has been focused on seminar weekends Levell calls Discovery Weekends, where the pair essentially conduct a feasibility study for a given church, Levell said.|ret||ret||tab|

"We go in where a church wants to build a family life center, for example, and we talk to key members of the congregation about gifts, to determine whether the church can get the necessary support for their project," Levell said.|ret||ret||tab|

This is not a new concept in church fund raising: large congregations often employ consulting companies for the same purpose. |ret||ret||tab|

What makes Levell's company distinct is its focus on small churches: those with congregations of 200 to 500. |ret||ret||tab|

What also distinguishes his company is its fee: $1,500 for a Discovery Weekend. Larger consulting firms, that deal with larger congregations, will charge $8,000 to $15,000 for a similar service, Levell said.|ret||ret||tab|

In addition to the weekend programs, Levell and Groner also conduct one-day seminars for churches and other religious groups as an introduction to their program.|ret||ret||tab|

"At the seminars we largely focus on how to strengthen a church's weekly offering and on ways to thank the congregation for its gift," Levell said.|ret||ret||tab|

Though churches have long used the money they collect to both sustain operations and for good works in the community, church leaders are often poor at communicating with their members, he said.|ret||ret||tab|

"You've got to put a face on the money. If you're asking for a donation, you've got to let your supporters know where that money is going, who it will help. Instead of saying, thanks for the gift,' say, you should have seen the faces on the youth who were playing in our new family life center this weekend; your gift made that possible,'" Levell said.|ret||ret||tab|

Often pastors or other church leaders are unaware of how patrons ought to be thanked.|ret||ret||tab|

"Many people have been giving to a church for years and have never been thanked. Experts say you should find seven ways to thank someone," Levell said.|ret||ret||tab|

Part of his company's objective is to teach church leaders how to thank supporters, he added.|ret||ret||tab|

Though philanthropic support in general is growing, support for churches has waned, Levell said. |ret||ret||tab|

"Churches have lost that personal touch. If you give to the Victory Mission, then they can point to the people your money helped. If you give to a church, often the thinking has been, give us a glob of money and we'll do good. But in order to strengthen the fund raising, you've got to make it clear who that money is helping," Levell said.|ret||ret||tab|

Levell hopes to conduct seminars and Discovery Weekends in towns within a four-hour drive of Springfield. The company works with Catholic and Protestant denominations, Levell said. The business is his second career. He retired from the Council of Churches in 1998.|ret||ret||tab|

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