Since 1996 TENS has been partnering with The Episcopal Church through dioceses and congregations to offer training and education, quality campaign resources, and to host a resource library compiled over decades by faithful lay and clergy church leaders.
Now, employing the same values that drive our annual campaign materials of affordability, accessibility, and inclusivity, we are proud to offer a full suite of campaign consulting for dioceses and congregations.
TENS Consulting follows four core principles:
Transparency
Equal Accessibility
Need-Responsiveness
Sustainability
These values inform everything from our pricing ranges to our commitment to customize services for congregations with fewer resources. Our goal is to make campaign consulting affordable, accessible, and theologically grounded for Episcopal congregations of all sizes and budgets.
TENS Offers consulting to congregations, to institutions (schools, camps, special ministries), and to dioceses. Our experienced consultant team has completed successful campaigns across the Church.
Discernment / Feasibility Campaign Consulting
The Discernment Phase helps congregations and dioceses answer the question: Are we the right people, in the right place, at the right time to pursue this campaign?
Deliverables include:
- Leadership interviews and congregational surveys
- A customized Bible study or theological reflection series
- Facilitation of visioning sessions or vestry retreats
- Clarity on goals, obstacles, capacity, and readiness
- Option for wealth screening prospects
- A written Discernment Report with recommendations
If the result is “not now,” you still receive actionable next steps and pastoral guidance for future planning.
Capital Campaign Consulting
For dioceses and congregations preparing to raise significant funds for infrastructure, expansion, or debt retirement, TENS offers a full-spectrum campaign service.
Phases may include:
- Discernment
- Case statement development
- Feasibility study and major donor conversations
- Wealth screening and packet preparation
- Volunteer training and coaching
- Quiet phase strategy and public launch
- Donor stewardship and celebration planning
TENS ensures campaigns are spiritually grounded, mission-aligned, and achievable for the size and culture of the Church.
Annual Campaign Consulting
TENS Consulting brings decades of expertise to the design and implementation of annual pledge campaigns.
Services may include:
- Campaign model selection (Every Member Canvas, Pony Express, hybrid models, or other models)
- Messaging and theme development
- Custom calendar and communication strategy
- Volunteer and canvasser training
- Integration of liturgy, formation, and giving
We help churches move from fundraising fatigue to joyful generosity, year after year. And we can help your diocese implement a Bishop’s Appeal or other annual donor program – ask us how!
Planned Giving Program Consulting
Across the Church we are seeing aging donor bases yet many dioceses and congregations lack a structured legacy program. TENS helps the Church plant or revive their planned giving programs with practical tools and deep formation.
Support may include:
- Launch or relaunch of a legacy society
- Donor cultivation strategy and communications
- Gift acceptance policies and vestry education
- Sunday-morning messaging and planned giving Sundays
- Pastoral integration: prayers, sermons, and storytelling
Our approach to theologically-based financial discernment gives peace of mind and mission-focused responses to members of all ages and means.
All Saints Episcopal Church in San Leandro, California is an active, thriving church representative of the diverse neighborhood in which we are placed and a parish that inspires and is inspired by our work in justice, environmentalism, and community activism. We found ourselves in need of a capital campaign to raise money for a new roof and to replenish and expand our reserve fund. TENS was a great partner to help us achieve our goals.
The TENS approach is rooted in our Episcopal identity. Wrapped in prayer, in a welcoming pastoral approach, and deeply integrated with fundraising best practices, our volunteers were led through a training that enabled them to share their authentic stories and listen to others as they made their asks for the campaign. From campaign scope through prospect research and identification, and into the nuts and bolts of running a campaign, TENS walked alongside us, even celebrating with us at the end as we marked the successful end to our campaign.
We would absolutely recommend TENS as a partner in capital campaign work.
Episcopal Diocese of California – Expanding Horizons Campaign
From 2015 – 2018, the Diocese of California undertook an historic campaign with ambitious goals to raise capacity for diocesan ministry and to strengthen congregations. A campaign unlike any other in the history of the diocese combined diocesan capital fundraising with companion congregational efforts, all led by a team of consultants.
As Canon for Stewardship, J. Davey Gerhard led the effort to embark and successfully deliver this campaign. While this was not a project of TENS, the principal lead, Cn. Gerhard, was the architect, lead, and director of the overall effort, and brings this experience and success to TENS as its executive director and chief campaign director
$13 Million raised for diocesan projects focused on congregational vitality and capacity building
$7 Million raised for participating congregations in parallel campaigns which shared thirty percent of their campaign proceeds with the diocese
1,200 donors engaged
140 study interviews conducted including diocesan leadership, congregational leadership, and prospective donors
3 diocesan institutions received landmark funding for operational support and endowment
Case
- Convened a group of diocesan leadership including the Bishop, beneficiary institutions, and diocesan governance to establish a case for support with projects and goals.
- Worked with designer to craft a test document
Feasibility
- Lead and design for feasibility study, including developing questions, prospect list, and final report. In this effort, I engaged a consulting firm to perform the interviews in order to allow and encourage real answers about diocesan ministry, but oversaw and trained the consultants in their work.
- Recruited and led a diocesan steering committee on the capital campaign comprised of rectors, diocesan council, diocesan staff, beneficiary institutions, and key stakeholders to oversee and understand the feasibility process.
- Tested the case statement and made recommendations for revisions based on interview feedback
Campaign Oversight
- Donor Stewardship
- Prioritized more than 400 prospect donors, performing wealth screening and donor research, and assigning evidence-based target solicitation amounts
- Managed the Bishop’s calendar to organize events, meetings, meals, and methods to educate and enroll prospects, following up with solicitation meetings. This process took 24 months as there were several hundred donors.
- Stewardship and recognition for donors, establishing a plan to thank in the short- and long-term significant donors to the campaign.
- Ran events and created opportunities for smaller gift fundraising in small-group and mail/email campaigns.
- Companion Campaigns
- Hired consultants to manage seven parallel congregational campaigns each with their own case creation, study, prospect research, and solicitation phases.
- Conducted volunteer training for solicitors.
Continuation Plan
- Planned Giving
- Followed up with major donors to create a planned giving program to continue supporting the diocesan endowment
- Enrolled more than one hundred new gifts including CGA, CRUT/CRAT, and other planned gifts benefitting diocean institutions, congregations, and
