Soccer Chaplains United Growth Needs
Ever since rebranding last fall, Soccer Chaplains United has been experiencing a tremendous amount of growth and opportunity. Last year, at the time of rebranding, the Portland Timbers chaplains joined Soccer Chaplains United as well as the organization’s first collegiate chaplain at Moody Bible Institute joined the organization. This year, we’ve added chaplains in Nashville and Rio Grande Valley with the second division soccer teams there and are exploring adding a chaplain at another college in Illinois.
Ministry growth has outpaced ministry funding, though, for the year which has created new challenges and an opportunity. As the Board of Directors for Soccer Chaplains United seeks answers to address the shortfall, there has been looks at several different options including creating new business partnerships, seeking new individual donors and new church partners, and working to develop an annual fundraising event. The other alternative, is to make program cuts. Geoff Eliason, Board Vice-Chair and head of the subcommittee on finance shared,
The board recognizes that Soccer Chaplains United finds itself in a season of exponential growth, requiring additional resources. The infrastructure was put in place in 2017 resulting in a sustainable model in 2018 and beyond that delivers high level chaplaincy and counseling services throughout the U.S. and globally. We are excited to see God continue to work in providing for Soccer Chaplains United through this unique time of expansion.
As the chaplaincy with different teams and organizations continues to age, the cost increases. Simply put, the more people become aware of and trust a chaplain (or counselor) with Soccer Chaplains United, the more utilized the service becomes. Expenditures for existing programs with the Colorado Rapids, Valor Christian High School, and the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC continue to grow.
To date, Soccer Chaplains United has been funded primarily by individual donors, and in a smaller part by church partners and foundations. Recently someone asked me, why not ask the teams or players for money? The answer is quite simple, once a chaplain asks for money the integrity of the pastoral relationship is broken. As an organization the need to explore and find new funding sources is becoming increasingly vital.
So what are some of the specific needs?
- It cost approximately $2,500 to discover, develop, and launch a professional chaplain
- Depending on team size, specific team ministry costs can range from $5-10k per club
- Our Timothy Project budget has undergone some reductions, but our goal is to get to 5-10% of our annual budget as a way of giving back
- We anticipate in the next 2-3 years we will need to double our counseling subsidy that we provide to the neediest that we serve
We would love to see you partner with us in this work. If you feel led, please consider making a gift via PushPay, text SoccerChaplains to 77977 or sending a gift to: Soccer Chaplains United, PO Box 102081, Denver, CO 80250. Your gift is tax-deductible.
If you would like to know more about Soccer Chaplains United and our work please reach out to us at info@soccerchaplainsunited.org to learn more.
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