Advancing Our Church

February 16, 2020 Changing Our World ‘s Jim Friend and Tom Farrell visit the Diocese of San Jose and speak with Joe Naylor , Chief Development Officer. Joe talks about the first couple of years in his new role in the diocese, including some of the new initiatives he has introduced. Some examples include a Fundraising Bootcamp for pastors and a Diocesan Legacy Society. Joe previously served as Vice...

February 09, 2020 Changing Our World ‘s Jim Friend visits the Archdiocese of San Francisco to talk with Rod Linhares , Director of Development, and Florian Romero , Director of Stewardship. Rod oversees fundraising for the Archdiocese, where he has been a resident his whole life. Rod’s personal mission is to help everyone to understand the magnitude of services and ministries that are offered...

Published: February 02, 2020 Today, Changing Our World ‘s Jim Friend travels to his hometown in the Diocese of Phoenix and visits with the senior team in the Office for Mission Advancement. What were the three things that Bishop Olmstead asked God to show him so that he would know that a new seminary was His plan? Learn about the incredible mission of Nazareth House, a new seminary house of format...

Published: January 26, 2020 Happy Catholic Schools Week 2020! In honor of Catholic Schools Week, we are replaying the best moments in Catholic Education on our Podcast in 2019. Our guests this week (pictured above from top left to right) include Mark Freund , Jason Morrison , Dr. Brooke Tesche , Dr. Tim Uhl , Jennifer Trefelner , Matt Russell , John Petruzzelli , and Steven Virgadamo . Not picture...

Published: January 19, 2020 On today’s podcast, Changing Our World ‘s Jim Friend is joined by Jennifer Trefelner and Nick Regina on the topic of “Leveraging Catholic Schools Week” for marketing, enrollment, and philanthropic opportunities. This podcast is the audio from the webinar that was held on January 14, 2010. The conversation covers topics like: What are the benefits of a strong communicati...

Published: January 12, 2020 Today, Changing Our World ‘s Jim Friend interviews Msgr. Jim Vlaun , who discusses his role as the former chaplain for the New York Jets, his visit with Pope Francis, his popular cooking show, his 30+ year run as the host of Religion and Rock, and much more! Msgr. Jim has hosted everyone from Billy Joel, The Rolling Stones to Jimmy Buffet. His radio program is nationall...

Published: January 05, 2020 Donor Stewardship plays a crucial role in the vitality of Catholic schools, parishes, dioceses, and faith-based nonprofits. Understanding the donor’s interests and needs is critical to stewarding their long-term interest in your organization. The donor’s journey with you requires time and attention, which oftentimes is an important missing ingredient in development offi...

Published: December 22, 2019 Merry Christmas! In this very special Christmas episode, Jim Friend and the staff at Changing Our World extend to you their very best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! A Note from Our Host Dear Friends, This week, we publish the 29th episode of the Advancing Our Church Podcast. Since June 10, 2019, we have been proud to host over 50 guests who have gra...

Published: December 15, 2019 Today we visit the Church of St. Anne in Garden City , New York, to discuss their very successful capital campaign. We visit with their pastor, Rev. Msgr. Thomas Harold and the Director of Parish Operations, Mary Lou Engrassia. Changing Our World‘s Jim Friend is joined by Yasmine Hicks , who directed this important campaign. Hear the story of how this parish completed...

Published: December 08, 2019 This week, Changing Our World ‘s, Jim Friend speaks with Brian Corbin , KHS, Executive Vice President for Member Services at Catholic Charities USA . For Brian, Catholic Charities is “a ministry of the Bishop that enables us to continue the work of the early Apostles in caring for the widows, orphans, and strangers among us.” Today, we see how Catholic Charities provid...

Published: December 01, 2019 This week we visit one of Changing Our World ’s former clients, the Central Association of the Miraculous Medal . We visit with Mary Jo Timlin-Hoag , President and Chief Executive Officer, and Sheila McGirl, CFRE , Senior Director of Institutional Advancement. Kaitlin McTighe , Managing Director at Changing Our World, joins Jim Friend for this conversation. Mary Jo is...

Published: November 24, 2019 Dr. Tim Uhl is a popular blogger and host for the Catholic School Matters Podcast and the Superintendent of Montana Catholic Schools. Today, Jim Friend talks with Tim about life, Catholic School leadership, and Catholic education. The two also spend a significant amount of time talking about podcasting. We learn how Tim began his podcast and the intellectual curiosity...

Published: November 17, 2019 Imagine if your job facilitated daily personal interaction with more than 500 of the nation’s top CEOs and corporate presidents, representing dozens of professional disciplines, in relaxed settings oftentimes, alongside their spouses, across more than 20 metropolitan areas in the United States and several foreign countries. Sound too good to be true? That is exactly wh...

Published: November 10, 2019 On today’s podcast, Jim Friend talks with Julianne Stanz , Author of a new book entitled “ Start with Jesus .“ Julianne’s challenge: “Take a moment and ask yourself: does every activity in my parish point more deeply to Jesus?” Julianne’s new book aims to help parish communities make sure the answer to this question is a resounding “Yes!” Serving parishes in her dioces...

Published: November 03, 2019 Today we finish our coverage of the 2019 International Catholic Stewardship Conference with an interview with Msgr. John J. Bracken . Msgr. Bracken stopped by our booth at ICSC this year, and we had a terrific impromptu interview about his life as a priest and his career not only as the Vicar General for the Diocese of Brooklyn but also as the very first Director of De...

Published: October 27, 2019 Join us for interviews at the 2019 International Catholic Stewardship Conference (ICSC), held on October 6 – 9 in Chicago. Changing Our World was proud to sponsor this 57th annual gathering with over 800 participants from around the world. The conference attendees convened to talk about Catholic stewardship, leadership, and advancement. Today’s episode features intervie...

Published: October 21, 2019 Jason Morrison & Mark Freund are accomplished leaders in Catholic Education. On today’s show, hear their thoughts on the evolving models of Catholic education and the dynamics of remaining competitive in today’s marketplace. Changing our World ‘s Gavan Mooney , President, and Chief Client Officer, and Kaitlin McTighe , Managing Director, interview these two experien...

Published: October 13, 2019 Debbie Leaverton serves as Director of Parish Stewardship for the Orange Catholic Foundation for the Diocese of Orange in California. The Diocese serves a growing English, Vietnamese, and Spanish-speaking population with over 3.2 million Catholics. The Diocese serves the largest population of Vietnamese in the United States.    Today, Changing Our World ‘s Jim...

Published: October 06, 2019 This week we tackle many common fundraising questions that our consultants are asked often. Jim Friend is joined by a talented group of Changing Our World fundraising consultants, including Brandi Holys , Diana Curren , and Ray Witkowski , for this informative roundtable session. Some of the questions the group discusses include: Why do people Give?* When is the best ti...

Published: September 30, 2019 Meet David DiNapoli , the Director of Development for the Diocese of Portland in Maine. On today’s show, Jim Friend talks with David about his role in the Diocese and some of the challenges and opportunities that he is pursuing as he leads a development office that covers 33,215 square miles with a population of 279,159 Catholics. David’s office oversees the Annual Ap...

Published: September 15, 2019 Today, we finish our exciting three-part “Back to School” series with a terrific show on Catholic School leadership. Today our guest is veteran trainer Steven Virgadamo . Steven discusses the topic of recruiting, training and retaining leaders for Catholic Schools. Steven is an expert trainer of Catholic School Leaders. He is the Executive Director of the Curran Catho...

Published: September 08, 2019 Today’s Show Data-driven communications plans will separate you from the competition. What are the benefits of a strong communications plan? What does a robust communications plan include? What does RPIE stand for, and how does it play into the communications plan? All these questions and much more will be discussed on today’s show. Today, Jim Friend talks with Jennif...

Published: September 02, 2019 Catholic Education Experts Join Changing Our World ‘s Brian Crimmins and Matt Russell , the Chief Advancement and Business Development Officer for the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) as we consider the future of Catholic education in the United States. This presentation was originally delivered as a webinar in April 2019. The conversation was a c...

Published: August 25, 2019 What’s the Secret? Parish Campaigns are a big undertaking, and creating the right plan to raise significant dollars is critical. Join Changing Our World ‘s expert consultants as they tackle some of the more common questions about campaigns. How do you prepare for a campaign? Why is it important for a parish to conduct a Feasibility Study?  What is the impact on pari...

Published: August 18, 2019 About Today’s Show How does a diocese become “Catholic Strong?”  Can you engage stakeholders in this effort? Can you continue the campaign through the PA Grand Jury Report? Did it help that the Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl? We will discuss all of these questions and more on today’s show. Join Changing Our World ‘s Shawn Trahan and Jim Friend as they...