Fundraising revived for Saint Joseph Community Center; Kinetic says pledge forms will focus gifts on St. Joseph

A consultant for the Saint Joseph Community Center campaign told the council the fundraising effort has been restructured to eliminate donor confusion with a nearby YMCA water park and to restart cultivation of potential major donors.

"The pledge forms that we're gonna be using for all the solicitations for the Saint Joe project are only for Saint Joe," said Scott (speaker 2), a Kinetic representative, explaining the change aims "to avoid any misclassification of contributions" and to ensure gifts designated for Saint Joseph are used for that project.

Scott said the campaign expanded its leadership, naming Patty Wetterling as an active chair and adding a small "kitchen cabinet" of local volunteers — Corey Ellert, Amy Bonfig, Anne Riesner and Carol Breeze — to help with outreach. Kinetic reported it has re-screened the donor list and identified about 180 prospects worth a closer look.

"We are honing in on relationship building," Scott said, describing plans for donor stewardship, regular updates and a newsletter the campaign expects to send within two to three weeks. He told councilors he would follow up with the YMCA director to clarify how much the YMCA has secured for the water park and to ensure Saint Joseph solicitations remain distinct.

Council discussion stressed that Saint Joseph donations should be clearly designated to the city’s community center and not routed to the regional water park effort. Scott said the St. Joseph campaign will maintain that separation while coordinating where helpful with regional partners.

Next steps: Kinetic will distribute a donor newsletter, hold a committee meeting the following day, and follow up with YMCA leadership and the Y’s COO (Terry Gibson) about past invoicing and payment timing.