By Lisa O’Connor, Building Steering Committee

Design Presentation

While we have many varied talents within our walls, most of us are not accustomed to building walls on the scale of our building expansion project. That's why we hired Boldt to help us plan and build our addition.

We also can benefit from this type of outside expertise when it comes to assessing our collective commitment to this project. Most UU congregations typically hire a UUA consultant to conduct a Feasibility Study to gather the answers to three questions:

1. How knowledgeable are members and friends about the proposed project?

2. What questions or concerns do they have that need to be addressed before moving on to the capital campaign step?

3. What financial contribution do members and friends expect to make, and is this sufficient to meet the projected budget?

The UUA consultant who will conduct our Feasibility Study is Aggie Sweeny. Aggie has

30 years of experience in nonprofit agencies and currently is CEO and co-owner of The Collins Group. She has consulted with more than 40 diverse nonprofits including several UU churches. Aggie is a member of the Woodinville UU Church in Seattle and has been active in a number of leadership roles.

In late January, Aggie will make an "assessment visit" to prepare for the Feasibility Study with our Fellowship staff and leaders. The Feasibility Study will follow in mid-February. A representative sample of members and friends is selected to participate in the study, so if you're asked, we hope you can make time for a confidential interview lasting about 45 minutes at the Fellowship.

After all the interviews have been completed, the consultant analyzes the findings and writes a summary report. The report will help us as a congregation determine if we are ready to launch a capital campaign or if there is more work to do.