Spark Retreat Case Study
We spent 3 days in Louisville Kentucky, with five leaders from New Albany Youth Office (Catalyst Catholic’s old name). They were struggling to understand how to take a ministry with a long history and bring new life and clarity to the mission.
“The Spark Retreat was phenomenal! Figuring out our ‘WHY’ helped reorient our target audience, which in turn helped us make staffing decisions and get our entire team on board to serve those that we are called to serve most effectively.”
-Philip Wysse, Director of Catalyst Catholic
Target Audience
After day one, we realized there was a misalignment in the assumed target audience. The target audience was not the youth in the deanery, but actually the Youth Ministers and Volunteers. This realization completely shifted the way we looked at everything we did.
Core Values
Spark Sessions helped Catalyst to find and define their Core Values, which are essential in each project. They can now always look at each project and check in to see if it matches their core values. If the work doesn’t fit all 3, they don’t take on the project.
Team Dynamics
In the course of the Spark Retreat and a few follow-up sessions, Catalyst Catholic recognized a breakdown in trust among the staff. They ended up letting go 2 individuals and bringing on 1 new team member. They felt a palpable energy shift in their office, and the buy-in from their team noticeably increased.
Fundraising
The clarity of mission has helped Catalyst Catholic raise $100k in just a few months, which was a 40% increase from the year before.