Building The Passion
Essential to the success of the fundraising is to ensure the EMOTION AND EXCITEMENT of both the Cathedral Project and the Cathedral Appeal is presented clearly, so everyone could share in this historic journey.
Remember, it has been 77 years since the Archdiocese has joined in support of a Cathedral building program or conducted any fundraising for such a project.
Prior to developing any appeal materials, a group was formed to conduct some basic research and (collectively) to seek answers to a number of questions.
Invited by Monsignor Keating, this group of individuals selected from across all areas of the Archdiocese - parishes, schools, business, parishes, social agencies, priests, religious Orders and associations - met to discuss and focus on three main issues:
- Why the Cathedral Project should be considered important?
- What information do people want to know about the Cathedral?
- Why would people want to support the Cathedral Appeal?
Brilliantly facilitated by Mr Stephen Court, these meetings achieved a great deal. The main outcome was that we had (what we thought) was a clearer understating of for whom the appeal was important and what appeal target might be suggested to His Grace as reasonable.
What we found of most interest was the diversity of what St Mary's Cathedral meant to so many people.
For Catholics, there was a natural linkage through Faith. Many people felt an emotive link because they had been baptised or married at the Cathedral. For some, it was the place where a loved one's funeral service was held. Older members of the community remembered the role the Cathedral played during the World Wars as a place for services and the distribution of welfare.
There were also a large number of people who simply loved the architecture, the stained glass windows or the history of the Cathedral. Many people had a link to the Cathedral as a result of Civic Religious Services such as the Black Hawk disaster.
It was as a direct result of this groups efforts that the Appeal theme was agreed on to demonstrate this diverse unity.
One of the other important pieces of information the group gathered was that to enthuse people to want to support the Cathedral fundraising appeal, it would be necessary to show in a visual sense, as clearly as possible, what the changes and additions to St Mary's Cathedral would look like on completion.
We were indeed fortunate to discover a very talented and enthusiastic supporter in Mr Edward Juhas and his design company 3D Millipede. Using the latest in 3 Dimensional graphic imaging, Edward and his team took the Architect Peter Quinn's, magnificent blueprints and produced computer generated images showing the fully restored and completed St Mary's Cathedral in beautiful colour.
Not only that, 3D Millipede designed moving computer generated models, so the Cathedral could be rotated and viewed from all angles. This innovation formed the basis for the development of a number of wonderful marketing materials such as the Appeal Brochure and the Appeal DVD's.
