Why Should America Invest in its Sacred Places?
Although sacred places have significant Economic Halo Effect value, many congregations are smaller and more vulnerable than before, endangering that value and potentially removing assets and shareable spaces from the civic arena forever. If civic leaders act only when a church is closing, it has lost the opportunity to work with the congregation to put its space to better use. In sum, prevention is much less expensive than reaction.
Promoting Efficiency and Maximizing Leverage
Investing in the care or new use of a sacred place is highly efficient. Rather than building a new facility or housing programs in spaces with indifferent landlords or owners, housing a program in a sacred place can increase the return on investment. Why?
• Sacred places are usually located at key intersections and are adjacent to vulnerable populations that are targeted for philanthropic initiatives and government programs.
• Sacred places are owned and managed by nonprofit institutions— i. e., congregations— that usually share the goals and values of local, secular nonprofits. They want to serve people in need and make neighborhoods stronger, but they lack the resources to make the most of their building assets.
• Sacred places are often in reasonably good condition, and have significant vacant space. Thus, a modest investment can ready a space to accommodate new uses that benefit the arts, human service programs, health and education initiatives, and other communityserving programs.
• Sacred places are often the most trusted institution by parents, children, seniors and other key populations targeted for new programs.
Responding Effectively to Changing Nonprofit Needs
Because sacred places often have an abundance and wide range of spaces available— ranging from auditoriums, kitchens and dining rooms, classrooms, and gymnasiums— they can usually accommodate nonprofits that are displaced due to changes in their needs and circumstances – what might be called nonprofit churn.
Many nonprofits find, over the course of a few years, that they may lose their lease as prices go up, need more or less space than before, require an annex or secondary location, or need a better location. This kind of churn is present in every market, but nonprofits often don’ t know that nearby houses of worship may have the space they need, nor do they know
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