THE HALO EFFECT (cont.)
scholarly study and served as a catalyst for a growing public
conversation on the role that faith-based organizations play
in their neighborhoods. In the years following, Partners used
the data and methodology to provide new tools and training so
that congregations could document their own public value and
then use this information to attract new resources to sustain
their buildings and the community-serving programs they
housed.
Piloting a New Approach
Although groundbreaking, SPAR did not attempt to look at
all of the ways that congregations impact their communities.
While the tools that SPAR made possible were effective, they
were limited. They measured the value of space and volunteer
time of some social programs, but couldn’t account for the
vast and more complex impacts of lives improved. In 2007,
then-Associate Director Tuomi Forrest proposed a framework
for a larger study to a group of researchers from the non-proft
and academic sectors, who affirmed that such a project would
break new ground.
In 2010 Partners secured a grant from the William Penn
Foundation to pilot this new study. Partners joined once
more with Dr. Ram Cnaan of the University of Pennsylvania
School of Social Policy and Practice, and began to lay out a
new, ambitious, quantitative approach to understanding the
full value congregations provide to their local economy – an
approach that could be used by government, policy analysts,
and advocates.
Designing the Study: Criteria and Methodology
The goal of the pilot study was to develop and test a
methodology for measuring economic value – in other words,
to attempt to assign monetary value where the market does not
reach. By applying different methods of valuation to a variety
of factors, the study sought to create the first systematic
measurement of a congregation’s annual impact on its local
economy.
Selecting Factors to Value
As a first step, Forrest and Cnaan, assisted by interns
Joe Carlsmith, Kelsey Karsh, and Daniel Duffy, created
a list of factors that would reflect as many congregational
contributions as possible, using items presented at Partners
for Sacred Places’ 2007 meeting and in Cnaan’s 2009
conceptual article (“Valuing Urban Religious Congregations”)
as a springboard. They also consulted with a set of experts,
including Katie Day, Lutheran Theological Seminary of
Philadelphia; David Listokin, Rutgers University; Lee Huang,
Econsult; Ira Goldstein, The Reinvestment Fund; and John
DiIulio, University of Pennsylvania.
Based on these conversations and an extensive review of
available, academically sound, and vetted methodologies,
17 • Sacred Places • www.sacredplaces.org • Spring 2011
Many congregations host educational programs, like this
science-oriented class at First United Methodist Church of
Germantown. Photo courtesty of FUMCOG.
the group identified 54 areas in which congregations made a
measurable economic impact on their communities.
Selecting Congregations
Initially, Partners created a list of potential study
congregations that met two criteria: those with buildings
that are at least 50 years old and were constructed as
houses of worship; and those with a prior relationship with
Partners, in order to make use of personal connections
with key clergy, staff, or lay leaders. To narrow down the
list while providing diversity to the final study participants,
congregations were selected based on their size (both budget
and active membership), geographic location within the city
of Philadelphia, faith affiliation, primary ethnic or racial
group represented, type and size of their physical plant,
and the range of programs or services supported. The final
study group included Arch Street United Methodi