However, the selection of specific congregations allowed the
range of factors and methodologies to be tested.
The aim of the study was to test the feasibility of valuing
congregations in a more complex and comprehensive
manner than had been previously attempted. While this was
successfully achieved, it should be noted that the estimates
obtained are representative only of the twelve congregations
studied.
Determining Valuation Methodologies
The most difficult task was determining the best methodology
to assess the financial value of each factor. For example, it is
difficult to assign a dollar value to a person who is kept healthy
and alive because of direct congregational activity. Partners
looked to Cnaan’s earlier work and followed his assessments
regarding a few of the items. For the rest, the research team
interviewed experts, reviewed relavant literature, and applied
some original methodologies.
Even when a contribution can be quantified, translating the
numbers into monetary values can be difficult. Congregational
contributions are also often difficult to separate from other
factors – family, community, government – and even more
difficult to evaluate across a length of time. Any effort to
measure the value of a congregation must contend with these
complexities. As the team attempted to do so, it found that
many important contributions could not be measured using
current methodologies. In some of these cases, it came up
with proxy measurements. For example, the contribution that
congregations make to the social capital of their communities
is extremely important but difficult to quantify. The group
calculated this by looking at wht it would cost to pay their
volunteers. A standard hourly wage, used as a proxy, was
multiplied by the hours of volunteer work donated to the
congregation by its members and neighbors to estimate their
total value.
Having identified fields of inquiry and methodologies, the
group interviewed participating congregations’ pastors and
Broad Street Ministry offers health screenings as part of its
Breaking Bread program. Photo by Ashley Collinson, courtesy of
Broad Street Ministry.
staff, who supplied most of the financial and operational
information during on-site interviews, which were
supplemented by data on the congregations’ social outreach
collected from program directors and other staff members.
Conservative Estimates
The team was intentionally conservative with fiscal estimates.
For example, regarding benefits offered to members or
neighbors, clergy were asked to limit their estimates to
members and neighbors with whom the congregation had
worked directly. Thus, if a member decided, solely through
general participation in the congregation but not through
someone’s dedicated effort, to improve marital relations or to
go for a medical checkup, that member was not included in the
calculations because the intervention was not direct. When
any interviewee had difficulty assessing the value of a service,
the interviewer assigned a zero value to that category, despite
under-valuing the actual benefit.
The Findings
According to the calculations, the estimated annual
economic-impact value of the twelve studied congregations is
$51,850,178. This estimate translates into an average value of
$4,320,848 per studied congregation.
This is more than 30 times higher than the value calculated in
Sacred Places at Risk. Clearly congregations are key employers;
purchasers of local goods and services; magnets for bringing
in cash, volunteer time, and other resources from outside the
city; educators of pro-social values; and providers of critical
“invisible safety net” programs like counseling and other
services that help individuals and families be productive
workers and citizens.
Policy Implications
For policy makers, community and business leaders, and
funders interested in a particular facet of economic life,
this data should help guide their investment. For those
interested in tourism, understanding how congregations
attract travelers regionally and nationally is key. For those
wanting to strengthen commercial corridors, understanding
the flow of people from a congregation and how they support
local business, or how congregations incubate small ventures
is critical. Even in an area where the overall value is relatively
low, like open space, the study found two congregations with
significant green space and trees. In effect they manage
mid-size urban parks that contribute to the economic and
environmental well-being of the City and region.
Partners for Sacred Places will continue to work with the
University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and
Practice and other academic/research advisors. We will now
refine the valuation methodologies where needed, slightly
expand the scope of factors studied, and most importantly,
conduct a wider study, randomly selecting congregations from
multiple cities or states to get a clearer, national picture of the
halo effect of America’s sacred places.
Sacred Place ̃