87. Restoring Hope in Niagara Falls: Niagara Gospel Mission Raises $176K [$10M Story Part 1 of 5]

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Fundraising Masterminds Podcast – Episode 87: Restoring Hope in Niagara Falls: Niagara Gospel Mission Raises $176K [$10M Story Part 1 of 5]

Introduction

The Fundraising Masterminds Podcast, hosted by Jim Dempsey and Jason Galicinski, stands as the premier resource for nonprofit leaders seeking effective fundraising and development strategies. In Episode 87, titled "Restoring Hope in Niagara Falls: Niagara Gospel Mission Raises $176K [$10M Story Part 1 of 5]," the hosts delve into the inspiring journey of John Cooper, the Executive Director of the Niagara Gospel Mission, and how the Perfect Vision Dinner mentorship program significantly boosted their fundraising efforts.

Guest Introduction: John Cooper

John Cooper joins Jim and Jason to share his compelling story and the transformative impact of the Fundraising Masterminds' program on his organization.

John Cooper’s Background and Calling

John begins by recounting his deep-rooted connection to Niagara Falls, stating:

“I’m from Niagara Falls, New York. My family's actually been there since 1800... [04:05]”

His military background as an infantryman and sniper section leader, with deployments to Afghanistan, laid a foundation of leadership and resilience. Upon leaving the military, a series of personal challenges, including facing potential homelessness, redirected his path towards ministry.

“I noticed as I was driving through Niagara Falls... I went from the front lines of Kabul, Afghanistan, to now the front lines of Niagara Falls, New York...” [09:45]

This transition was driven by a profound realization of the city's struggles, likening it to a war zone in desperate need of rebuilding not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually.

Challenges in Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls, once a thriving tourist destination, experienced significant decline due to industrial downturns, job losses, and rising crime and drug issues. John highlights the stark contrast between the city’s picturesque waterfalls and the harsh realities faced by its residents.

“We have 9.5 million people a year come to see a waterfall off a cliff, but they walk right past people made in the image of God.” [13:36]

These challenges fostered a victim mentality within the community, which the Niagara Gospel Mission aims to overcome by focusing on heart revival and life rebuilding through faith-based initiatives.

Transition from Military to Executive Director

John’s journey from military service to leading the Niagara Gospel Mission was marked by divine calling and personal conviction. After facing potential homelessness, he found solace and purpose in returning to Niagara Falls and volunteering at the mission. His leadership qualities and innovative approach led to his swift appointment as Executive Director within two years.

“God led through that me to work at the Niagara Gospel Mission... to become the executive director pretty quick within two years.” [10:13]

Fundraising Challenges and Discovery of Fundraising Masterminds

Upon taking the helm, John encountered significant fundraising challenges. The mission, operating without state or federal funding, relied heavily on innovative fundraising strategies. Despite previous efforts yielding modest results—raising only $8,000 from prior dinners—John sought more effective solutions.

“We took home 8,000. I sat down with my board and I said... we are going to do this course.” [27:53]

His search led him to Fundraising Masterminds' Perfect Vision Dinner mentorship program, discovered through YouTube while searching for monthly donor programs.

“I went on YouTube and I typed in, you know, monthly donor program... I just listened to everything because... I had to learn.” [26:09]

Perfect Vision Dinner Mentorship Program Experience

John and his development director invested $5,000 into the Perfect Vision Dinner course, with hopes of raising at least $50,000. The program provided a structured, 21-week curriculum with weekly calls and community support, essential for implementing the strategies effectively.

“We are doing it how it says... if it all comes crumbling down next year, we can do it differently.” [00:28]

Despite initial skepticism from the board and team members, John’s steadfast leadership and commitment to the program’s methodology ensured adherence to the prescribed plan.

“We are going to do this course... we are going to do it the way you say it.” [00:28]

Results and Impact: Raising $176K

The implementation of the Perfect Vision Dinner resulted in an extraordinary fundraising achievement. Contrary to the initial aim of raising $50,000, the dinner successfully garnered $176,000—more than double the ambitious target.

“We were really hoping... but that's because you hope for the best and prepare for the worst. And so when we saw the end number, it was, you know, we all just kind of sat there.” [32:21]

This success not only exceeded expectations but also elevated the mission’s visibility, attracting media attention and additional support from local businesses and organizations.

“Nobody thinks about it because it's... what you've always been done. And so you're right. I mean, it was towards the end was everyone wanted to come in and... we raised far more money than they ever expected.” [33:25]

Strategic Shifts and Operational Enhancements

The substantial funds raised enabled the Niagara Gospel Mission to expand its programs, including the Redeploy program for homeless veterans. This initiative provided targeted support, offering veterans a safe, sober environment and the tools necessary for reintegration into society.

“We thought, okay, now we have to go out and raise money for a van. Well, as we're doing that, we get a phone call from a Ford dealership...” [38:30]

The increased funding facilitated operational improvements, such as expanding emergency shelters and enhancing support services, thereby amplifying the mission’s impact on the community.

Key Insights and Advice for Nonprofit Leaders

John emphasizes the importance of adopting a friend-raising over fundraising mentality, establishing personal connections with donors, and presenting a compelling vision that resonates with potential supporters.

“People give to people justified by the cause. So you got to be a person, right? You got to be real... you have to have a cause that people want to get behind.” [21:27]

Jim adds that personalized thank-yous and consistent follow-ups are critical in building lasting relationships with donors.

“Send a personal thank you to everyone who donates to us... We're doing something that no one else does.” [41:01]

Overcoming Obstacles and Maintaining Momentum

John shares the internal and external challenges faced during the fundraising process, including staff turnovers and personal distractions, such as welcoming a new child into the family. Despite these hurdles, the unwavering support from his team and the structured accountability provided by the mentorship program ensured continued progress.

“I was getting up at 4:30 in the morning to start watching these videos... It was an entirely ministry commitment.” [34:59]

Future Plans and Continued Growth

Buoyed by the success of the Perfect Vision Dinner, the Niagara Gospel Mission plans to further expand its initiatives, aiming to sustain and grow its impact on the community. John envisions raising even larger funds in future dinners, setting higher benchmarks for success.

“I won't be satisfied until I see a post on LinkedIn that says that you raised 300 or even 500,000 from your dinner.” [43:32]

Conclusion

Episode 87 of The Fundraising Masterminds Podcast showcases a powerful testament to the effectiveness of structured mentorship programs in nonprofit fundraising. John Cooper’s journey from military service to leading a transformative mission underscores the profound impact of strategic planning, unwavering leadership, and community engagement. His story serves as an inspiration for nonprofit leaders aiming to elevate their fundraising efforts and achieve remarkable results.

Notable Quotes:

• Jim Dempsey (00:28): “We are doing it how it says I don't care... we are going to do it the way you say it.”

• John Cooper (04:05): “We have 9.5 million people a year come to see a waterfall off a cliff, but they walk right past people made in the image of God.”

• Jim Dempsey (27:53): “We took home 8,000... Is it not worth the $5,000 investment?”

• John Cooper (21:27): “People give to people justified by the cause. So you got to be a person, right? You got to be real.”

• Jim Dempsey (34:59): “I was getting up at 4:30 in the morning to start watching these videos... It was an entirely ministry commitment.”

• John Cooper (43:32): “I won't be satisfied until I see a post on LinkedIn that says that you raised 300 or even 500,000 from your dinner.”

Learn More:

To support the Niagara Gospel Mission and learn more about their initiatives, visit their website NiagaraGospelMission.org or follow them on Facebook.

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Stay tuned for the next episode in the $10M Story series, featuring Young Life’s fundraising success through the Perfect Vision Dinner.

Transcript

[Jason Galasinski]

You're listening to the number one podcast for nonprofit leaders getting your non profit fully funded. This is the Fundraising Masterminds Podcast.

[Jim Dempsey]

Military terms. It's like you're about to get to the building you're about to raid.

[John Cooper]

Right.

[Jim Dempsey]

And everyone finally has really good ideas that are better than we just prepared for for the past 20 weeks.

[John Cooper]

Right, exactly.

[Jim Dempsey]

And I remember I pulled everyone together and I said, we are doing it how it says I don't care. That was an asserting my authority.

[John Cooper]

Right.

[Jim Dempsey]

I raised the money for this and so we are going to do it. If it all comes crumbling down next year, we can do it differently and we'll do it the way you say it.

[Jason Galasinski]

What was the point at which you said vision Inner Mentorship Program. There's something to this.

[Jim Dempsey]

I looked at how much we had made at the last one.

[Jason Galasinski]

How much did you raise?

[John Cooper]

I was just going to ask that.

[Jim Dempsey]

We took home 8,000. We took the jump. I asked the board really didn't ask. They just said, we are going to do this course. They claim that'll help us raise 100,000. I'm hoping it helps us raise 50.

[Jason Galasinski]

So in 2024, we had over 100 organizations go through the perfect Vision Inter mentorship program. Can you guess the amount?

[Jim Dempsey]

I mean, I was getting up at 4:30 in the morning to start watching these videos.

[Jason Galasinski]

It doesn't strike me as a city that would be a battle ruined. Like the way that you're describing it.

[Jim Dempsey]

I think specifically from development, the fren. Fundraising over fundraising was a huge shift in mentality.

[John Cooper]

It's $10 million, Jason.

[Jason Galasinski]

10 million?

[John Cooper]

Yeah.

[Jason Galasinski]

Almost to the dot.

[John Cooper]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, isn't it just like God to pull the body of Christ together? It's not just about one person in the body. It's about the entire body of Christ. John, I'm not going to be satisfied until I see a post on LinkedIn that says that you raised 300 or even 500,000 from your dinner.

[Jason Galasinski]

Welcome back to another episode here at the Fundraising Masterminds PODC podcast. We are so excited that you are here with us today. My name is Jason Galasinski and my co host Jim Dempsey joins us.

[John Cooper]

Hey, Jason, how are you?

[Jason Galasinski]

Good. How are you today?

[John Cooper]

Yeah, I'm doing great. It's April and you just. We're getting closer and closer to summer.

[Jason Galasinski]

Yeah. Never.

[John Cooper]

Never is a bad thing.

[Jason Galasinski]

I know. I love it when the spring comes out and the sun starts shining, the flowers start going.

[John Cooper]

Absolutely right. Well, I live in Florida, so that's why it is 24 7, Jason throughout the year. But no, it's especially nice this time of year.

[Jason Galasinski]

Yeah, for sure. That's great.

[John Cooper]

Yeah.

[Jason Galasinski]

Well, we've got a really special series we're starting. I'm really excited about this one. We're calling it the $10 million story.

[John Cooper]

Yeah.

[Jason Galasinski]

And it's not one particular story. It's a bunch of stories combined together. And what I'm super excited about is this. We're really just focused on our 2024 class, which we just wrapped up a few months ago.

[Jim Dempsey]

Right.

[Jason Galasinski]

And we were able to take all the people who went through the Perfect Vision in our mentorship program. And we added up all the amounts that all the Vision Dinners raised. And can you guess the amount that it all total up to?

[John Cooper]

I'm going to guess it's $10 million, Jason.

[Jason Galasinski]

10 million?

[John Cooper]

Yeah. Almost. Yeah. Yeah. Well, isn't it just like God to pull the body of Christ together? It's not just about one person in the body, it's about the entire body of Christ. And that's kind of the collective that helps us get to the $10 million for sure.

[Jason Galasinski]

So we actually. I love statistics and numbers and kind of figuring things out. So in 2024, we had over 100 organizations go through the Perfect Vision Inner mentorship program.

[Jim Dempsey]

Right.

[Jason Galasinski]

And I thought, you know, you'd be interested in learning this. 30 of them were pregnancy centers, 25 of them were Christian schools.

[John Cooper]

Okay.

[Jason Galasinski]

15 of them were CEF chapters.

[John Cooper]

Okay.

[Jason Galasinski]

And 30 were just other organizations like homeless ministries, marriage ministries, urban ministries, Bible translation, just a variety of anti human.

[John Cooper]

Trafficking, whatever, stuff like that. Yeah.

[Jason Galasinski]

Now what's interesting is out of the $10 million that was raised collectively.

[John Cooper]

Yeah.

[Jason Galasinski]

40% of that was raised by pregnancy centers.

[John Cooper]

Okay.

[Jason Galasinski]

30% of it was raised by Christian schools.

[John Cooper]

Okay.

[Jason Galasinski]

7% was raised by CEF chapters, and then 18% was raised by everyone else.

[John Cooper]

Wow. We got to get that up. That doesn't, you know, that makes a lot of sense because pregnancy centers, there's that real emotional tug, that heartstring tug of saving babies lives. So that makes a lot of sense.

[Jason Galasinski]

Yeah. I just thought that was really interesting. So I thought it would be really cool if we could. Since we have such a variety of organizations in our program, I thought it'd be really cool if we could pull together five different executive directors and bring them onto the show and talk to them about their experiences, kind of where they were at before they came across fundraising masterminds. And then they were the ones that kind of took the leap of faith.

[John Cooper]

Yeah.

[Jason Galasinski]

Jumped into the program and then went through everything and, you know, came up the other side with, you know, their goals being met. Yeah, like we always say, our goal at the Perfect Vision Dinner mentorship program is to plan and execute a Perfect Vision Dinner and raise at least 100,000. So today we've got a special guest on our program, someone from the Niagara Gospel Mission. And before we get to bringing him onto the program, let's just watch this quick 3 minute video to learn about their ministry.

[Narrator]

Niagara Falls, once a wonderful city to visit, the honeymoon capital of the world that attracted tens of thousands of people, has now for decades been blighted and broken, struggling to rebound from the decline because of the loss of industry and jobs as well as rampant crime and drugs. Good people stuck in the traps of generational welfare. Unfortunately, many people in western New York have forgotten Niagara Falls. But God hasn't forgotten this city and neither have we.

[John Cooper]

Hi, my name is John Cooper, the executive director of the Niagara Gospel Mission. One thing that really hit me is I was getting out of the army. I came home on leave here to Niagara Falls. And the city of Niagara Falls looks very similar to Kabul, Afghanistan, where I was just at in war torn buildings. Buildings that are boarded up, got holes in them. And it really hit me that where I grew up looked like a place that I had gone to deploy to help people. Here in Niagara Falls, it's a tourist district. We have people from all over the world that come here to watch water fall off a cliff, but they'll walk right past. Someone who's hurting, needs help, needs hope in their lives. It's made in the image of God and they'll walk right past and they won't even make eye contact. Rebuilding of the city doesn't just happen through physical buildings being rebuilt. It's people being rebuilt and having hope. Hope is something you can't put a price tag on.

[Jim Dempsey]

So our emergency shelter is a 36.

[John Cooper]

Bed shelter between two different locations in our building. These men come here for 30 days. They do some work around the mission. They get fed three meals a day and they have a safe and sober night of sleep. Also have an eight bed emergency shelter for veterans.

[Jim Dempsey]

Specific.

[John Cooper]

Instead of 30 days, they are given 60 days. And really until they can figure out more housing options. On our second floor, we have our recon program. Recon is short for reconciliation. Really what we're seeing is guys aren't coming here so much because they're running out of resources. They're coming here because they've burned every bridge. They've run out of relationships. So we believe that coming to Christ and through learning what the word of God has to say, teaches you how to rebuild these bridges, how to reconcile that these relationships and those relationships are with themselves, learning how to view themselves now. But how do I rebuild these relationships? How do I reconcile? How do I have a new community around me with my work? How am I a good employee, my vocation? Is that, that thing? How do I find my calling in life and then go for, what do I have to do to get there? And teaching guys these skills to reconcile them back into the world. We don't want them to live here, here forever. We want them to go back into society and to be people that you would never know were in a homeless shelter before. And then lastly, we have a transitional housing program. And our transitional housing program is 52 rooms or college dorm style rooms that guys can stay in for two years. They do pay a program fee. And this is a kind of a step from, I'm homeless and I can't afford an apartment.

[Jim Dempsey]

Right.

[John Cooper]

And this is, again, a safe, sober environment.

[Jim Dempsey]

We drug test guys up there.

[John Cooper]

We have recovery meetings that they're required to go to to be able to talk about whatever problem is going on in their lives.

[Narrator]

These programs and others have been the catalyst for true life change through the gospel of Jesus Christ here at the Niagara Gospel Mission. With your partnership, we have many more initiatives that we are excited to share with you. Through both our current and future programs, we will continue to rebuild here in the falls as we seek to continue to revive our community one life at a time.

[John Cooper]

Well, as you can see, featured in the video is John Cooper, who is the executive director of the Niagara Gospel Mission. And John is with us today. We have the privilege. John comes with a very rich history. I think his story is so powerful of how God called him out of active duty in the military specifically for such a time as this, to be the executive director of the Gospel Mission. So excited about our guest today, John Cooper, who is the executive director of the Niagara Gospel Mission.

[Jason Galasinski]

Yeah, John, welcome to the show.

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah, thanks for having me, guys. Appreciate it.

[John Cooper]

Well, John, it's really a pleasure to have you. I just, I was really fascinated by your rich history and how God brought you into the military, trained you up and moved you and called you essentially to be the executive director for the Niagara Gospel Mission. And it just, it really is a powerful story. Would you mind sharing that with our audience? I think they would appreciate that.

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah, sure. So I'm from Niagara Falls, New York. My family's actually been there since 1800. Wow. So before it was even incorporated as a city, we were there in Niagara and watching waterfall off a cliff, you know, so grew up there and went to the military. After that as an infantryman, I went to Bible college and then after that went into the military enlisted and then from there went to Schofield Barracks in Hawaii and tried out to be in a long range reconnaissance unit. And then from there was invited to try out to be in the sniper section for their reconnaissance unit, which was pretty much, you're the first guys in anywhere. After that, transferred to the 10th Mountain Division up in Fort Drum, New York, and was a sniper section leader there and did a combat deployment to Afghanistan. And getting out of the military, we started having children. And my wife was like, you ain't doing this no more. So after her deployment, she's like, you can't leave anymore. So came home. And then after that, really I was going to seminary. I thought, maybe I want to go back in the military as a chaplain. And through circumstances that God's hand is clearly on, we moved back to Niagara Falls. And what I started to notice as I was driving through Niagara Falls was I went from one war zone to another and seeing the city I grew up in, and it was always rough. I mean, no one, there was no illusion that it wasn't rough before. But seeing the destruction that my own city was in, I said, okay. I went from the front lines of, you know, Kabul, Afghanistan, to now the front lines of Niagara Falls, New York, and really had a passion. You know, really my. One of my heroes in life is John Knox from the Reformer from Scotland. And one thing he said is when he hit the beach of Scotland, he cried out to God, give me Scotland or I die. And that was really what came to my heart when I came to Niagara Falls was give me Niagara Falls or I die. And God led through that me to work at the Niagara Gospel Mission, which I had volunteered at before I went in the military, and then to become the executive director pretty quick within two years. And God has just been doing a great work there. And it's been a blessing to be part of seeing the change that God has for our city.

[Jason Galasinski]

Wow, John, I remember you and I talking a few months ago. And when people think of Niagara Falls, they think of tourists. They think of just, you know, the.

[John Cooper]

Mist, you know, those kinds of things.

[Jason Galasinski]

Doesn't strike me as a city that would be a battle ruined. You know, like, the way that you're describing it, like, how did it get to that point, you know, if it. With there being so much tourism and people coming in to visit and seeing the falls and, you know, you'd think that the city would be doing really well.

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah, you would think most. Most of the tourism goes to Canada. And so the. The falls in America, that we never really capitalize on that. We more on the power than Niagara Falls can generate. Well, once they built the power plant, the city was at 100,000 when they were building the power plant. Once the power plant was done, they could never come up with an industry to keep people. And so a lot of people moved out because there wasn't as many jobs. So we went from 100,000 in the late 70s, early 80s to now 48,000. So it's more than half the population of the city left. And so I always coin it 9.5 million people a year come to see waterfall off a cliff, but they walk right past people made in the image of God. Homelessness is on the rise. Drugs, obviously the Love Canal didn't help for anyone who remembers that.

[John Cooper]

Oh, yeah.

[Jim Dempsey]

So there's just been tragedy after tragedy that's happened in the city. And the city has kind of bought that mentality, a victim mentality. And so, you know, we hope through the mission to punch through that mentality, not just for the homeless that we serve, but also for the city itself. Our tagline or vision statement is rebuilding the city of Niagara Falls through reviving hearts and rebuilding lives.

[John Cooper]

Wow.

[Jim Dempsey]

Can't just put 500,000 doll Main Street. You have to get into people's lives. And so. Yeah, yeah. And so I don't know if that answers the question. People have been trying to figure that out for years. Why is it the way it is?

[Jason Galasinski]

How did you. How did you get in from. How did you go from the military to Gospel mission? Like, what. What was the. What was the story and how that happened? I mean, you. You said you. You noticed, you felt like you went from one war zone to the other. But what was the thing that actually got you to engage and get involved?

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah, so I got out of the military. We stayed in Watertown, New York, which is right outside of Fort Drum. Again, the thought process of do seminary online, get back in the military, be a chaplain. And then my. I was doing. I was doing seminary online. And then my wife was kind of the breadwinner at the time. She was an rn. Well, she lost her job, and so we had two kids, nice farmhouse out there. And she loses her job. Well, there's no more income. And so she lost her job. We were now facing homelessness as a veteran. I was like, goodness gracious, I'm not even 30 and I'm a homeless veteran was what ran through my mind. So fortunately, elder at my church, he was able to get me a job working in a funeral home. So I was stacking dead bodies in a funeral home because I didn't mind doing that kind of work. And the church helped us move. So we moved back to Niagara Falls, and we had nothing. We had to sell or burn half of our possessions just to get it on the U Haul and drive back to Niagara Falls. And so that was when I needed a job. I knew the Gospel mission because I had done that before in volunteering. And I said, okay, can I work here? They made. Kind of made a job for me, but I didn't think I was gonna be there very long. Yeah, we're like, we're gonna move to Georgia. That's where my wife is from. And, hey, I got this awesome plan that God doesn't know about. And. And then it was through working at the mission that God tugged down my heart and said, this is why I've uprooted your life, is to be here. Then the hard part was convincing my wife that that's what God had for us. And, yes, that's how it happened.

[John Cooper]

And John, did before you stepped in to be the executive director.

[Jim Dempsey]

Two and a half years.

[John Cooper]

Okay. And was that. Did you apply? Did the board come to you? How did that transpire?

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah, so I. As I was working there, I went from a case manager to a development director. Development director for a year.

[John Cooper]

Okay.

[Jim Dempsey]

And then our executive director, obviously, you know, good. A good team with development director and executive directors. You're always together, you're always working together.

[John Cooper]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Jim Dempsey]

And so I said to him, I said, I don't know what it is, but I really feel like this is the ministry. I took him out for lunch. I said, I really feel like this is the ministry for me. Tom McLaughlin, he's been in the rescue mission world forever. He was the executive director of Buffalo and the assistant director in Syracuse. I mean, tons of knowledge of how to. How to do it. So I said to him, I said, I really feel like this, maybe in two years, you know, God has me to maybe step in this role. He's retirement age. And he goes, that's funny. You said two years. I kind of look at him. He goes, I told the board yesterday morning that in six months, I'm retiring no matter what.

[John Cooper]

Wow.

[Jim Dempsey]

And he said, I suggested you as the Next executive director man. And he goes, so now we got six months to figure this out.

[John Cooper]

That is great. Well, John, one of the things that really impressed me about you and I saw it early on, I feel like you're a great leader. I feel like you're innovative. Just so many of the things that I've seen on LinkedIn and just the strategies, our conversations. I feel like God clearly has called you for such a time as this, and the strategies and things that you've brought in to provide awareness, grow in the community, become closer with churches, have more partnership with businesses in the community. So many things you're doing are innovative. You are clearly the right person for this job and God's man for this job. So that really, to me, has resonated a lot. One of the things you shared with me earlier was your heart as a veteran, your heart for veterans who are homeless. Tell us a little bit about that problem that exists in Niagara Falls and probably exists in the United States and other major cities in the United States.

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah. So first, all glory to God. Thank you for that. But it's all glory to God. Veteran homelessness. When I started working as a case manager, I saw that the national average was, I believe at the time it was 11% of all homeless were veterans. And then in our building, it was 15%. So we were higher than the national average. And so I went to our director and I said, look, you know, this is something I'm passionate about. I was a veteran who faced homelessness. What can we do? And he did what all any great leader would do. And he looked at me and said, what are you going to do? Like, you know, I got all this stuff on my plate.

[John Cooper]

Right.

[Jim Dempsey]

You come with me with an idea.

[John Cooper]

Yeah.

[Jim Dempsey]

How about you come up with a plan to solve it and we'll see if we can do this. So we took a storage closet and made it into a homeless veteran shelter that was eight beds. And it's moved throughout the mission now because of construction and things like that, we've had to move it to different rooms. But doing that made a place specifically for veterans where they could be with other veterans. And since then, we've built into our programming. We're now calling it. We're still working on it final product, but we're calling it the Redeploy program. And having a specific veteran track in our mission to get homeless veteran who comes in, stays in the shelter for 60 days, but through our programming, can stay with us even longer and then actually have a chance being with us for A long, extended period of time to make a difference in Niagara Falls. The homeless veteran problem isn't as big in the Falls itself, but it's all of western New York. Since we're the ones doing the specific program, they're coming to us and we don't take state or government funding, so we're free to do what we know is the right way to solve it instead of having all the red tape.

[Jason Galasinski]

One of the things I just wanted to point out is just that John is a normal human being. Like, he didn't go to school to become an executive director. He didn't set out from the age of call, you know, the age of high school to say, my dream was to be.

[John Cooper]

You didn't grow up as a little boy wanting to be a development director. Are you serious?

[Jason Galasinski]

No. And, and I mean, I guess that's one thing that I feel like a lot of our audience who are directors of organizations, they, they end up being the director. You know, they start off volunteering, they get involved, and then suddenly they find themselves in a director's shoes, and now they're sitting here going, well, how am I gonna raise X amount of dollars? You know, they didn't plan on being in this place.

[John Cooper]

Right.

[Jason Galasinski]

And I think that's one of the reasons why this podcast exists is because we want to help educate, you know, non profit leaders. Because you didn't go to school for this.

[Jim Dempsey]

Right?

[Jason Galasinski]

This isn't something you planned on doing?

[Jim Dempsey]

No, I told my, my board, I said, I'm used to impacting hearts and minds, but it's a completely different way.

[John Cooper]

Yeah, I love it. That's great. Yeah, well, that's great. Well, John, what would you say are your greatest funding needs and how did you discover fundraising masterminds?

[Jim Dempsey]

I think our greatest funding needs being an organization that doesn't take any state or federal funding was okay. We actually have to get out there and work for this. We actually got to get this ourselves. And so trying to develop different strategies, balancing the PR and then following up the PR with good, biblical and accountable ways of fundraising. Right now, we're doing a lot of fundraising for future projects. Don't want to say exactly what that is.

[Jason Galasinski]

That's okay.

[Jim Dempsey]

But a lot of fundraising for future projects and then trying to develop a strategy. I mean, as I just kind of jokingly said about the hearts and minds thing, I told my board, I said, look, I am used to being in a trench that is my life, and I'm really comfortable around the homeless people and doing hard ministry, hard things. But when you put me in front of a donor, you know, I know that I'm the guy who was in the trench, so I had to learn. And obviously, I had my. The former executive director helped me a lot, but I had to learn, you know, trial and error. How does this work?

[John Cooper]

Right.

[Jim Dempsey]

And the way I found fundraising masterminds was we needed a monthly donor program. And I went on YouTube and I typed in, you know, monthly donor program, saw this podcast, and then I kind of got hooked. You know, I just listened to everything because, again, I'm soaking it it all in. Because our former executive director, he just. His fundraising knowledge was just, I know how to do it right. You know, he told me, talk to people, share the story, which is true. I mean, that's the fundamentals. But he's like, I. I don't. I'm not a master. I'm not a mastermind.

[Jason Galasinski]

Right.

[Jim Dempsey]

So you got to find the fundraising mastermind. Absolutely. And so I love it.

[Jason Galasinski]

I'd love to know just what you were doing before, like, kind of there was a state where you were the director before you found the podcast, before you joined the mentorship program. Could you share a little bit about, like, kind of where you were at? What. What were some things that you were trying to do that just kind of made sense to you? Was it working? You know, that kind of thing?

[John Cooper]

Well, you're just muddling through. I mean, doing the best job you could to raise money. Is that how you did before that?

[Jim Dempsey]

Correct. And. And the unique challenge about where we're at is that we're on a border, so we can't fundraise into Canada, really. And then Buffalo is 35 minutes away. Buffalo's the second largest city in New York State, so there's a lot. And, you know, there's the BU Bills, the Buffalo Savers, Buffalo, everything. So it's. It was really hard when we're not. I had to sit there and really develop a strategy. My board told me flat out, like, some of my board members were like, you will never be a big mission because we cannot compete with Buffalo. And in a sense, they're right. Right. It's a. You know, you have this massive market, but instead of saying, you know, poor.

[John Cooper]

Me, we surrender or whatever.

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah, okay. How do we punch through and say, what is our niche? And really, the way we started gaining more fundraising was starting new programs, and it was. The veteran program was gave us when we said, okay, here's a guy who's a former homeless veteran who's starting a veteran program that Catches the eye. And we got a little bit of a new donor base. And so that was the strategy. And again, my strategy, I guess I'm just gonna be starting new programs every year, which is not sustainable.

[John Cooper]

No, no, that's right.

[Jim Dempsey]

And so. So that was where, again, there was kind of a cry for help in my own, you know, for myself, was like, I need someone to teach me how to do this, and that has an effective strategy that I can follow.

[John Cooper]

Right.

[Jim Dempsey]

And that's where, you know, that was why we were so grateful to find this.

[John Cooper]

Wow. That's great. I love it. Yeah.

[Jason Galasinski]

You know, we were talking a few episodes ago about the scarcity mentality versus the abundance mentality. And I think, John, you just illustrated an example of the abundance mentality because it's the attitude. We were talking in the last episode about how it's just a must mindset.

[Jim Dempsey]

Right.

[Jason Galasinski]

Like some people, if a board told them, you know, you're never going to be a big mission. Just suck it up and get used to just living on the cheap. And, you know, then there's a. There's a bunch of people that would say, oh, okay, you know.

[John Cooper]

Yeah. You get into that stinking thinking.

[Jason Galasinski]

Yeah.

[John Cooper]

And. And you can. I mean, you can absorb that.

[Jason Galasinski]

Yeah.

[John Cooper]

But as. As a leader, especially as a military veteran, you probably saw, you know, we got to take that hill and at all costs.

[Jason Galasinski]

And I wish that a lot of people would have that mind mindset of just not being willing to sit still, you know, like, wherever you are, mediocre or just.

[John Cooper]

Yeah.

[Jason Galasinski]

I mean, wherever you are, God has put you in that place to take ground, you know, not to just.

[John Cooper]

Yeah.

[Jason Galasinski]

Settle.

[John Cooper]

Yeah.

[Jason Galasinski]

So let's take the ground and do what we can.

[John Cooper]

Yeah.

[Jim Dempsey]

I was saying there's no excuse. We have the. We have a world wonder in our backyard.

[John Cooper]

Yeah.

[Jim Dempsey]

And you're telling me we can't figure out how to capitalize that. Now, as I shared before, our government has not figured out how to capitalize on that. You know, but. But at the same time, we are the people of God. It is God's creation, so the people of God are the ones who can use that for his glory. And that was where, again, you talked about the military. And it's that mentality of we will fight till we can't breathe anymore. And that's kind of what maybe you bring to the table.

[John Cooper]

That's what it takes. Yeah.

[Jason Galasinski]

So you went onto YouTube, you searched for monthly donor program. You found one of our episodes and started listening. What was the point at which you Said. Said, you know, this Perfect vision inner mentorship program. There's something to this. What? Describe, like, how you got interested and just got to the point where you pulled the trigger.

[Jim Dempsey]

So I went on YouTube and then we had a meeting saying, we need to do a monthly donor program.

[John Cooper]

Yeah.

[Jim Dempsey]

And then I threw around some ideas. You know, some other people threw on some ideas. And again, it's like, you can have an idea and you can have an opinion, and that's great. But if it's not informed.

[John Cooper]

Yeah.

[Jim Dempsey]

Then it's, you know, it's just out there in space.

[John Cooper]

No, I love that you did it while you were working out.

[Jim Dempsey]

Oh, yeah, yeah, that was. Yeah. So I went on YouTube and I searched, you know, started listening to about half of the first video, found it on Spotify. And then as I was working out in the morning or in the drive into work, on the drive to my next meeting, it just play. And just was listening to it, soaking it in. And some days I did if I would go back to an episode, if there were some notes that needed to be taken. And I took some notes.

[John Cooper]

Yeah.

[Jim Dempsey]

The most part, it was just while you're driving, instead of music, listen to something.

[John Cooper]

Jason, we could be the number one video while people work out, for all we know. Yeah.

[Jim Dempsey]

Maybe another company. Fundraising buff Mines.

[John Cooper]

Exactly. Right.

[Jason Galasinski]

So what was the point at which where you decided to pull the trigger? Like, you actually said, we need the Perfect Vision Dinner. And how did the board just say, sure, go for it?

[John Cooper]

Because it was an investment. You had to make an investment.

[Jim Dempsey]

As I was listening to the videos, I was picking up, obviously, your advertisement, every single one was, we have this Perfect Vision Dinner course. And what I did is I had been involved in the last two dinners. I had no real. I had no real experience just being involved with doing the dinners as we'd always done them. Right. Which was selling tickets, selling tables, and that whole thing. So when you guys said, we can get you to a hundred thousand if you follow what we do, obviously that catches your eye as someone who needs a hundred thousand dollars. So I went to the board, I looked at how much we had made at the last one, and I sat down and how much did you raise?

[John Cooper]

Yeah, I was just going to ask that.

[Jim Dempsey]

We took home eight. 8,000.

[John Cooper]

Oh, wow. What a jump.

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah. So we took. Took home 8,000, and I. I sat down with my board and I said, look, this course is going to cost $5,000, you know, is what it was at the time. And I said, this is what it's going to cost. We took home 8,000. I said, even if we just take home 50.

[John Cooper]

Right.

[Jim Dempsey]

Is it not worth the $5,000 investment? And we had some money to play with. So it wasn't like we were maybe many of these ministries are sweating over that 5,000. Fortunately, because we had started the veterans program, we had a little extra cash to say let's play with this and see if it, see if it works. And that was when we took the jump. I asked the board really didn't ask. I just said we are going to do this course. It is going to help us raise. They claim that it will help us raise 100,000. I'm hoping it helps us raise 50. And I said that is. But we all looked at 50,000. We're like, okay, sign me up.

[Jason Galasinski]

John took the perfect vision intercourse, followed the recipe like you said and raised 176. Right. Is that where you came in at?

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah, 176.

[Jason Galasinski]

So was that right after the dinner? Was that total everything after all the follow up and everything like that?

[Jim Dempsey]

That was right after the dinner. It ended up being 178.

[John Cooper]

Oh boy. Well. And I'm fully convinced John. I really am. I, I, I like to feel like I've got a gut for the ministries that have got a great future. I, I think that's just the start for you guys. You know, now what the model looks like. Like all the next is taking it to the next level. You're not, because there's a lot of early adaption. You know, you're adapting to a new program, a new strategy. The second, third year and above, you're, you're starting to make it better every year. And I think that 178 is just the beginning. I really do.

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah. And I would suggest anyone when you look at we're gonna do the vision dinner, just already tell your board up front and we want to do the winner circle follow up. Because if you don't follow on done. You're just going to look that you got to put a bunch of new data. You're like, cool, and what do I do with this now? And so, you know, if you don't go to people who know what they're doing, you're not going to know what you're doing.

[Jason Galasinski]

Yeah.

[John Cooper]

So it's great.

[Jason Galasinski]

Well, thanks for that. Yeah, we would love, I would love to, I would love to know just what the board thought of the perfect vision there because they were obviously a lot of people come into the program hesitating. Is this going to really work?

[John Cooper]

At best, a little skeptical maybe, huh?

[Jason Galasinski]

Yeah, yeah, skeptical. But then at what was the point in the program where everyone started to kind of sync up and be like, this is gonna. I think we're gonna raise more than 50,000. Was it halfway through the program? Was it, you know, like, describe.

[John Cooper]

Was it kind of the process day after the dinner?

[Jason Galasinski]

I mean, yeah, like what? Just walk us through kind of what you learned, the journey of going through it, and just how the mindset of your board kind of evolved and got to the point where now they're like. Like, we're all in.

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah. I mean, my. My board president was just his. His updates were, do you think it's going to work? And fortunately, I have a board that trusts me enough to. To run with it. Now, granted, that meant I had to actually succeed, right? And then the Lord did do that. And the board, really, throughout the process, we have. We have a great board. And they said, okay, we do need a consultant here. We do need someone to teach us how to do this. But we all really thought up until the day after the dinner, we were going to get 50,000. I mean, we. I thought maybe 75. And we were really hoping. But that's because of just, you know, you. You hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Right. And so when we saw the end number, it was, you know, we all just kind of sat there. I remember calling our board president after we got done counting it all, and he just couldn't believe it. And it was just. And really, the two interesting things that I would bring up is, number one, if you're going through this course and you. If it's anything like us, the day before we were about to launch. And so as I, you know, using a military term, just like you're about to get to the building you're about to raid, right? And everyone's finally has really good ideas that are better than we just prepared for for the past 20 weeks. Right, exactly. And I remember I pulled everyone together and I said, we are doing it how it says I don't care. And typically, as a leader, you don't want to. To assert your authority too much. You want people to just kind of, you know, buy in because of your leadership. But that was a. That was an asserting my authority, saying, we paid money for this, I raised the money for this, and so we are going to do it. And I said, next year, if it all comes crumbling down next year, we can do it differently, and we'll do it the way you say it. But today or tomorrow, we are doing it this way no matter what.

[John Cooper]

Yeah.

[Jason Galasinski]

Because you were saying that you were really the one, that you and your development director were the ones that went through the program, and all the people like your board and other people around you, they really didn't. You. You wanted them to go through the program, but they didn't really want to. They're like, ah, you go through it, it's fine. But then as you got closer and closer and closer to your dinner, they suddenly started interjecting their opinions.

[Jim Dempsey]

Right.

[Jason Galasinski]

And it's like, well, wait a minute. You're the ones that didn't go through it and I'm the one that went through it. So why are they putting their opinion in there?

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah, so I understand why. I mean, there's others. There's. It's a ministry. There's tons of stuff going on. And so even. Even now with the winter circle, it's like, oh, we got the winter circle coming up. It's like, it's another thing I got to think about. And. But when you see that these things are worth it. And again, I think there was maybe hesitation to get involved because we didn't know if it was going to be worth it. And. And me, I could tell it was going to be worth it. Just common sense states, you guys said in one of your episodes, it was just brilliant. It's like, you don't take. You don't say, hey, I'd like to really get to know you, you know, to your wife, and then say, well, would you pay 25 bucks to go on a date with me? Like, that's not. And I just sat back and I was like, yeah, that makes complete sense.

[John Cooper]

Exactly.

[Jim Dempsey]

And so that's the kind of common sense. But no one thinks about it because it's. You do what's always been done. And so you're right. I mean, it was towards the end was everyone wanted to come in and, you know, we did have some that would join the calls, but they wouldn't watch all the classes. And so it was, you know, towards the end, everyone wanted to interject this, interject that, you know, well, that might work in Orlando, but it's not going to work in. In New Niagara Falls. I was like, ah, we're sticking next year. You can throw egg on my face and you can do whatever you want, but this, we are about to hit.

[Jason Galasinski]

The X. I bet you they're happy they stayed with it.

[John Cooper]

Well, and it won't stop, John. I mean, there, trust me, as somebody who's done this over the Years, you'll always have someone thinking they can do it better. Yeah, I, I was into dinner. I can still remember it was like yesterday in New Jersey and, and there was a woman who just happened to be volunteering, putting programs on the, on the table, on the chairs. And I remember she said to me, oh, by the way, this whole model that you've got, it's going to fail tonight. I just wanted to let you know that, that you won't raise a dime. And we raised far more money than they ever expected. And she, of course, just came up to me and apologized profusely. It didn't happen. No, it did not. But that's okay. That's okay. Yeah. Now, John, I know that some of the executive directors that are listening or ministry leaders are probably thinking, well, you probably had all the time in the world to, to do this. Nothing else was going on in your life. This was pro. Probably just a perfect time for you to do the dinner. I know that's not true. You know that's not true. Talk about some of the things that were going on in your life that, that could have distracted you from the dinner.

[Narrator]

Yeah.

[Jim Dempsey]

I mean, I was getting up at 4:30 in the morning to start watching these videos. And that was because at the time when we started and I'm a development director, so it was, it was just me. And so fortunately, when I got the development director, when Colton shout out to Colton Lackey, he did an amazing job. And so, so when he came on, it took some pressure off me where we could kind of collaborate. And I said, this is your baby. Well, I have to put off every fire in the world.

[John Cooper]

Right, right, right.

[Jim Dempsey]

And our ministry's had a lot of turmoil even over the past year of just having to fire staff, having to get new people. And so you have all those challenges that are going on, but again, knowing that once you, you can watch the YouTube videos or Spotify and you can think, you have an idea of what to do, you can make it the basic principle, but when you pay, you invest.

[John Cooper]

Yeah.

[Jim Dempsey]

And so that investment of I can't waste $5,000 and am I going to go to my board and say, no, I never watched the videos.

[John Cooper]

Yeah.

[Jim Dempsey]

You know, I'm not, I can't do that. And so.

[John Cooper]

But John, you had a few things going on in your life.

[Jim Dempsey]

We did, yeah.

[John Cooper]

What else, what else was going on in your life during that time?

[Jim Dempsey]

Mid class, we welcomed our fourth son into the world. Yes. So I may have been watching some classes while Liz was taking a nap.

[Jason Galasinski]

In the right newborn baby on the right division baby. Yeah.

[Jim Dempsey]

And that's another thing is again, shout out to my, my wife and family because it became they're invested in the ministry. And you know, she listened to a lot of those, those, those videos while we were driving and just to try to get it in and, and you know, and it really, it's a, it's a whole ministry commitment. You may be the one who's doing the videos, but it is an entirely ministry commitment.

[John Cooper]

So shout out to all of our spouses, those in ministry. Your spous spouses don't sign up for it but boy they, they sacrifice greatly and pay the price in many cases.

[Jason Galasinski]

So one of the things I love about the Perfect Vision Dinner mentorship program is it's a 21 week program where we give you the exact steps, right? And we, we say it's a recipe, right. It's 268 steps of how to start, plan and execute a Perfect Vision Dinner with the goal of raising a hundred thousand dollars. And we always say that's our baseline goal. You know, when you look at our spreadsheet which is available on the website, you know, you can look and see all the goals that we set for people and there's nothing less than a hundred thousand. Right. And so we, we see very often that it's, it's fairly easy to raise a hundred thousand no matter where you are, even like where you guys were located, raising 8,000 before. And you're, you had people around you saying you're never going to be a big, big organization. And now you've got $178,000 fundraiser. And that's just the beginning. We think we can probably get you to 200 and beyond, you know, in the coming years. So what we've noticed and what we've seen is if you've got restaurants, if you've got businesses, if you've got hair salons and dentists and doctors in your community, then there's people that are, will, that are looking to invest in your organization right there. People are just looking for a great place to put their money, but they're not giving it to you because you haven't given them a reason to give them the money. You know what I mean? So the, one of the things that the Vision Dinner allows you to do is present your organization in this amazing light, you know, and invite them in and let them participate in on the mission.

[John Cooper]

Yeah, what, what are some things that you've been able to see happen that maybe you didn't expect to Happen as a result of the success you saw for the dinner.

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah. So one of those things would be our focus was Code Blue, which Code Blue is when it's 32 degrees outside or lower, all regulations for housing go out the door. Just get people off the street. So we raised. Part of our fundraising was to raise money for doing this Code Blue effort. We wanted to be. Again, the government does give out money to help with this, but that comes with government restrictions. So being the competitive person I am, I was like, I want to be the one to do this. So the people of God need to be at the forefront of helping people. And not only did we raise money to buy the cots, hire some staff, get some security, we thought, okay, now we have to go out and raise money for a van. Right. So we go start looking for vans to pick homeless people up in the street and then get them back to our location. Well, as we're doing that, we get a phone call from a Ford dealership or from a few Ford dealerships that says, well, how about we just give you a 2024 one to do your work? And so not only did the Vision Dinner help us raise money, but it also helped us get kind of on the map, if you will, raise awareness. Raised awareness. And people at that dinner, we were in the front page of the paper because we invited the reporters to come. I mean, it was just. And I still. Last meeting, I had with the reporter in the Niagara Gazette, he keeps talking about the dinner because he said, I've never been. Nathan, I've been to 100 fundraisers. I've never been anything like it. And, you know, that was where that awareness that was gained. And who knows, who knew who, right at that. At that dinner that said, you should give that man to this organization because they're actually doing something, and that's not.

[John Cooper]

Captured in the 178. That above and beyond. Wow, that's so great.

[Jason Galasinski]

And like we said, you know, friend raising versus fundraising, we do raise funds, but more importantly, we gain friends. And that's probably more valuable than the 178.

[John Cooper]

That's right.

[Jason Galasinski]

You know, yeah.

[John Cooper]

Wow.

[Jason Galasinski]

So, yeah, amazing. I'd love to just. I'd love to just wrap up with, you know, a couple of. If you could think about other gospel missions that are in the country that are in similar states that you were at, what would you say to some of those directors with some of the information you've learned now, I think specifically.

[Jim Dempsey]

From development, the friend raising over fundraising was a huge shift in mentality and I would highly suggest that even before this, we send a personal thank you to everyone who donates to us. That's just a note every month that changes the note. But we were being told that no one does that. No one even says thank you. And then we upped the game with the friend raising over fundraising of now. I'm going to try to call you and I'm going to try to meet with you. And that was a huge thing. And I would say to anyone in fundraising, as you guys say, people give to people justified by the cause. So you got to be a person, right? You got to be real. And you may not be available as an executive director all the time, but there's someone in your organization who is. And then you have to have a cause that people want to get behind. And we all think that our causes are the best causes in the world, but you need to be able to show other people that it is. And the Vision Dinner helps you do that. That especially in homeless ministry. Homelessness is on the rise everywhere. Everyone knows that. And everyone sees your shelter, but what do they know about your shelter? And not only what do they know about your shelter, but what do they know you want to do in the future? And I tell people, what's your. They say, what's your 50 year goal with the mission? And I say that it's a seminary training missionaries to go across the world because we want, we want to see God move and get rid of the homelessness problem to a point where there's no need for a shelter anymore. And now we're taking people who come to Niagara Falls and we're sending them back out, not just with the water that falls off the rock, but with living water. How do we do that? Well, you got to start with the problem that's here, and you got to pitch a vision that says, you know, this is what we want to be doing and where we want to be at. And people catch on to that. And so you're the big money man in your town. You may think he'd never give us, he didn't care about homeless people. But. But if your city's being destroyed by homelessness and you can show them that, hey, we're going to put them in a program that gets them back to work, right? Not just help them, but help them get back to work, that guy's going to say, you know what? That's better than what everyone else is doing. So I'll give money here and see what happens. And then following up with them, well.

[Jason Galasinski]

It'S giving people the vision, right? You're pitching the vision. I love your 50 year vision. And it's like when you're in the room, you hear the testimonies, you hear the progress is being made, and then you pitch your three accelerators, you know, and people, they can envision this happening. They, they essentially invest in you, right? And then later you're following up with, hey, we did this. Look at what we did here. And they start to see progress. Like the news. You said the news keeps calling you. You're not calling them. No, they're calling you because they were at the dinner, right? So they, they clearly got kind of a vision for this. And now they want to see like, whoa, what's John doing? What's going. So they're excited because they, they can see that you're, you've got a plan and you've got a vision. And that's what, that's what we talk about.

[John Cooper]

We, yeah, we always say that people, you know, people give to people justified by the cause. But, but it's the big vision that inflames the hearts of men and women. So, John, I'm not going to be satisfied until I see a post on LinkedIn that says that you raised 300 or even 500,000 from your dinner. That, that's gonna be great.

[Jim Dempsey]

I won't be satisfied either.

[John Cooper]

I love it. That's great. Great. Good job. Way to go.

[Jason Galasinski]

Well, good. I hope that you guys enjoyed listening to this podcast. And if the Perfect Vision dinner is something that you're listening to and you're like, you know what, I'd love to check that out. We've got a QR code on the screen that you can scan, you can learn about it. We're actually about four weeks away from the next program starting. We do two a year. We do one in the spring that takes us through to preparing a dinner in the fall, and then we do another one starting in the fall that takes you through preparing a dinner for the spring. So it's a 21 week program. It's kind of like a college program. It's pretty, it's intense. Like it's not something you sign up for and just casually do, you know, we do weekly calls. Jim and I are doing live calls. You're in a community group. So. And the reason why it is that way is because it kind of has to be. I mean, we, when we started this, we kind of toyed around with the idea of just doing a video course and, oh, that would be easy. Let's Just throw it on the web and forget about it. But then it's just so intense of a process and you just have to change so many different mindset things that you really just need the accountability. And that's, you know, after people go through it and we debrief with them, that's what they tell us they loved about the program. You met with us every week. You kept us on track. You made sure we were doing it. And you really need that, you know, especially if it's your first time through.

[John Cooper]

We're talking $100,000. If your budget, you know, is 150 or 200,000, that's a good chunk of your budget. And so it's an investment. It's an investment in your time, your energy, everything that you do.

[Jason Galasinski]

So check out the Perfect Vision dinner. It's coming up in four weeks. You can apply now and one of our team members will get in touch with you and we'll see if it will be a good fit for your organization. In the meantime, we hope you enjoyed this episode in this series of the $10 million story. Next week, we've got another guest coming in from Young Life and they're going to share their story of how Young Life did through the Perfect Vision there. So definitely hit that subscribe button so you don't miss the episode. Well, John, it's been really good having you on the program. And if people want to learn more about the Niagara Gospel Mission, how can they go about doing that?

[Jim Dempsey]

They can go on our website, which is the NiagaraGospelMission.org or Facebook. We're pretty active on Facebook, pretty interactive as well with answering comments and, and the message is there. So if you want to know what's going on and really to see what the money you're going to raise through going through this can do in the backside. Yeah. Just follow us on Facebook or go on our website.

[Jason Galasinski]

Jim, any final words or thoughts?

[John Cooper]

No. John's story is just such a blessing. It really is. John, thanks for coming all this way to be with us and to share your story. I think it's going to be heartwarming for a lot of people because I think they're going to relate with your story. There's a lot of people who have similar experiences coming out, going into ministry and they've got that big burden of having to fund their ministry and they, they just need a good place to go. Where do. Where do I get some good advice? So thanks for your story.

[Jim Dempsey]

All glory to God.

[John Cooper]

Amen. Amen.

[Jason Galasinski]

That's it for this episode. We'll see you in the next one take.