A church is more than just a building — it's a group of people united by a common belief, working together toward a common goal. That's the philosophy behind the Capital Funding Services program administered by the Lutheran Church Extension Fund, a program which depends on the impressive information–tracking abilities of FileMaker Pro — the award–winning database software application from FileMaker Inc.

Business Challenge

'Capital Funding Services began eight years ago in response to a need from the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod congregations to raise money for building projects, expanding ministries, reducing debt, and increasing giving among parishioners,' explains Communications Assistant Lori Deffenderfer. 'These congregations felt they could raise money on their own instead of borrowing all of it, but they lacked the guidance. So the LCMS Foundation created CFS to fill that need.'

At first, the CFS staff got by with a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet containing the most basic information about congregations using the office's services. But as the demand for services grew and the needs of client congregations increased, it became obvious that a more powerful information tool would be needed. That's when CFS turned to FileMaker Pro. 'Our Office of Information wanted us to use Microsoft Access,' recalls Lori, 'but our platform of choice was Macintosh, and Microsoft Access is not cross–platform. Little did we know we had dodged a bullet! The FileMaker Pro database was shared from the beginning across all our computers, no matter what they were, and we were able to share all our data among all our users.'

Successful Solution

From its simple beginnings in 1997, the FileMaker database at CFS has grown. 'At first the congregation database did little more than allow the support staff to find out if a congregation had contacted us,' remembers Lori. 'Then we added the ability to track contacts — the Prospect Database. To the Prospect database we added payment information, invoice templates, and mailing labels — all this was done without even looking at the templates available! It was so easy to use and change and expand. Before long, we had a Fulfillment database, a Staff database, and an Emphasis database — we can track the entire campaign from initial inquiry to the end of the three–year giving period.'

All these databases take full advantage of the relational power of FileMaker Pro. 'What started out as a single user with a narrow focus,' explains Lori, 'had become the way to feed ten hungry users with many needs! Because we were able to demonstrate the value of quick information retrieval, even the Vice President of Congregational Services — an admitted computer novice — can navigate the database and find information with ease.

Thanks to FileMaker Pro, we can track over $113 million in commitments and over $69 million in giving from 215 congregations. We couldn't dream of an easier way to do it.

— Lori Deffenderfer, Communications Assistant, LCEF – Capital Funding Services