Recommendations

A True Celebration of Life's Abundance

I am glad to recommend Richard Felton and his expert guidance as Consultant for stewardship. We used him for our Annual Stewardship drive at Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church in first half of 2013. Prior to this year, Rick preached for two other Emerson Stewardship campaigns and gave advice when asked. This year, we hired Rick as our official consultant and I had the pleasure of working with him in my capacity as Stewardship Chair. We relied on his high level of professionalism as we developed and executed plans for our 2013 Stewardship Drive, “Celebrating Life’s Abundance”

From the initial phase of strategizing through the final wrap-up meeting, Rick was accessible and responsive to questions, emails, and phone calls. He made himself available for gatherings and extended a warm and knowledgeable presence to our congregation in all of his interactions. Rick listened carefully and brought his unique skill-set to bear as he made recommendations and explained his rationales.

Rick proved himself to be particularly adept at communicating and speaking. This talent extended equally to individual members of the congregation, to board members, and to key donors. He also spoke from our pulpit presenting the sermon “Celebrating Life’s Abundance: Moving from Fear to Gratitude to Generosity” at the Sunday service which ended with an opportunity for the congregation to make their pledges of financial commitment. His remarks were inspirational, passionate, and motivational. They reflected the theme of our stewardship drive to perfection as he invited us to “join with others in a journey toward a vision of abundance – a journey into a generous life”.

Rick’s work with us is not just for this one stewardship drive…his message and teaching will stay with us as we go forward with our ministries.

Gail Ringer, Stewardship Chair, Emerson Unitarian Church, Canoga Park

Capital Campaign Expertise

I have known Rick Felton personally and professionally for 15 years, most notably in his capacity
as Vice President for Advancement at Church Divinity School of the Pacific where I served as
trustee and in other volunteer capacities for over two decades.
Rick excels at all aspects of fund raising and is especially expert at designing and managing
capital campaigns of all types and sizes. A significant aspect of Rick’s competency is his ability
to work closely and well with the trustees and staff of nonprofit organizations, both in bringing
fund-raising campaigns to fruition and in taking them to a successful close. He is particularly
adept at cultivating relationships with donors, both major and modest, educating them, and
addressing their concerns in a timely manner.
Rick takes his work seriously but also brings to it a well-honed and, in this field of endeavor,
much needed, sense of humor. I am happy to recommend him to you.

Kenneth S. Allison. Trustee
Church Divinity School of the Pacific

Results Oriented Strategy

In relating to major donors and in communicating with a larger donor base, Rick Felton seems to have an unerring knack for the strategy that brings results. When I have had the pleasure of making joint visits with Rick to major supporters, I have witnessed how his genuine care for the donor's welfare and intentions helps to set the donor at ease and leads to extraordinary generosity.

Richard Schaper, CFP

Wealth Steward Consulting
Continuing Relationship

The relationship of Christ the Lord Church with Rick Felton goes back to before my time as the pastor here - back to a capital campaign that enabled the church to do a significant remodel and upgrade on the tiny building they had. I have heard nothing but positive comments from parishioners about their work with Rick at that time. Several years ago, Rick began to help us again...giving us inspiration that eventually led to our current vision statement. He has also been our preacher at our Commitment Sunday for the last two years. His inspiring words have contributed greatly to people's generous giving, even in the midst of these difficult economic times. We are grateful for Rick's help and highly recommend him.

Susan Champion
Vicar

Christ the Lord Episcopal Church, Pinole, California
Empowering the Board

"I tell other people who work with volunteer boards that I have the wonderful gift of working with a dream board where we are all on the same page and to a person deeply committed to the shared vision of our school. This is significantly due to the wonderful work that Rick Felton of Matthew Five Sixteen did in 2011 with our board at a time when we were experiencing a generational turn over in board members. Rick's positive energy, his deep understanding of the unique nature of faith based institutions, his shared optimism about our future, and his strong skills at helping leaders articulate and define their own vision for our organization led not only to a strong and fruitful board retreat but also to a continuing sense of collegiality, community, and mutual respect within our board since the retreat. If it is time for your organization to once again refine or redefine its direction and purpose, you will be richly blessed by inviting Rick Felton to be your consultant for this work."

The Very Rev. Sylvia Sweeney, PhD
Dean and President

Bloy House, the Episcopal Theological School at Claremont

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