CdA has cash for Kroc Center
The Coeur d’Alene community has deep pockets and plenty of them, more than enough to build and sustain a $65 million Salvation Army Kroc Center, a consultant’s report released Tuesday revealed.
But if project backers want to raise the $5 million in community contributions needed to clinch the deal, they’ll have to come up with about 140 donors – including three willing to part with nearly $1 million apiece.
“Obtaining these gifts will require a significant investment of time and energy, strong volunteer leadership and a careful, strategic approach,” concluded a report prepared by The Alford Group, a Boise firm that conducts research for nonprofit agencies.
That’s fine, said project leaders, including Coeur d’Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem, who’s been a force behind the quest to see the center located in North Idaho. She said the $20,000 feasibility study simply confirmed what organizers believed.
“It emphasized some of the things we already thought,” Bloem said.
Study leaders identified at least two donors capable – and possibly willing – to contribute between $750,000 and $1 million to the center. Neither the authors nor organizers identified the potential philanthropists.
In addition to the “lead” donors, the project would require perhaps 10 contributions of between $25,000 and $50,000. Additional contributions of at least $5,000 would round out the amount required during a capital campaign.
Salvation Army Maj. John Chamness, whose agency paid for the study, said consultants indicated the city was capable of raising $5 million in addition to about $1.4 million already pledged to the project. Organizers, however, agreed to aim for a total of $5 million.
Coeur d’Alene is one of several regional competitors for proceeds from the legacy of McDonald’s restaurant heiress Joan Kroc. Community leaders should learn by June whether they’ve been selected for a project that would provide $32.5 million to build a center plus a $32.5 million endowment to run it.
The center is expected to include swimming pools, a gymnasium, a chapel, classrooms and more.
Authors of the feasibility study based their conclusions, in part, on a history of generous philanthropy in North Idaho and across the state. In Kootenai County, the average individual gift to charity is $2,505, nearly 6 percent of disposable income, national figures showed. In Bonner County, the average gift is $5,554 or 10.5 percent of disposable income.
The report was also based on interviews with more than 40 community leaders, including Jim Elder, a businessman active in several civic endeavors. Elder said he wasn’t sure that three million-dollar donors could be found – or that that many gifts of that size would be needed.
More important, he said, was for organizers to reach out to new donors in the community, instead of relying on long-standing sources.
“I think we’ve overwhelmed the people we’ve gone to over and over,” he said, adding later: “But whether it’s three people that give $1 million or 20 people who give $200,000, I think we’ll get there.”
Consultants recommended a capital campaign stretching over 24 to 30 months, but local organizers intend to move much faster.
“We need to raise the money in order to break ground,” Bloem said.