Our Publications – Patrick O’Meara

Patrick O’Meara

Mr. O’Meara is the President and Founder of O’Meara Ferguson with responsibility for business development and corporate strategy. Previously, he worked for Bear Stearns and Raymond James Financial.

Mr. O’Meara has spoken to audiences in North America and Europe on topics of Catholic Education, Evangelization, and Church Management of temporal affairs, including Mission Advancement, Accessing the Capital and Commercial Marketplace, and Strategic Planning. He has been quoted in Bond Buyer and Time Magazines, Bloomberg, and The Wall Street Journal and has also frequently appeared on EWTN, Fox, CBS, ABC affiliates, and Catholic Answers Live.

Click the links below to access the articles and podcasts from Mr. O’Meara.

	(podcast) When Giving to the Church is the Result of Coercion Patrick O’Meara, President and Founder of O’Meara, Ferguson, Whelan, and Conway speaks of the dangers of coercion in this podcast. He states, “In Mission Advancement it is easy to use coercion to facilitate gifts, and such coercion takes many forms: guilt, building a false sense of obligation to a community, exerting pressure, creating a false community from which they fear exclusion, and others. Regardless of the method, coercion destroys that which it seeks, namely the mission of the Church to build the Kingdom of God and is equally destructive of the individual’s self donation to Christ.”
	Seeking God’s Will … Under African Skies I write this article as I am flying over the Sudan on a trip that I never imagined I would take. When Pope Benedict’s Caritas en Veritate first came out, I was asked to speak on it around the country. I primarily spoke to Legatus Chapters and similar groups. As I spoke to them I stressed the Pope’s affirmation of our obligation to assist in the development of our fellow man. For those able to assist those beyond their Polis, there exists a similar obligation to utilize the influence that exists in potencia. The Holy Father writes “The idea of a world without development indicates a lack of trust in man and in God. It is therefore a serious mistake … to overlook the fact that man is constitutionally oriented towards ‘being more.’” (paragraph #14). Throughout my talks, I prayed to more deeply understand what the Lord was calling me to do and what He was calling O’Meara Ferguson to do …
	(podcast) Hope for our Catholic Schools (Part IV): An Innovative Approach to Capital Funding In Part III of our Hope for Our Catholic Schools series, O’Meara Ferguson President and Founder Patrick O’Meara discussed four models of capital funding for Catholic schools. In Part IV of the series, Patrick offers an example of how an appreciation of capital models made all the difference in the world for one Catholic school in Michigan. St. Catherine of Siena Academy in Wixom, Michigan was founded in 2010 “to form young women centered on the redemptive act of Christ by offering an educational experience that will inspire their hearts and minds to always seek the “Truth” that is Jesus” (Mission Statement). This college-preparatory high school in the greater Detroit area is expected to grow to around 600 students.
	(podcast) Hope for our Catholic Schools (Part III): An Overview of Economic Models (Tertium Quid Newsletter – Vol. 2, Issue 7 – August 19, 2011) Catholic Education is one of the Church’s primary responses to Christ’s mandate to “Go unto all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Sadly, across the country, Catholic schools are closing or are on the brink of closing. As dioceses, parishes and religious orders face difficult economic challenges and decisions, the tremendous treasure of Catholic education is put at risk. But, says O’Meara Ferguson president and founder Patrick O’Meara, the difficult time facing Catholic education is “not upon us at this moment – it’s been upon us for the last thirty years.” In this podcast Patrick O’Meara discusses various models for funding the capital needs of our schools. Whether the capital need is a new roof, a new wing, or a brand new school building, Catholic schools have several models from which to choose as they seek to fund those needs…
	Transformed in the Holy Spirit (Tertium Quid Newsletter – Vol. 2, Issue 3 – March 30, 2011) Last week I returned from a weeklong visit to Rome. I was there for a Colloquium sponsored by the Pontifical Council for the Laity. The Colloquium focused on the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church and in particular the ecclesial movements and pastoral concerns. It also provided for some discussion and guidelines regarding certain doctrinal issues. I mostly listened …
	Giving – The Incarnation of One’s Self Donation to Christ: the Authentic Disposition of the Giver (Tertium Quid Newsletter – Vol. 2, Issue 2 – March 1, 2011) Fundraising is one of the real challenges faced by pastors and parishioners alike especially during times of economic turmoil. There is always a reluctance to speak about (and equally on the part of parishioners to hear about) fundraising. And yet, on one level we all know that parishes do not run themselves and it takes financial resources to carry out the various ministries and projects of the parish and of course pay the light bill. At a deeper level, the attitude of giving should reflect the deeper work of the Holy Spirit in each of us …
	(podcast) Philanthropic Strategies in Today’s Economy (Tertium Quid Newsletter – Vol. 1, Issue 6 – October 11, 2010) On September 20, 2010, O’Meara Ferguson president and founder Patrick O’Meara spoke at the 48th Annual International Catholic Stewardship Council (ICSC) Conference. O’Meara began his talk, Philanthropic Strategies in Today’s Economy, by telling the audience that being in a struggling economy does not mean we simply dig in, wait for things to improve and then proceed. Rather, a struggling economy only means that we are operating in a slightly different operating environment – the mission has not changed …
	(podcast) Freeing the Imprisoned Donor: Life-Giving Forms of Mission Advancement (Tertium Quid Newsletter – Vol. 1, Issue 5 – July 29, 2010) The podcast begins with a reinforcement of the call that everyone has to answer – Christ’s Great Commission – to go unto all the nations teaching them everything Christ taught us and baptizing the nations in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. O’Meara stresses that we are in great need of the laity taking ownership of this aspect of advancing the mission …
	Mission Advancement (Tertium Quid Newsletter – Vol. 1, Issue 4 – July 2, 2010) In its simplest form, Mission Advancement for the Church is the communications, planning and development work in support of the great commission to go unto all the nations teaching them everything Christ taught us and baptizing the nations in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit …
	Man’s Darkened Reason (Tertium Quid Newsletter – Vol. 1, Issue 3 – May 24, 2010) With the Financial Reform bill passing the senate it seems appropriate to frame the debate with a diagnosis of causal relationships for the financial crisis that go beyond the merely technical. Major banks and financial services companies on Wall Street must understand their relationship to the broader community …
	(podcast) The Economy, Building Projects, and Capital Campaigns: Hope Amidst Difficult Times O’Meara Ferguson president and founder Patrick O’Meara argues that as the stock market struggles to rebound and as trust in material things is fading, “the Church has the opportunity to speak with great conviction and with great efficacy.” People want to be generous, especially in difficult times. ”Now is the time for us to speak with hope.”
	(podcast) Hope For Our Catholic Schools (Part II): Operational Models In the second part of our five-part series on Catholic School Financing, O’Meara Ferguson president and founder Patrick O’Meara discusses the spectrum of operational models used in Catholic education. O’Meara details the structure, benefits and challenges of four operational models: •   The cost-based model •   The annual fund model •   The philanthropic (donation-driven) model •   The stewardship model
	(podcast) Hope for our Catholic Schools (Part I): An Overview of Economic Models In part one of a five-part series on Catholic School Financing, O’Meara stresses the need to review the economic models for Catholic education in order to understand the changing environment and operating realities which have come about over the last 50 years. “We need to have economic models that exist for today,” O’Meara says, and in doing so, Catholic schools can not only exist, but thrive.
	O’Meara Ferguson Responds to the Global Financial Crisis In response to the economic crisis, Patrick O’Meara, President and Founder of O’Meara, Ferguson, Whelan, and Conway, Inc., gave his response to several questions that many people are asking – specifically, Mr. O’Meara discusses the potential impact of this crisis on our Church finances and fundraising.