Nazarian Family’s Million-Dollar Gift Takes the Diocese’s Endowment Campaign Half-Way to its $15 Million Goal

“My parents have always had a strong modern vision, coupled with a deep respect for our traditions,” said Seta Nazarian. “This endowment campaign addresses issues that will take the church into the future, and make sure it stays relevant in the next generation.”

What attracted her family, she explains, is the way the “Our Church, Our Legacy” campaign is “geared toward local parishes — where one’s church experience starts, where it’s maintained and where results can be seen and felt.”

“Parishes are where the connections happen, where family life begins,” she says with emphasis. “We haven’t given the parishes enough support — but this campaign re-ignites the connection.”

The donation is meant “to inspire others; to be an example to others; to say: This is important for our survival. If we all don’t come on board, if we don’t strengthen our faith and church, we could lose the relevance of the church,” she warns.

Keys to the Future

With half of its $15-million goal already achieved, the “Our Legacy, Our Church” campaign has been meeting with dedicated individuals throughout the Eastern Diocese.

A key part of these meetings, led by the campaign Steering Committee co-chairs Melanie Dadourian and Oscar Tatosian, is to connect with people’s dreams and desires for the future of the Armenian Church in America.

“In our travels, we’ve been asking people from different parishes about their needs, their wants from the church. People want the church to be truly relevant — to speak to their children the way it did to our parents,” said Melanie Dadourian. “People have been so generous — not only with their material support, but with their time, advice, and encouragement.”

Seta Nazarian pays tribute to that approach, praising Melanie and Oscar for their “professional, solution-oriented methods,” emphasizing accountability and oversight.

“There is so much competition for people’s time and money. But we all have to make the ‘Our Church, Our Legacy’ campaign a priority,” Seta Nazarian said.

She stresses that the project is very important to her parents, her brother and their children. And she notes that her sons Nicholas (age 25) and William (age 28) “are very excited about the goals of the campaign” — and how it’s being run with the help of modern tools like social media.

Still, it’s the personal outreach — the one-on-one conversations with sincere, caring Armenian Church members — that inspire Tatosian and Dadourian to push forward towards the campaign’s ambitious goal.

Seta Nazarian agrees. As someone who fundraises for non-profits, she knows that a goal of “$15 million is a big bite. But we can’t just sit back.”

It was she who encouraged her family to make a contribution of the magnitude of a million dollars. “The lessons that my parents taught us were the Christian values of kindness, of generosity to others, of care for the needy,” she recalls.

And with pride she adds: “Those lessons are now being lived by our children.” Indeed, her own son William, as chairman of the AGBU Young Professionals group, led the recent effort to raise $35,000 for Syrian Relief.

Such expressions of generosity, of compassionate outreach, are hallmarks of the “human connection” that has always made the Armenian Church an important fixture in people’s lives.

“People are so busy today; we risk letting machines and technology envelop us. We have lost a great deal about the human connection,” Nazarian said.

To join in this import effort, or to receive information, contact Taleen Babayan of the Development department of the Eastern Diocese, at taleenb@armeniandiocese.org.