By Stephen Anderson
Many churches in the past year have postponed building programs due to economic uncertainty. Even though building may be 1, 2 or even 3 years away, the wise church will be preparing now for a future building program. One of the keys to becoming financially prepared to build is to execute a capital campaign well in advance of building, or even before talking to lenders about borrowing (for more on this subject see my post, The Year of the Church Capital Campaign).
As we enter into the fall, now is the time we are helping equip churches to execute a capital campaign in the 1st quarter of 2010. Now is the time to begin to implement a campaign timeline and strategy, recruit capital campaign committee members, and integrate your campaign into the church's calendar. There are a number of things the church can do to prepare the way; to prepare the fields and sow some seed that will increase the spiritual and financial effectiveness of your capital campaign next spring.
By the time of this post, most of those churches planning a Christmas play or pageant have already begun to organize and mobilize for this event. If you give 3 months to preparing for the Christmas play (a one-day event), how much more time should you give to preparing for a capital campaign which is much more complex and lasts for 6-7 weeks?
All too often churches underestimate the time and effort that goes into preparing for an effective capital campaign. There are several topics for messages, if not entire sermon series, that should proceed the "actual campaign". There are scheduling issues that need addressed, recruiting, organization, and equipping that needs to be done before you even begin!
Churches that wait until after the first of the year to begin to move on a spring capital campaign will find themselves pressed for time and having deal with more stress and complications than necessary. The church that does not plan ahead will make this wonderful event a burden, not a joy to the staff and committee members. It will, in all likelihood, end up negatively impacting the spiritual effectiveness and financial benefit of the campaign. The earlier your church begins to prepare for its capital campaign, the more effective the campaign will be, and the least stressful for those involved.
Thanks for the information and i think that economic uncertainty is the main factor for, Building Churches .It is a good idea for churches to execute a capital campaign.There should be a proper planning of capital in the staff and committee members otherwise it is difficult to plan an event.If capital campaign will sucess it will be easy to build Churches .
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The only thing about delaying building is that you are passing up some of the fantastic deals that are available now. Everything from labor rates to materials are available at reduced prices now.
ReplyDeleteStorageContainers makes two good points.
ReplyDelete1) It is a good idea (spiritually and financially) for churches to execute capital campaigns.
2) Proper planning is critical. A capital campaign is not getting up in the pulpit for a couple of weeks preaching on giving and making an appeal. A proper capital campaign takes months to plan and to execute in order to effect real transformation in how people think about "their" money and giving.
A large part of a capital campaign is about tearing down strongholds in peoples minds to get them to the place where they truly understand God's plan of providence, seek His will for giving, and have the faith to act.
Successful capital campaigns are always a "God thing". I praise the Lord for the spiritual transformation I see congregations go through in every campaign.
Sandy makes a good point, builders and suppliers are hungry and costs are down. IF you are financially prepared to build, and have the need, now is a great time to build.
ReplyDeleteSadly, too many churches do not understand what it takes to be financially prepared to build in today's lending environment. They show up at the bank only to be turned away until they can show, 1) better cash flow with which to service debt, 2) more equity, especially cash on hand, or 3) a combination of the above.
Unfortunately all of those issues take time to correct, usually 6-12months or perhaps even more. Meanwhile the building program is on hold and the need for additional space goes unanswered.
I truly wish I knew how to get the word out to churches that wish to build in the next 1-3 years that NOW is the time to begin to become financial prepared, not when you are ready to begin construction.