40 Ways to Hinder Your Church Capital Campaign

Over the months of preparation and execution of a church capital campaign, there are many things the church does to hinder the spiritual and financial results of the campaign.  The list is not exhaustive, as churches can be very creative in sidestepping the best practices, but presented here for your edification is a list of common ways to hinder your church capital campaign. 
Read the full article on Abundant Giving

News Update: Investing in Church Construction Consultant Provides Huge Dividend for a Church in Georgia

Cost is usually the first issue that comes to mind when hiring a consultant. Asking, "How much does a church construction consultant cost" may be a flawed question! What if the consultant is actually an investment that produces a return, not a net cost?

This premise is well illustrated in this case study for church in GA which is certainly glad it made the investment before it was too late.  So without further ado, let’s crunch the numbers…

Before hiring a church construction consultant:

• Church's building budget was $10M.
• Architect’s design fee: $550,000.
• Initial bids received for architect’s design: $14M-$19M. The bids were 40 to 90% over the church's  budget - far beyond what the church could afford.

After hiring a church construction consultant:

• Project was designed within the church’s desired budget. 
• Construction was completed on time and final cost was $300,000 under budget.
• Change orders were less than 1%; far less than the industry average of 5% to 15%.

What Return On Investment Was Produced By The Church Construction Consultant?

The investment produced both tangible and potential savings:

• Tangible, hard-dollar savings of $300,000 in actual cost savings below construction bid.
• Non-tangible Savings:
• A workable plan that allowed the church to proceed with their project.
• Kept the cost of change orders to less than $100,000, far less than the $500,000 to $1M that would be typical for a project of this size; an additional savings of $400,000-$900,00.
• Reduced stress and more effective use of staff’s time and talents.
• Costs that could have been avoided had they hired the consultant earlier in the process:
• Initial architect fee of $550,000 that resulted in church plans that could not be built.
• The value of over one year of lost time in the architects original design process.
• Additional stress and effort on the part of church staff

Total Savings...

• Even being invited to the project late, the consultant’s fee of $250,000 provided savings of at least $700,000, and as much as $1,250,000. 
• This is an return on investment to the church between 180% and 400%!
• For every dollar the church invested with the consultant, they received a financial return of between $1.80 and $4.00! 
• If the church had hired the consultant before engaging the first architect, there would have been an additional $550,000 in savings, making the savings between $1.25M and $1.75M.
• This return on investment could have been between 400% and 600%!  
• If the church had hired the consultant before the initial architect, the savings would have been as much as 6 times the investment!

If you are interested in an investment that will produce great savings in your church building program while also reducing cost, risk, and stress, see the article, How Much Does a Church Construction Consultant Cost.

Many thanks to Cody Findley of Findley & Co. for this excellent case study on the value of a church building consultant performing as an owner's rep.

Avoid This Expensive Church Capital Campaign

The Church Capital Campaign Solution Most Churches Should Avoid...

• Will almost certainly be the one with the highest overall net cost.
• Will have the least spiritual impact on your church members.
• Will be the most stressful and least effective.

Avoid This Costly Mistake In Your Church Capital Campaign!

No doubt you to learn how to avoid this type of expensive and ineffectual church capital campaign and the vendor who offers it.

The answer may surprise you! 

So without further mystery, allow me to direct you to a resource article that will explain this in more depth. Follow the link to learn more about how to avoid the most expensive church capital campaign.

Church Capital Campaign Overview Video

Last week I posted this introductory video on the Abundant Giving church capital campaign. If your church is planning a biblical church capital campaign now or in the future, please take just a few minutes to learn how to unleash abundant giving in your church -  I think you will be glad you did, if only to understand the theological truth represented by the header graphic.

Abundant Giving Church Capital Campaign

Timing the Church Capital Campaign

Give Yourself Time To Do It Right!

Don't Make This Common Mistake

One of the most common mistakes made by churches in their capital campaigns is not beginning to prepare soon enough.  Churches that are interested in a church capital campaign fail to realize that the organization and preparation should start  six months or more before their commitment Sunday in order to have the greatest spiritual and financial impact.

This does NOT mean that you spend 8 months talking about stewardship and money.  What it does mean is that you begin to organize and equip the church campaign campaign committee well in advance of when you want to be in front of the congregation.  For a fall capital campaign, this ideally means beginning in the first quarter of the year.  For a spring campaign, you will ideally want to start in late August or September.

With few exceptions, the public portion of a church capital campaign will typically be timed to complete before school is out in the spring or before the beginning of the holiday season in mid-November.  Why, you might ask? The public phase is typically 5-7 weeks of preaching, teaching, prayer, and excitement building. Trying to do this while many are on vacation or otherwise preoccupied with holiday events is counter productive.

A Church Capital Campaign Takes Time - If You Want To Do It Right

It's much easier to do a church capital campaign badly than well.  It takes far less effort, thought, and time. There are nearly an infinite number of ways to run a church capital campaign, but only a very small subset of those will produce the spiritual and financial results that you need and desire.  

A capital campaign is a critical component of your church building program or your financial strategy to retire debt.  Whether to retire a burdensome debt or to raise money for renovation, expansion or new construction, your church's capital campaign is too important not to do correctly.  A failed campaign means you negatively the ministry.  A failed campaign is also not easy to fix.  You may well have to live with these results for the duration (typically 3 years) of the campaign.  

A poorly run campaign that does not have the proper emphasis can reduce general fund giving, cause people to question the vision, or even questions the leadership's ability to lead.  Properly done, we expect that not only will you achieve your financial goals, but we typically see a 10-15% increase in general fund giving! Added to this financial result is an increased passion for the vision and mission of the church and increased commitment to achieve the church's ministry goals.

You have a choice, not terribly unlike the choice God said to Israel in Deut. 30:19, "... I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants." You too get to choose, choose well!

Adequate Time 

• Provides the time to recruit the right people, hopefully those other than the 10% that already do 90% of the work.
• Provides time to get the right people equipped for this important ministry.
• Allows the campaign to more easily fit into an already busy calendar.
• Reduces the stress and time commitment on staff and the normal "go-to people" who already do so much.  Avoids burnout. 
• Gives more time for spiritual development in the very important doctrine of stewardship and generosity.
• Allows the campaign to be about more than money, but about generosity and stewardship of all God provides, including:
• Time
• Talents
• Treasure
• Truth
• Testimony
• ever'Ting else
• Allows you to take your capital campaign from good to GREAT.
• Lastly, it allows the staff and capital campaign committee or team to have a more relaxed schedule over the summer vacation or winter holidays.  Scheduling and motivating volunteers is difficult at best, this is much easier for staff as well as for the volunteers on the various capital campaign teams.

In short, time is your friend in a capital campaign.  Spreading the effort out over a longer period is a blessing to both the staff and the capital campaign team.  On my checklist, I have over 130 individual tasks and milestones that comprise a successful church capital campaign. It's not easy, if you are going to do it right!

If you are interested, you can request a free report on the top 10 quality factors that differentiate a successful church capital campaign from the "other kind."  You can email me to request a free copy be sent to you.

Last Word

Last, but not least, you may be interested in this article on how to avoid the most expensive church capital campaigns. You may be surprised by the answer, but the math doesn't lie.

Give Your Church $1,500 For Free

What minor (or perhaps major) sacrifices are you willing to make for the advancement of the Kingdom of God? This article was written with an eye towards increasing giving to a church capital campaign, but is equally true for everyday giving.

• Giving up just one fast food meal per week for a family of four saves well over $20 per week or more than $1,000 per year.
• Putting off buying a new car for three years would save a great deal of money. The average car payment is around $420 per month which equates to over $5,000 per year.
• Giving up a one weekend getaway per year could easily free up $500 or more per year.
• Instead of going out for lunch from work, bring a bag lunch twice a week (or more!). This would easily save over $10 per week or more than $500 per year.
• Studies indicate the average American goes to the movies 5 times a year at an average cost of $12.50 (with popcorn). For a family of 4, giving up movies would free up $250 per year.
• Skip the candy bar and soda at the gas station and save $2.00 per week or over $100 per year.
• Trim your cable or satellite TV package and save $10 per month and save $125 per year.
• The average household grocery bill for a family of 4 is over $800 per month. Clip those coupons and shop those sales to trim 10% out of the budget and save $1,000 per year.

Implementing just one-half of these lifestyle sacrifices (excluding putting off a car purchase) would free up over $30 per week for the Kingdom with no impact on the household budget.

You are able to give the church an extra $1,500 for free - since it did not cost you anything extra to do so. To this "free money", you should add a financial contribution as God has prospered and provided for you to do.

Are Consulting Fees Really Worth It?

By Stephen Anderson

Are consulting fees in a church building program really worth it?

When considering consulting services, the cost often becomes a subject of debate usually negatively influenced by a number of factors.  First, the church often does not like to spend money – it is typically frugally minded, sometimes to a fault. Secondly, hiring consulting services requires a change in how churches approach the problem. The church typically resists change and finds comfort in established patterns, even if they have not been the most effective in the past. Thirdly, many churches must put it to a vote of the congregation – a body that is largely unequipped by experience or training to truly understand the scope of the problem or the value of the assistance.

There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey.    John Ruskin

While stewardship demands due consideration be given to the cost of the investment, the church often does itself a disservice by unfairly focusing on the cost of the service and not fairly counting the value gained from the engagement.  Consider the parable of the treasure hidden in the field:

"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”  

Jesus - Matthew 13:44 NASB

The man unearthed a treasure hidden in the field and then did what he had to do (sold all he had) to buy the field because he understood the value hidden in the field.  He did not say to himself, “I would like to have that treasure, but I can’t afford it.”  He evaluated the find, counted the cost, and understood the value was worth the sacrifice – which he then made.

To help determine the value proposition on consulting, the church should objectively and honestly ask itself questions, such as:

• Do we have the training, experience, and objectivity to do this the best it can be done?
• What is the value of supporting and protecting the leadership of the church?
• What is the value of increasing unity and support for the building program in the body?
• What is the value of increasing the financial support for our building program?
• What is the value of bridging the gulf from “we think” to “we know” when talking about spending hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars on a building program?
• Why did Moses and Solomon get outside help for their building programs? (Exodus 31 and  2 Chronicles 2)
• What is the additional price we will have to pay during construction for mistakes or oversights in the design of the new facilities?
• What is the price we may pay, for decades to come, for ministry space that may not truly meet our needs?
• How much is confidence and peace of mind worth to us?
• What is the value of even a 10% improvement in the building program? (Hint: 10% of $1M is $100,000)
• There is no right way to build the wrong thing; what is the value of objectively understanding what we need to build and why?

While some things are essentially priceless, the church should assign some dollar value to each of these and any other questions it may ask itself - then do the math. 

So, are church consulting fees with it?   If, at the end of the day, the engagement provides greater value than the cost of services, the difference in cost is the projected cost to the church to not engage for the services. 

How to Increase Church Capital Campaign Contributions

Why do churches resist getting expert help in capital fundraising? Is it really plausible to believe that having ready access to the combined wisdom of decades of experience in capital campaigns, being provided a step-by-step, job description by job description guide to a proven capital fundraising process, and the focused coaching of an experienced fundraising consultant will not help you raise more money in your church capital campaign?  Experience shows that churches that use a campaign consultant raise, on average, about twice as much money (that’s a 100% increase, folks) as those churches who do not. 

If you think that sounds like marketing hooey, you would be wrong, but go ahead - say the claim is grossly inflated (which it isn't) and discount it by 2/3's - make the factor only a 33% increase.  Even sharply discounted, if you are looking to raise, say $1M, the difference between using a consultant and not using a consultant could easily be a couple hundred thousand dollars (and probably more)! Compare that to the cost of the services and you will see that is a huge return on the investment.  

At the end of the day, the church often considers the wrong question in asking "how much the services cost", when it should ask itself "what is the cost to not hire a consultant".  In a straw poll of 17 churches that had completed capital campaigns in the not too distant past, all of the churches remembered how much they raised, but only about half (53%) of them could remember how much they paid for the services.  I think this illustrates what is important to the church in the long term.  Of the churches who were asked if they would use a capital campaign consultant again, knowing what they now know, 86% indicated they would use a consultant again and the remaining 14% said they would consider doing so.  None of the churches indicated they would not consider making the same investment again.

As Jesus said several times, “let he who has ears, hear.”

Time is Your Friend in a Church Capital Campaign

By Stephen Anderson When preparing for a church capital campaign, time is your friend.  Time is also a critical factor in taking your church capital campaign from good to great.

Depending on the size of the church, it can take 3 to as much as 12 months to give yourself (and the church) time to prepare for and execute a capital campaign. While size is definitely a factor in setting the timeline, three other factors can also impact the amount of time you should take in preparation.

Church capital campaigns raise money for specific capital projects, like construction, renovation, or large capital purchases.  If there is not a high level of excitement, unity, and support across the whole spectrum of the church, this would indicate the church should certainly take more time to make the case for support.

If the amount to be raised is at the higher end of the range of normal campaign results, or will need to be a real stretch, this would certainly be an indicator that you should take more preparation time in order to increase the odds of reaching your financial goal.

If the church does not already have a culture of generosity and sacrificial giving, more preparation time will allow you to improve giving on a week by week basis, thereby transforming the giving patterns of your members for a lifetime, not just 3 years.

Time is your friend in a church capital campaign:

• Time to get the right people involved
• Time to do proper donor development
• Time to create a broad culture of generosity
• Time to do the work without burning anyone out
• Time to make the most spiritual impact
• Time so that your church does not fee like it was "shoved down their throat"
• Time to do it right as opposed to"good enough"  

Anything worth doing is worth doing right.  Taking extra time will be certain to produce additional spiritual and financial rewards.

Increasing Church Volunteers & Giving

Two things most churches don't seem to have enough of are workers and money.  What you may not realize is that these two issues are spiritually related and you can implement a simple strategy to bolster both of these important resources.

General stewardship principals teach us to give of our time, treasures, and talents.  Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:21 that "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  Treasure certainly implies money or wealth, but actually was probably intended to denote a broader spectrum of those things we feel are important to us. Not only do your members' money follow what they feel in their heart is important, but so do their time and talents.  Giving of time, treasure, and talents is a heart, or spiritual issue.  What is interesting about Jesus' quote is that he clearly states that in whatever place you store or invest your treasures, that is where your spiritual center (heart) is.

This passage raises a question much like the chicken and egg question; which comes first, your heart or your investment.  In reality, we see examples of money following heart (that is why missionaries visit churches), and heart following money (your devotion to a particular stock symbol once you have invested in a company).  What is important is to remember that they are linked, so the best strategy to increase both workers (investment of time an talents) and financial support is to implement a strategy that works both ends towards the middle.

If you can convince people of the need and importance of serving, and engage them in doing so, you should also expect an increase in giving from those people.  A recent study, the national study on volunteering just released by the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund ("Gift Fund") and VolunteerMatch, showed Americans who volunteer their time and skills to nonprofit organizations donate an average of 10 times more money to charity than people who don’t volunteer.  If you engage their heart in serving, their giving goes up.  Conversely if you clearly teach your people about biblical giving, thereby increasing their financial support, they will be more likely to serve, since they now have a greater heart interest in the ministry. Pastor testimonials show that a clear, compelling, and unapologetic teaching of biblical giving principals on an annual basis increase giving 10-30% or more each year.

Addressing both the financial need and the need for workers is done in similar fashion.  As churches learn from annual stewardship programs or capital stewardship campaigns, to get people committed to giving you need to do four things. First, you need to provide the biblical basis for what you are asking; you need to lay the spiritual groundwork. Secondly, you need to clearly communicate the need that exists.  The third step is to clearly and unapologetically make the call to action - tell them what you need them to do and challenge them to a specific action (exhortation).  Finally, the last step and the one where many churches miss the boat, you need to hold them accountable to respond.  While you may not feel as comfortable with this step as the others, you have to take seriously what James said, "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."

All too often pastors across America will just toss the concept of giving out there and hope the congregation responds.  People need to be exhorted in the truest sense of the word.  Strong's Concordance has, as the definition for exhort (parakalountev),  "to call to one's side, summon, admonish, beg, encourage, and instruct."  The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines exhort as "to incite by argument or advice : urge strongly." From the pulpit we need to lead, instruct, and exhort in every sense of the word.  In general, most people only rise to the lowest level of expectation.  In large part if you toss important ideas out there hoping they will act, the people will probably think about it, but not act.  Often times they only think about it until the end of service.

If there is one thing we learn from church fundraising, you have to have personal dialog with people to get them to invest, whether it is their time or their money.  You have not because you ask not.  But only asking from the pulpit makes it a general issue and everyone assumes someone else will step up to the challenge, and when no one does, people generally don't feel bad because the are just doing (or not doing) what everyone else is.  Exhorting means you not only need to make it clear over several weeks from the pulpit, but you also need to get face to face with people and make the personal appeal by exhorting them in the truest sense of the word.  At the end of the day, it will be a blessing to the church and to the person giving of their time, talent, and treasure.  So get out there and preach it, teach it, beg if you need to, and incite your people to a Godly response.

Pastors Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Last year, you may recall that the bottom fell out of the economy.

According to a survey conducted by Brian Kluth of over 1,000 churches, 29% of the responding churches reported giving was down in 2008, and 53% of churches reported giving was behind budget for the first quarter of 2009. The amazing finding was in the face of these statistics, only 14% of churches made cuts to their 2009 budget. At face value, this would seem to indicate that at at least 15% of churches are going to be faced with severe budget shortfalls this year.

However, if the 53% of churches who were behind budget early in the year don't architect a financial turn around, many of them could be seriously behind budget for the year. This could put a number of churches in the position of needing to take some drastic and painful steps later this year or early 2009. One thing is certain, no pastor or board wants to fire staff or reduce important programs and ministries. One might consider this situation to be "the rock."

Churches that are having a hard time meeting budget, are struggling to pay mortgages, or can't afford to hire needed staff have only three options: reduce expenses, increase giving, or a combination of both. Two of the three solutions depend, in whole or in part, upon increasing giving to the church general fund. This brings us to the "hard place"; the Lilly Endowment Studies report that 85% of pastors feel uncomfortable and/or unequipped to preach on giving.

The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 10, "How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?" The same question might be asked about giving; how can anyone expect to increase giving in the church if 7 out of 8 pastor's are unwilling or unequipped to preach on biblical stewardship?

The Kings James Bible has 64 verses that mention hell, and 334 that mention love, however there are reportedly over 2,000 verses (depending on the source quoted) that deal with money and possession. Pastor Randy Alcorn's book, The Treasure Principle, puts the number of these verses at 2,350. Now there are those who will dispute that number, and it is certainly open to debate, but even if the number of verses was overstated by 100%, there would still be 3x more verses about money and possessions than love and hell combined.

Being unwilling to preach and teach on money is not a new problem. Malachi begins in chapter 1 by rebuking the priests for failing to properly oversee worship (particularly the offerings), and failing to properly instruct the nation in God's Law. He goes on to call the people to repentance, not the least of which was the famous "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings."

So what are pastors to do when they feel caught between a rock and a hard place?

The answer is to clearly and unashamedly preach and teach on biblical stewardship and not be afraid to challenge the people to respond. In 1 Chronicles 29:5, King David, after proclaiming his financial support for the building of the temple then clearly challenges the people to give by boldly asking, "Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the LORD?" David clearly threw the gauntlet down and the people responded.

Pastors and church leaders who wish to become equipped to lead their church in biblical stewardship, should consider the Dynamic Giving Toolkit. Pastor testimonials report increases in giving of 10-30% the first year and double digit increases yearly thereafter. The web site asks a very good question, "What would your church do with 10-30% more money?"

The core of the program is the book, Pastor Driven Stewardship by Dr. Rod Rogers. Used by over 1,000 churches in 13 countries, these materials have transformed the members and the giving of churches around the world. If your church needs to retire debt, hire staff, expand ministry, or you just want to avoid painful budget cuts, we think these stewardship materials will teach, equip and challenge you to lead your church in biblical stewardship.

Post a comment and let us know what your church could do with a 30% increase in giving...