In addition to obtaining a loan to finance a church building project, church leaders often consider conducting capital campaigns. Here are some strategies for raising funds to support your new church building, or your vision for remodeling an existing church design. One key point we will discuss is the value of working with a professional consultant.
Church Building Capital Campaign Process and Timing
The goal of a capital campaign for your church design and construction project is to raise the funding you need to complete the project, usually over a two or three-year timeframe. The campaign itself begins with obtaining monetary pledges, and it’s best to set aside between four to six months to successfully complete the stewardship portion of a capital campaign.
What happens during that time? The first half is spent with planning and preparation. You need to get team leaders excited about the project and geared up to talk about it. It’s also when you might reach out to certain individuals in your church who might be willing to give leadership or matching-fund donations that can help spur others to give.
The second half of the time is the “public” campaign, where you talk about the new church design or remodeling project in worship services and emphasize how the church building will better fulfill your church vision for ministry in the community. The entire process culminates in a pledge day when people in the congregation are asked to make their financial pledge.
Holding Your Church Design Stewardship Campaign in the Right Season
Timing is very important. You don’t want to be doing all this work when folks are distracted by gift-buying, holiday parties, and other preparations for Christmas, for example. Summer is also not the ideal time for a stewardship campaign, because so many people take vacation and might miss out on all the excitement that you’re trying to generate.
This is why we recommend that you plan to have the public part of your capital campaign either in the fall, from mid-September through mid-November, or in the spring, sometime from February through May. With the spring, it’s a good idea to either plan to finish the campaign right before Easter or start it right after Easter and finish before summer.
Why You Want Professional Fundraising Support
Nationally, the average capital stewardship campaign raises one to two times the annual church budget over the course of a campaign. However, if a professional stewardship campaign consultant is not used, then the average amount goes down by fifty percent. In other words, investing in a professional consultant could double the money raised.
Here’s another reason to invest in a professional fundraising company. A lender is going to look more favorably on pledges raised by a professional than those raised in a self-led campaign, so if you try to raise money yourself, the banker will probably loan you less. These are the reasons why it’s worth the investment to get a professional consulting firm involved. We provide a list of such consultants on our website.
Also on our website is a list of our upcoming free i3 webinars, where we share important tips like this to help you successfully complete your church design and construction project.