A reader asked about how a church capital campaign can reach outside the church to get money from the community. This is a good question, and I will try to give a clear answer.
The quick answer is that a church capital campaign is not the best tool for obtaining financial support from the community. The reason being that the campaign is strongly based on a Kingdom need and God’s provision to meet that need through His people; an approach that will find little traction with most folks outside your church and faith.
Getting support from the community takes a somewhat different approach, and is much more like a grant writing effort than a capital campaign. The similarity to a campaign is you will be creating a case for support. This case for support, however, will focus on the ministry of the church and its measurable impact in the community. It will also be much more extensive, objectively detailing what you do and giving a qualitative analysis of how you have impacted the lives of those you have ministered to, and the impact the community
Essentially, you need to tell the story of what you do and how those programs and ministries are improving or serving the community as a whole. You need to make the case and explain what effect the donation you are seeking will make in the community.
It will also be helpful to research your community, find which businesses give to local charity and religious organizations. Also, you can research if there are any local donors or foundations that support programs in the community. These two sources would be the best place to begin looking for financial support for your church, outside it’s four walls.
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AMI today announces the Abundant Giving Capital Campaign, a complete Church Capital Campaign in Box. Abundant Giving distinguishes itself from other church capital campaigns by its flexible and cost effective delivery method. Whether you are a small church looking for a DIY capital campaign you can run in-house, a full blown capital campaign consulting engagement, or [...]
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I had a status call today with a church capital campaign client this morning, and the chairperson had a most insightful and encouraging comment. The church is two weeks away from their Committment Sunday when everyone will bring their initial offerings and ongoing peldge commitments for the 3-year giving period. His comment to me [...]
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The banks have money to lend, they just don’t seem to want to do it. This week a number of the largest banks were called before Congress who basically told them to make more of the bailout money available for loans. Some lenders have just stopped lending to churches while others are setting the bar [...]
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Depending on your point of view, this either has nothing to do with church construction, or it is the whole point. I was blessed with a copy of this sunrise photo taken by Bob Freeman who is a member of the capital campaign team at Metrocrest Church in Coppell, Texas. I think Bob’s camera caught [...]
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The next time you are feeling like complaining that your church building is too small, too crowded, too cold, too dark, or that the building is preventing you from growing, think about this picture. This is a picture of an unregistered Baptist congregation that met in the forest for 10 years because they were not [...]
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Depending on what part of the country the church is in, the current economic downturn most likely affected the results of capital campaigns that were kicking off this fall. Based on the results of our church capital campaigns that were already in the planning stage for kickoff this fall, pledge commitments received are substantially less [...]
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I am hearing this question a lot these days, “Should our church build given the economic situation?” While a specific church situation may otherwise dictate, I believe that the general answer is that it should, if certain conditions are true. Here’s my premise. God is bigger than any economic crisis. He’s bigger than Fannie Mae, [...]
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If your church is in the market for a church architect or church building plans, you will want to check out this new web portal, ChurchPlansource.com This new portal provides access to stock building plans from experienced church architects. Visitors are able to view church building plans by building size or seating capacity. If a [...]
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If you are looking for a church architect, here are some tips that you will want to keep in mind that will help you get the right architect for your church building program. First and foremost is that there is a difference between an architect that has designed some churches, and a church architect. Designing [...]
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