Eight Key Questions - Christianity Today

Westside Baptist Church in Fort Pierce, Florida, was once a quaint family chapel on half a city block. Charter members recall fondly how the old chapel was floated on two barges down the inter-coastal canal from a military base and reassembled on the edge of town. And there it sat for almost 50 years as the church grew to 200 and the town grew up around it.

Today the church has relocated to 86 acres with interstate highway frontage. We have completed three capital campaigns. A fourth, to build a new sanctuary, is next, and we’re developing a 116-unit retirement community.

I often get calls from pastors asking how to handle a fundraising campaign. Here are the questions I hear frequently:

1. Will a capital campaign work in my church?

The success of the program is partly related to the nature of the project. Our first project was to buy land and build our first building. We had a capital campaign and a $1 million bond issue, and the people fully supported both.

Our second campaign was for an education building, which cost $425,000. Five years later we raised $1.8 million for a family life center. The people really got behind that one.

But the success of the campaign doesn’t start with the vision or the blueprints or the fund drive. It starts well before that. The pastor must be certain they have the Lord’s leading. And the people who really hold power in the church must support it. If not, don’t bother to start a fund drive. First schedule the kitchen table visits with the leaders to talk about the future of the church.

When the people are supporting the pastor and the vision, then a campaign will roll on its own momentum.

2. Who should lead the campaign?

The commitment of the congregation is vital, and the real leaders of the church must be up front. But the pastor has the toughest job. A capital campaign will require you to step out of your role as pastor and become spokesman for the project.

The pastor must be bold, as bold as when he’s preaching. I told our congregation plainly, “This building is not about me. When I retire I can’t take any of this with me. And nobody made you join this church; but when you joined you made a commitment to be part of this work. So we’re asking for your pledge, and we’re expecting to hear from you.” And we did.

In our last campaign, 92 percent of the pledges were returned in the first week, twice the average.

3. Do I really need a fundraising consultant?

Yes. Most pastors do. We’ve had three campaigns, and we’ve employed a consultant on all three. The reason is most pastors are not gifted in fundraising, and we need guidance for that.

Normally, the pastor must call on those who are expected to give the most. It requires great humility to ask people, “What will you give to help us?” If I wasn’t leading the project, I wouldn’t sign up for this job—no one wants to feel like a fundraiser—but great churches aren’t built unless the leaders are willing to ask the hard questions.

4. How do I find the right consultant?

Ask around and ask for references.

Before we chose a company, I wanted to know specifically who I’d be working with. We investigated several companies, and I interviewed several consultants. I felt pastoral experience was important.

I asked about the individual’s

effectiveness consulting churches,

especially their collection rate. That told me whether he could help me communicate the vision. And I asked other

pastors whether the people liked this consultant. Were they inspired by him or put off by the sales pitch?

The main job of the consultant is communication. He will train the committees and organize the schedule of mailings and meetings. If he doesn’t speak the language of your church people, if his personality clashes with the church’s, the campaign will fail.

The consultant we chose was on contract with our state denominational office. He had pastored several large churches in our state before retiring. He understood the nuances of Florida life: our winter residents’ migration pattern, the start of boating season. He had charisma, and he connected well with our congregation.

Our campaigns worked well partly because we made sure our consultant was a good match for us.

5. How much money can we raise?

Many pastors start by asking how much the building will cost. That’s backward. Estimate first how much your congregation will give, then make the plans fit the budget.

Most experts say an average campaign will raise one and one-half to two times the church’s annual undesignated offerings, to be paid over a three-year period. An outstanding campaign will raise three times the annual undesignated offerings. Statistically, there are limits to the amount people will give; don’t go beyond it.

Sometimes the church needs to wait a couple of years. Pastors don’t like to hear this, but it may be better to stop, cut expenses, save some money, and build up the congregation and their giving levels, rather than challenge the church to a building project four or five times the annual budget.

6. If we build it, will they come?

This is the WWKCD question: what would Kevin Costner do?

Who cares?! Kevin Costner wasn’t a pastor. “Build it, they will come” may work in Field of Dreams, but it doesn’t work for churches. A new building is no panacea, and a capital program certainly doesn’t solve a church’s problems. In fact, the opposite is true.

My philosophy is “They’re coming, so I will build it.”

A church that builds far beyond its current giving levels will struggle to pay the debt service and the utilities on that behemoth facility. It is better to deal with the good problems—crowding and inconvenience—for a little while. They become motivators for the people to give.

7. How much am I personally going to give?

A pastor who asks the congregation to give large amounts of money should be prepared personally to give. And he must answer honestly whether his gift will be sacrificial. The pastor can’t hide behind his robes, because when it comes to money, the robes are thin. People will see right through it.

When you write a personal check for $15- or $20,000, it really affects your vision and your commitment to the church. The amount that my wife, Paula, and I first discussed was one-third of what we ultimately gave. And in three building projects, we have prayed and dug deep. I almost don’t want to hear from God on how much we’ll need to give on the next one.

8. How long will this fundraising project last?

It will seem like forever. The campaign itself is usually completed in three to five months, and the pledges are collected in three years.

For me, the truly spiritual matter is prayer to finish the project. “God, give me the strength to carry this through to the end: no spiritual spasms, no excitement just for the moment, but from beginning to end, give me the dedication to finish.”

And he has.