From One Leader to Another
Stewardship Series, Part 2: Wrap It Up Right

By RaeAnn Slaybaugh

Last month, pastors offered their best tips for kicking off a successful, spiritual capital fund campaign. This time, their focus is wrap-up. Here, the panel discusses ways to motivate giving; the importance of follow-through; approaches they would--and would not--try again; and finally, how they overcame their biggest fear of all: failure.

The Panel

	Rev. Don W. Wilson Senior Pastor The Federated Church Columbus, Neb. Consultant: Church Fundraising Services, Inc. (Longmont, Colo.) The Federated Church leaders used the $3.1 million raised to make their 1920's building ADA-compliant.
	Ed Ward Business Manager First Presbyterian Church Colorado Springs, Colo. Consultant: None--leaders conducted their own campaign FBC's three-year, $10.2 million capital campaign was an endeavor the church decided to take on without professional assistance.
	David O. Dykes Pastor Green Acres Baptist Church Tyler, Texas Consultant: Resource Services Inc. (Dallas, Texas) GABC's three-year capital fund campaign wrapped up in April, generating $22 million.

Ed Bonneau
Campaign Director Farmers Branch Church of Christ Farmers Branch, Texas
Consultant: The Rogers Co. (Dallas, Texas)

FBCC's first three-year campaign brought in 80% of the funds needed. Its second three-year campaign concluded earlier this year, raising $2.5 million.

Fr. Bruce Bradley 
Mary Immaculate Catholic Church Dallas, Texas
Consultant: Cargill Associates (Fort Worth, Texas)

MICC launched its three-year campaign last February, and $4.5 million of the church's goal--an estimated $6 million to $10 million--has already been pledged.

Clay A. Lein Vicar
Christ Episcopal Church Plano, Texas
Consultant: Resource Services, Inc. (Dallas, Texas)

Christ Episcopal's 1997 capital fund campaign raised $4 million is three months.

Rev. Roger Patterson
Associate Pastor/Administration West University Baptist Church Houston, Texas
Consultant: The Genesis Group (Fayetteville, Ga.)

Earlier this year, between January and April, WUBC raised $3.6 million.

Rev. Jeff Spiller
Senior Pastor Christ United Methodist Church Mobile, Ala.
Consultant: The Genesis Group (Fayetteville, Ga.)

Christ UMC's 1 1/2-year campaign generated $9 million, exceeding the original goal by $3 million.

Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas, conducted a $22 million campaign to build its impressive new facility.

On motivating members to give. "If there's no motivation, there's no giving," says Spiller. So, which approaches are the most powerful?

"People give to people, not to a building," so leaders must cast a great vision and be sure to involve the campaign's key influences in its casting, Bonneau advises. Patterson reiterates this recommendation. "Constantly cast the vision," he says, citing other effective motivators, including testimonies and active celebration of both heritage and hope in the future.

Wilson says he found that some of the best motivators of all were people who had already given to the campaign. Witnessing by members concerning their own giving--shared with other members--was a helpful stimulus to greater gifts, he explains.

Finally, Lein even recommends "over-communication" of the vision. "And strive for an excellence commensurate with campaign objectives," he adds.

Ward agrees that casting the vision is essential and says that motivation for giving can be achieved by combining a number of factors. Specifically, he says, this means "sensing the Lord's blessing, effective communication of the vision, and conveying the need for the campaign in general---how the ministry of the church will be enhanced as a result." In Dykes' case, the most effective way to cast the vision was to preach a special series about the church's overall dreams and goals, which made giving a secondary issue.

On helping members decide how much to give. Bonneau, Bradley and Dykes recommend not specifying a dollar amount, but all the pastors suggest encouraging members to give based on what "feels" like a sacrifice. For Patterson, gift profiles proved extremely helpful. Convincing leadership to commit is another approach they cite as a particularly effective "giving gauge."

Leaders at Christ Episcopal Church in Plano, Texas, raised more than $4 million in less than three months to build this new, larger worship space.

Bradley explains: "Some people didn't like it when I got up and used actual numbers. Other people didn't resent it. The way to explain it is, 'Look, we're not telling you what to give, but it gives you a practical idea of what others are doing.'"

Bonneau's church used a similar approach. At the advice of the stewardship consultant, leaders did not ask for money or tell people how much to give; instead, they asked members to pray about how God wanted to use them in the campaign. "It worked," Bonneau says. "We raised three million dollars and we're debt-free in five years--but the greatest value was that we became a praying, trusting people. It changed our whole church."

Wilson, however, says that when the time came to approach givers of large gifts, asking them unabashedly for the amount proved especially useful. "In several cases, they gave the amount requested," he says, "and in other cases, they gave somewhat less, but still more than they would have if we hadn't specified an amount."

Finally, Ward reminds churches to promote non-cash giving as well. To reach a campaign goal, giving from assets--stocks, bonds, land and more--is often necessary, he says.

On keeping members involved until the end. Spiller points out that follow-through proved a very important factor in leading a successful campaign. Patterson agrees and cites his church's follow-up team, which will remain assembled until the campaign ends, as one way to promote follow-through. "This is a must for our success," he says.

Another must, according to Dykes: "Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate!" Likewise, Bradley plans to host a groundbreaking ceremony upon completion of various construction phases.

Just as importantly, Ward and Bradley encourage leaders to make real efforts to update members on campaign progress. "Our senior minister has done a wonderful job of [this] by way of periodic newsletters and mailings," Ward explains. Additionally, the pastor briefs governing boards monthly on the campaign status.

Bradley uses a similar approach; he sends updates by mail every two months and enlists a finance committee member to host brief pulpit talks after Communion once a month. And since contributors must receive a letter of recognition for tax purposes, he also uses these mailings as an opportunity to express gratitude for gifts received.

On what they would do differently next time. "I would have trusted God more," Dykes says. "He came through!" Bonneau echoes the need to keep spirituality at the forefront. "I'd be sure we emphasized prayer process publicly," he says, and adds that regular testimonies would also receive more attention, as would follow-up efforts in the second and third years of the campaign. Bonneau agrees: "There's a tendency for people to forget what you're trying to do after a year," he explains.

Finally, pastors cite the need for improved communication. Lein says his church would be more intentional about connecting with new members if it was to conduct its campaign again. It's important to get these members in the loop, he says, and suggests instituting a strong follow-up system to make it happen. Spiller agrees and says that internal communication during his church's campaign was not what it could have been.

On what they would do again. According to Bradley, Patterson and Spiller, selecting a competent financial advisor and inserting and deploying gifted leaders within the church were two crucial keys to campaign success. They cite other critical practices as well; specifically, conducting a feasibility study and maintaining communication with members by stating specific goals. "In other words, nothing should really be secret," Bradley explains. "But there are some things about the financial issues that may not need to be presented. You may not want to give them so many facts that they become confused."

Lein reiterates the importance of members understanding and buying into the vision. "With clear and constant communication, they did," he recalls, drawing upon his own campaign experience.

To keep positive momentum, Bradley also recommends that churches give members tangible reminders that their gifts are being put to good use. "Start building," he recommends. "Once they see that, they'll realize it's really happening."

On facing their biggest fundraising fears. "No one will respond. The campaign will be a flop. We won't get a new building." Bonneau says these thoughts plagued him prior to launching his church's campaign. At that point, he says, faith established itself the most important factor. "[Our consultant] assured us that if we prayed, everything would be all right because we would be getting God's will," he recalls. "That helped a great deal to calm our anxieties. It was Biblical! Let's get God in on the deal!"

Spiller tells a similar story. "[My] biggest fear was that the results of the campaign would not justify the cost," he says. But this fear was never validated because the focus was not money, he adds. "[The campaign] was positive, upbeat and always focused on our responsibilities as stewards of God's resources," Spiller explains. "In the end, we achieved the upper level of our goal."

Patterson says his fears too were rooted in the possibility that members might reject the substantial dollar amount the church hoped to raise. "I feared that people would perceive it as too expensive and not buy in," he says, "but God led us in our hearts to give generously."

Dykes reports similar feelings of anxiety prior to his campaign. "My fear was that I could not raise money," he says. "I was correct. I couldn't--but God was faithful."

Bradley says he wondered whether or not the necessary resources could be gathered from his congregation. "I thought [the potential] might be but I wanted to be more sure," he says. "That's why we hired the financial advisors."

Bradley says he also worried that the ethnic diversity of the membership might work against the campaign.

"I wondered if people would say we were building this church because we have all these newcomers, but that didn't seem to be a real issue," he explains. "Of course, one of the first changes I made when I came here was to establish a Spanish language mass on Sunday morning, which completely filled up. Treating people fairly is an important issue."

My fear was that I could not raise money," says GABC pastor David O. Dykes. "I was correct. I couldn't--but God was faithful."

Wilson says his greatest fear was based on his congregation's uneasiness to talk about money and giving. "Like many congregations, ours did not have as good a history of stewardship as one would have liked to see," he explains. However, as the church moved through the campaign, Wilson says many members became less reticent about the subject. As a result, the church's operating budget also improved--and continues to improve.

Ward and Bradley say they also worried that even if their campaigns were successful, sit might negatively impact giving throughout the rest of the year, but this turned out not to be the case. At Bradley's church, other fundraising efforts were not only spared, they actually benefited from the capital fund campaign. "The advisor said our regular pledges would go up too," he says, "and I thought, 'Ha.'"

Pledges usually numbered about $300,000 a year, even though the budget was $1.5 million. ("The money always came in, it just wasn't pledges," he adds.) This year, however, in addition to the $4.2 million the campaign generated, the church received almost $1 million in pledges.

Aside from financial gain, Bonneau reports the best reward of all. "We were absolutely amazed at what happened in people's lives," he says. "They changed before our eyes."

Why People Give

• Shared cause. Nine out of 10 adults who give money to churches say they do so because they are convinced the church believes in and stands for the same things they do. This notion of having a shared cause is virtually indispensable in attracting donations.
• Ministry efficiency. Four out of five church donors say they will give only if they are persuaded the church uses people's money carefully and wisely.
• Ministry influence. Four out of five church supporters actively search for evidence that their money has made a difference in people's lives. Most churches struggle to trigger this motivation.
• Urgent need. Six out of 10 church donors admit they are more likely to give when they become aware of an urgent need, whether it emanates from their church or from some other organization.
• Personal benefit. Many people say they give to their church because they wish to express their gratitude for what it has done in their own lives or in the lives of people close to them. Frequent but less common motivations for giving include hoped-for benefits to the donor or the donor's loved ones and interests.
• Relationship with the ministry. Six out of 10 adults say they give to their church out of a feeling of responsibility or moral obligation to their Christian community and to the ministries in which they participate.

Reprinted with permission from The Pastor's Guide to Fund-Raising Success by Dr. Dorsey E. Levell and Wayne E. Groner (Bonus Books, Inc.).