Everyone makes mistakes. However, we shouldn't be doomed to repeat them.

As the old adage says, we must learn from our mistakes. As the president of RSI Church Stewardship Group and a longtime pastor, I've been a part of hundreds of capital stewardship campaigns. Through the years, I've noticed there are several mistakes that churches often make when considering a campaign. Below, I have outlined the most common mistakes, so you can experience early success in your next capital campaign:

1. Lack of a clear need and vision. A successful campaign always begins with a clear and compelling vision. Proverbs 28:18 states that where there is no vision, the people perish. A compelling vision is at the heart of every successful effort. Another word commonly used to describe the heart and soul of the church and its purpose is mission.

If vision is the goal, then achieving the goal depends on changes and growth in the church that will enable that vision to become reality. Clearly stating the needs of the church in terms of buildings, staff, resources, debt retirement, and/or space transformation is critical to the success of your effort.

While the vision for ministry is the reason to do a campaign, the specific needs of the church are the change agents funded by the campaign. Before beginning a campaign, the pastors and lay leaders must agree on a vision and clearly state the needs to turning that vision into a reality.

2. Too little buy-in. A vision for ministry might be exciting and compelling, but for it to move from thought to reality, there must be widespread buy-in from laity. The congregation and its members, visitors, and regular attendees must share the vision for ministry. During a capital stewardship campaign, careful attention should be given to the process of building laity ownership.

Lay ownership is best cultivated by created opportunities for people to participate in campaign activities. By inviting people to lead, volunteer, and contribute to the vision casting, each person begins to take responsibility for the success of the campaign. Before a campaign asks the congregation to respond by pledging gifts of time, talent, and treasure, there must be evidence of widespread enthusiasm and support for the future ministry of the church from the congregation as a whole.

3. Inadequate communication. If the time of commitment approaches and people are asking, “What's this campaign about?” then the communication hasn't been effective. The key to a successful communication strategy is to use a variety of methods to ensure each person who comes in contact with your church is made aware of the campaign vision and is invited to participate at some level.

Each church has a varied and diverse congregation that makes it unique. As I have mentioned before, the best strategy is to customize a variety of communication tactics and mediums to fit your unique needs. Written publications -- such as worship bulletins, newsletters and magazines -- are an important place to begin.

A campaign video is another effective way to share the campaign vision. A well-produced video can be a crucial element in communicating the vision and will truly tug at the hearts of your congregants.

Additionally, a well-designed campaign website will provide an important online presence and access to campaign materials that can be downloaded, saving on printing costs.

Also, emails, small groups, focus groups, and town hall meetings all provide forums for discussion.

4. Not enough time. Succumbing to fears or a desire to “just get it over with,” churches sometimes rush into a campaign. From time to time, an immediate need -- such as the opportunity to purchase real estate -- precedes the campaign. In those cases, the campaign begins with a heightened sense of urgency. However, most of the time, allowing plenty of time to prepare and conduct a capital stewardship campaign is the best approach.

To avoid the mistakes I mentioned above, it will take time to effectively craft a vision for the campaign, build ownership from the congregation, and shape an effective communication strategy for the campaign. In addition, providing plenty of time for these activities prevents stress and burnout among your staff and volunteers who are taking to work on the campaign in addition to their other commitments. The amount of time necessary to accomplish each of these tasks will vary from church to church. However, the commitment to allowing space and time in your campaign will help ensure its success.

5. Going it alone. Many churches look at the vast needs of the church and wonder if hiring counsel is the best use of resources. There are several reasons to consider partnering with professional stewardship counsel. The first is that your pastoral staff is fully occupied right now, without a capital campaign. Counsel will help you to match the gifts and talents of your staff to campaign activities, maximizing their efforts. An experienced consultant is likely to identify pitfalls before they occur, guiding you around them with suggestions. Therefore, counsel reduces the risk of error and failure, in addition to taking the workload off of the pastor.

In regards to volunteers, professional counsel gives them confidence by providing training and constant support. Counsel is able to protect volunteers by using their time and energy efficiently and only when necessary.

Finally, counsel is objective. The presence of counsel brings discipline to the campaign and a layer of protection to your senior pastor by delivering hard messages to volunteers and leaders when needed.

The experience and expertise of consultants who have partnered with many churches during their campaigns has many advantages for helping to avoid mistakes during the journey, saving the church costly mistakes, time and money.

Making mistakes is part of being human. Thankfully, we can also learn from mistakes. I hope this discussion has been helpful to you as you consider your capital stewardship campaign.

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Doug Turner is the president of RSI Church Stewardship Group .