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Learn from Experience
The Top 5 Capital Stewardship Campaign Mistakes, and How to Avoid Them

by Doug Turner

Everyone makes mistakes — but we shouldn’t be doomed to repeat them.

As the old adage says, “Learn from your mistakes.” As the president of a major church stewardship group and a longtime pastor, I’ve been part of hundreds of capital stewardship campaigns. Through the years, I’ve noticed several mistakes churches often make when considering a campaign.

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 turn that vision into a reality.

Too little buy-in. 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 creating 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.

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’ve mentioned before, the best strategy is to customize a variety of communication tactics and mediums to fit your unique needs. Written publications — worship bulletins, newsletters and magazines — are an important place to begin. A campaign video is another effective way to share the campaign vision. Additionally, a well-designed campaign website provides an important online presence and access to campaign materials that can be downloaded, saving on printing costs.

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.

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 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.

Regarding 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.

Making mistakes is part of being human. Thankfully, we can learn from them.

Doug Turner, president of RSI Church Stewardship Group, joined the firm in 1991. Since then, he has personally led more than 120 successful capital stewardship campaigns (including Willow Creek’s campaign in 2000) to generate more than $430 million and provide management overview to more than 2,000 campaigns. Prior to joining RSI, Turner served as a senior pastor for 14 years. Reach him at contactturner@viscern.com, or visit www.rsi.viscern.com.