The Seven Common Mistakes Churches Make
A few years ago, I was on a conference call with a church, thinking about starting a capital campaign. One of the leaders on the call asked me about common mistakes churches make regarding capital campaigns. I sat down and came up with seven mistakes that we found most common. Make sure you are not […]
Capital Campaign Boot Camp
If you keep doing what you have always done, you will not get what you always got. That’s one of my Brooks Mantras for Stewardship. As we entered the 21st century, it dawned on me that our methods for raising capital dollars were antiquated and becoming increasingly ineffective. The classic approach to capital campaigns was […]
Capital Campaign Overview
The following is a copy of what I hand church leaders in my first planning meeting with them. This is a great overview of the basic principles of a campaign. How this is fleshed out is church dependent. The following is my initial handout. The overall mission of a capital stewardship campaign is to help […]
Capital Campaigns Are Different, Not Dead!
Success in a capital campaign begins by understanding that capital campaigns are different, not dead. The traditional capital campaign process was developed in the last century and, for the most part, has been left unchanged into the 21st century. That model revolved around organizing a multitude of various teams involving as many members as possible. […]
Leading Leaders to Lead
Leaders first. Never announce a major change of ministry direction or a new building plan from the platform on a Sunday morning that you have not first announced to your leadership. That is a mantra I preach to every Senior Pastor that I help raise capital dollars. Why? Let me give you one practical reason. […]
An Overview of a Leadership Meeting
Let me explain what I mean when I say leaders. As a stewardship guy, I’m thinking of raising funds. So, I want the top 15% of your donors to be present at any leadership meeting. Often, that net captures all your leaders. However, it might not catch the faithful retiree who teaches a weekly Bible […]
What Motivates Christians to Give?
What motivates Christians to give? That was the headline of an email I received from the Barna Group a few years ago. They had done a survey to find out what motivated Christians to give. So, what did they find that motivated Christians to give? The Barna report says, “For Christians, emotions motivate charity.” Here […]
Setting Realistic Goals
“Do you want a sales answer or the truth?” Once, I was interviewed by a church that wanted to hire a stewardship partner for its capital campaign. The Executive Pastor asked me how much I thought they could raise in their next campaign. At that point, the church had done three consecutive campaigns in a […]
Are the Glory Days of Capital Campaigns Over?
Are the glory days of capital campaigns over? Since the 1960s, when there was a huge explosion of church expansion and building capital campaigns, billions of dollars have been raised for churches. Those days may be over. Studies are showing that the average capital campaign is now raising about… 1 time. As in one times […]
Tech to Propel Your Capital Campaign
I’m writing a book on how to hold a Do-It-Yourself capital campaign. As a result, I have been researching all my past writing on the subject. I came across an out-of-print post I wrote ten years ago, entitled How to Use Technology for a Capital Campaign. In 2014, online giving was still in its infancy, […]