Is the American church headed for a fiscal cliff? Interesting question, isn’ it? It is true that there would be few business administrators, executive pastors, and even senior pastors who would not be deeply concerned if charitable donations were removed or greatly reduced from our tax code.
The reality is that staff lay-offs and salary reductions would take place at thousands of churches. More importantly, the ability to deliver ministry would be significantly reduced. Church leaders would have to quickly adjust to a “new normal”.
However, there is not a lack of financial resources in today’s churches. In fact, my findings are that the opposite is true. God (and the American church) is NOT headed for a fiscal cliff.
This Thursday, December 13th Joseph Sangl, President and CEO of Injoy Stewardship Solutions (the company I work for), will be leading a FREE online 1-hour webinar entitled 5 Common Threads Of Successful 2012 Capital Campaigns. I would like to invite each of you to listen in and be a part of that time together.
I had the privilege of interviewing a number of our team members in preparation for this and discovered some fascinating facts about church leadership behaviors.
- Churches are beginning to take steps to move towards their future. They are no longer waiting for economic changes. There is a new normal.
- For many new churches, the capital campaigns are for resourcing the facility before God reveals it. The reason – banks want cash reserves before approving the loans.
- Many projects were for the purpose of creating gathering space and a sense of community. One of the top needs in Christian culture today is a sense of belonging.
- Great campaigns were led by great staff and volunteer leaders. The selection of your leaders was a primary component of the campaign’s success.
- Pastors want simplicity in all things, including the campaign.
- A deep relational bond amongst the staff was key to 2012 campaign success. Campaign success requires more than just unity.
- Annual giving is increasing by as much as 30% during the ISS partnerships.
- Pastors must be forthright, confident, and unapologetic when communicating the vision of the church and campaign.
- Churches are more financially healthy than they realize.
- The value of the relationship between volunteers and staff is unique. Volunteers receive influence from the staff. In return, the staff are often energized by the passion and excitement of the volunteers.
- The value of a partnership with ISS. For many of our partners, this was either their first campaign or had only conducted previous internal efforts. Their experience and financial results were significantly higher with ISS.
Pastors and church leaders, if you need to raise significant capital in 2013, do not miss this webinar. Simply leave me a comment or click here and get registered TODAY!!!
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