Capital Campaign = Softened hearts?
This is a busy time right now for me and the churches I am serving this spring. May 19 is Commitment Sunday for them all and getting prepared for that day and the decisions people will make can be challenging and time consuming. All of my churches this spring have run great races thus far and are eagerly anticipating a big celebration of what God will do through their people in their giving.
I have been working in this ministry for over 12 years. I felt called into this work as a ministry and I still feel that way, but lately I have been wondering if I am providing the spiritual leadership that God expects of me. It is very difficult to get that type of confirmation because you can’t go up to people and ask “Hey, is this campaign having a spiritual impact on your life?” So, I doubt myself sometimes. The past few weeks have been one of those seasons where I have begun to doubt myself and my work; especially in the area of spiritual leadership.
I am working with a church in the Atlanta area and I was with them this past Sunday for our final Steering Team meeting. Every team has its own personality and this one’s personality has been difficult for me to read and know if we are making the type of progress I hope for. They have been doing things well and I anticipate a financial victory for them on Commitment Sunday. However, I have really been wondering if we would have the same type of spiritual victory on Commitment Sunday.
As I typically do in Steering Team meetings I asked them on Sunday “What has the conversation been like in your house regarding your family’s financial commitment to the campaign?” Early on in the campaign process the answers (if any) are usually pretty brief and superficial because the people have not really had a lot of discussion about the commitment. The question is designed to get them thinking as leaders of the campaign. As time progresses and we get closer to Commitment Sunday the answers can often times be motivating to others in the room and to me. This is what I was hoping for at this particular meeting. Selfishly I really needed some confirmation that the Holy Spirit was working in the lives of these leaders. I got what I was hoping for.
Laura (as we will call her) has been working on the print communication side of things and as a graphic designer who works at a print shop she has been able to save the church thousands of dollars during the campaign. Pretty cool stuff. Laura began to answer my question and it became apparent that God has been moving in her house.
Laura’s husband doesn’t go to church. He has also been a little frustrated/jealous due to the amount of time Laura has been giving to the print portion of the campaign. He recently asked her about her commitment to the campaign. She told him that it looked like her time and gifts of service would be her only commitment as she did not have any extra money at the end of the month to give on top of what she gives in her tithes and offerings.
Laura and her husband divide up the bills and pay them with each of their incomes (this is more common than I ever knew). She admitted to us in the meeting that he is a better money manager than her so all of her paycheck is tied up in bills because if she has any excess money to spend she will do just that. They have worked it out between them to try and manage the money they have the best way they can.
Later in their conversation Laura’s husband said “Why don’t I take on a couple of the bills you normally pay so some money will be freed up if you want to give it to the campaign.” Hello?
There was the affirmation I so desperately needed to hear! A husband’s heart was softened by the Holy Spirit through his wife’s involvement in a capital campaign. It will be exciting to see how God will continue to move in Laura’s husband’s heart as the days go by.
If Laura’s story is any indicator of what is going on in the hearts and minds of the other families at this church then there will be a spiritual revival on Commitment Sunday. Halellujah!
Thank you God for answering my prayers so clearly.
What a baboon taught me about stewardship
I am in the middle of campaigns with a few churches this spring. They are all entering the ‘public phase’ where the entire congregation becomes aware of the project and the commitment conversation begins.
I provide resources for the pastors and leaders to help them teach the subject of generosity to their people. One resource I provide is a piece written by my colleague Don Linscott. Don is one of the founders of Generis and his writing and communication skills are superb. I thought I would allow you to read this wonderful story about generosity from Don. Enjoy!
What a Baboon Taught Me About Stewardship
by Don Linscott
A television documentary on animal life in Africa was demonstrating how the natives of Africa have learned to find water during the dry season. A native would first locate a colony of baboons. Sure that the baboons were watching, the African dug a small hole in a dirt embankment. He then placed a handful of fruit inside. Baboons, it seems, are incurably curious, so as soon as the native returned into the jungle, one baboon quickly approached the hole. Seeing the fruit inside, the baboon stuck his hand in the hole and grasped the tasty morsel. The African hunter had skillfully carved the hole just large enough to allow the animal’s hand to enter but, when clasped around the fruit, the hand could not be withdrawn.
The native then returned from the concealment of the forest with a small rope in his hands. Amazingly, as the man approached, the baboon shrieked in terror, but refused to release the fruit and run for its life. I found myself moving to the edge of my chair as this drama intensified. I wanted to shout to the baboon, “Let go and run for your life!” But, alas, the native casually strolled up to the panic-stricken animal, laid the noose over the animal’s neck, and pulled him away. The animal was then tied to a tree, given salt, and held captive for a couple of days without water. As soon as it was released, the baboon made a bee line for its secret waterhole. The native simply followed the thirst-driven animal and found the water he would never have found without the animal’s unwitting assistance.
As I watched this drama unfold, I was impressed with the hunter’s wisdom, humored by the comical simplicity of it, but mortified to see myself in the story. I thought, “This is not a story about a baboon and water; this is a story about me and the foolishness of my own behavior!” How often have I, as the rational and intelligent being that God made me to be, performed precisely the same behavior as the baboon? Adam and Eve lost the garden for one bite. Esau sold his birthright for one meal. Samson traded his special gift of strength for a woman.
How easily have I been overcome with the enticement of a fist full of fruit! What a price tag is attached to selfish attitudes and action.
In the long run, a lifestyle of “getting” and “grabbing” is exceedingly more costly than a life of “giving.” I had wanted to warn the baboon, “Let go!” and yet, how often have I, myself, failed to accept the same advice?
Bogged down in information overload?
I try to read as much as I can. I get frustrated though because I have about 3 books going constantly that I never seem to get to. I feel like I don’t get to read much anymore.
I made that comment to someone the other day and he said “Dude, you read all the time! Think about the emails, the blog posts, the online newspapers, twitter, facebook, e-books, etc.” I realized he was right.
I have tried to maximize my time by setting up Google Reader with all of my favorite blogs that I like to read. The problem is I never log into Google Reader. I am too BUSY! I have thought more than once that I would love to have someone summarize all of the electronic information that pertains to my field and then send it to me. Guess what? My wish has been granted.
My friends Matt Steen of churchthought.com and Todd Rhoades of Leadership Network have teamed up to provide Ministry Briefing.
Ministry Briefing is a concise look at what happened in ministry over the past month: The good, the bad, and the ugly. We share cultural trends, news events, and great things that are happening in churches all over the world… (all the things that you should know, but don’t have time to read up on). And we’ll give you all you need to know about each story in one short paragraph. If you want go more in-depth, each story has a link to a full-length article.
Check out them out on the web for a free Download Sampler to view some of their work. You’ll be glad you did.
If you are just joining the conversation today I am trying to help churches go through the steps to ensure that this year’s Easter offering is special and larger than ever. Sounds like a great idea huh? Here’s the catch though; we are then going to give the entire offering away.
You probably will want to start at the beginning of the series so this post will make more sense. Start here.
Here’s where we are in the process:
- You’ve made the decision to go down the road of giving the Easter offering away.
- You’ve chosen the ministry that will be the recipient of the offering.
- You have passionate buy in from the senior leader and the leadership team of the church. (including the finance team)
- You have your first written piece printed and you are ready to tell your leaders. We want the leaders to know what is going on first before we tell the entire congregation.
- You have publicized the Easter offering BIG Giveaway to the congregation in worship (after you have told the leaders in writing)
Now what?
We have to keep communicating.
- Regardless of what Sunday you choose to make the initial announcement you will need to mention the BIG Giveaway in every worship service until the Easter service.
- We can’t let a Sunday go by where we do not mention the BIG Giveaway.
- You can be light with it
- Serious about it
- Make an oral announcement
- Have a video announcement
- Invite a representative from the organization who will be receiving the offering to come and speak
- Put it in the bulletin/worship piece
- Have live testimonies from people in your congregation who have been affected by the ministry (volunteer or recipient)
- You get the picture right? You can’t let up but you can’t be obnoxious either. There will be many people on every Sunday who have no idea what you are talking about so you have to keep introducing the concept and the ministry to receive the offering.
- However, you have many in the congregation who are there EVERY Sunday and they will grow tired of the constant communication if you are not creative.
- Remember that the people who are there EVERY Sunday will probably be the ones who give the most money to the offering. SO BE CREATIVE!!!!!!!
- Mix up the speakers who talk from the pulpit/stage about the offering. Please don’t let it be the same person every week. Please make sure the person is excited about the offering!
- We can’t let a Sunday go by where we do not mention the BIG Giveaway.
Every week when you make the announcement you have to tell the people that we are making a conscious decision to do 52 weeks’ worth of ministry on 51 weeks’ worth of giving.
There is more to come on how to communicate the offering. Stay tuned.
Is this the way you normally communicate big initiatives? I’d love to hear ideas about communicating. Start a conversation below on communication ideas.
Easter offering 2013 – The BIG give away
If you are just joining the conversation today I am trying to help churches go through the steps to ensure that this year’s Easter offering will be special and larger than ever. Sounds like a great idea huh? (If you want to start from the beginning look over to the right at the Recent Posts and you can get started.)
Here’s the catch; we are then going to give the entire offering away. (If you are on a church finance team you probably just passed out. Hopefully you will keep reading when you regain consciousness.)
Here’s where we are in the process:
- You’ve made the decision to go down the road of giving the Easter offering away.
- You’ve chosen the ministry that will be the recipient of the offering.
- You have passionate buy in from the senior leader and the leadership team of the church. (including the finance team)
Now what?
It is time to roll out the communication plan.
- Step 1. Prepare a written explanation of what we are doing and why we are doing it. Distribute this document (preferably a nice printed piece/not just a letter) to the leaders of your church; elders, deacons, committee chairs, committee members, Sunday school teachers, small group leaders, choir members, praise band members, children’s volunteers, youth volunteers, parking lot volunteers, coffee shop volunteers, etc.
- Give your leaders a little ‘inside scoop’ so they can begin being ambassadors for the Big Easter Give Away.
- Ash Wednesday is the perfect launch date for the Big Easter Give Away. February 13 is Ash Wednesday which signifies the beginning of Lent.
- Send by mail on Monday, February 11 and by email on February 13.
- Remember: just send it to the leaders.
- Step 2. Sunday, February 17.
- Have the written document available in the bulletin or worship guide.
- Make an announcement in worship prior to the offering being received. Don’t miss the timing of the announcement. The senior leader needs to make the announcement just prior to the offering time. Discuss the Big Easter Give Away and explain that we will be giving the entire offering away to “ABC ministry”. 2013’s budget will be built on 51 weeks’ worth of offerings. RESIST the temptation to ask people to increase their giving over the next few weeks to make up for the operational dollars we will miss from the Easter offering that we are giving away. This type of thinking is from a scarcity mindset and not an abundance mindset.
- Be sure that you include language about the Big Easter Give Away in the zip code mailer you will be doing to invite people to attend on Easter Sunday. (You will be doing a zip code mailer right?)
- Give them something to think about when you send that mailer. Liven it up. Create a sense that something will happen beyond the wonderfulness of the Easter service.
Ok, there are your first steps.
You in?
Let’s get started.
More to come.
THE question; “Is it worth it?”
This year’s Easter offering is going to be different for many churches because they are going to do what I am suggesting; Give the ENTIRE offering away!
Read my previous posts on this for context and to make sure that I am not crazy. January 29 post. January 30 post.
So as the senior leader of the church or a lay leader of the church you think this is a good idea and you want to do it. What are the next steps?
Brainstorm about where you would like to see the offering go.
- What ministry would benefit from the offering the most?
- Should it be a local ministry?
- Should it be a ministry in our church?
- Should it be a nationally recognized organization?
Here’s a check list you should utilize when determining where the offering should go. Make sure:
- You choose ONE ministry. The temptation will be to spread the money around to various ministries to avoid conflict in the congregation and hurting feelings. If you are worried about conflict and hurting feelings then please do not try to do this offering. You have bigger fish to fry.
- The ministry’s mission is easy to explain and understand. The less moving parts the better.
- The ministry will affect lives of people outside the walls of your church. People visiting your church will not want to give to something that is going to benefit the people who are members of the church. (That’s the main reason they don’t want to give in the first place.)
- The ministry’s mission has broad appeal. For example; children’s ministries appeal to people from all generations as do ministries that help build fresh water wells around the globe.
- The ministry you choose lines up with your church’s vision and mission statement. Stay on point.
- The ministry is not controversial. I completely embrace the idea of getting our people out of their comfort zones. However, this is not the time or the place.
Once you have a ministry in mind (not a final decision) you have to tell the leadership about the idea. If you are the senior leader you have to get buy in from your leadership team. If you are a lay leader you have to talk to the senior leader first to get buy in and then present the idea to the leadership team. (This is going to work best if the senior leader is excited about it and is willing to promote it.)
The million dollar question (pun intended) is “How do I get the leadership team to agree to give one weeks’ offering away when we did not budget for this?” How can we operate the church on 51 weeks’ worth of offerings when we budgeted for 52 weeks?
This is the crux of this giving opportunity. This is where leaders can actually live out the words of ‘we have to have faith that God will provide.’ This is where the proverbial ‘rubber meets the road.’
As a leader you have to be able to answer the question “Why do this in the first place?” with conviction and ease. I would respond by saying:
Easter is the Sunday we have the highest attendance. We know that many who come will probably not ever come back; or at least on a regular basis. For many in the congregation on Easter Sunday we have one shot to show them who we are and why we exist. ‘We are faithful followers of Christ and our mission is to spread the Gospel and show people the love of God through our words AND actions.’ It takes money to do ministry so let’s not apologize for talking about money on Easter Sunday. In fact let’s embrace the opportunity to invite everyone on Easter Sunday to make an investment in the Kingdom through this offering. Why should we apologize for receiving money that will directly impact lives and show the recipients that people do care and God cares about them?
Back to the 52 week budget on 51 weeks’ worth of giving. Your church is like most families in the church. You have enough to do what God is calling you to do. When times get tough or our financial situation changes we make decisions that allow the money we have to be enough to do what we need to do. All of the leaders will have to be better stewards than they already are.
THE question is not can we do it, but is it worth it?
“God is looking for people through whom He can do the impossible…what a pity we plan only things we can do by ourselves.” A. W. Tozer
Easter offering 2013 – It has to be different
Attendance on Easter is typically the highest of any Sunday for most churches.
The offering on Easter Sunday is either the same or lower than any other Sunday for most churches.
On paper this does not make sense. If we have more people in worship we should have more people giving, right?
Why doesn’t it typically play out that way?
My thoughts are:
- Leaders do not understand why so many people attend on Easter and do not come any other time during the year. The short answer is they come out of a sense of obligation and duty. Most are not seeking life change or a long lasting relationship with your church. I know this is harsh but I have found this to be true.
- You have a lot of out of town guests who attend church elsewhere and they give to their church; not to your church.
- Leaders know Easter is a great evangelism opportunity and we want to make a great impression. So we intentionally choose not to talk about giving in fear of scaring the visitors off. Often times the offering on Easter is down played even more than normal. Some churches will even go so far as to not have a giving opportunity during the Easter service in fear of scaring people off.
- Leaders do not understand what motivates an “Easter/Christmas” attendee to give. Most who come on Easter and Christmas want to give, but not for the same reasons the ‘regulars’ do. (Well, actually they do. All people want to give to life change. No one wants to give to the power bill or the staff salaries.)
So, what should we do?
Let’s do something different this year.
Let’s do something bold.
Let’s do something that will make your finance team respond with “We are going to do WHAT with the Easter offering?”
Let’s do something that will make your ‘regulars’ respond with “I’m not sure about this.”
Let’s do something that will make an immediate and eternal impact.
Let’s do something that will inspire your Easter attendees and out of town guests (and your ‘regulars’) to give and give generously.
Let’s do something that will send a message to your Easter attendees and out of town guests (and your ‘regulars’) that our church is different and we are making a difference.
Let’s do something that will be radical and will be pleasing in the eyes of God.
Let’s give the ENTIRE offering away! Yep, the entire offering.
You in?
Talk to you tomorrow.
