I’ve heard it a billion times in local churches: everyone wants to give to a capital campaign or to a special project and no one wants to give to the operating campaign.
In that boat? Then cancel the operating campaign and replace it with a capital campaign.
There you go, problem solved.
Well, except for that whole paying the bills thing, but we’ll get to that.
People prefer giving to capital campaign or other special efforts because of the way we do them. Capital campaigns are typically packed full of vision for the future. We get blueprints, artist renderings, the chance to dream about the future with plenty of seats, classrooms, parking spaces or life without leaky rooves, crumbling concrete or debt.
A committee is assembled and get them to buy into the vision. We have informational meetings, Q&A sessions, we make personal calls on those we hope will be large donors. The message is clear, if we are going to move ahead, it can only happen with your financial support.
And the people write checks. Big checks. They transfer stock. The peasants rejoice, all is good.
So much better than the same old stale stew campaign.
So why not build a stew campaign that looks like a capital campaign? What if you took all of the elements above and translated them to your annual fund?
OK, you won’t get blueprints, but you can get a vision for the future. Talk about the lives you want to change, the vision for the ministries.
Get folks excited, answer their questions, get some buy in. And here’s the most important part: The message is clear, if we are going to move ahead, it can only happen with your financial support.
If your members are telling you they’re tired of the same ol, same ol, give them a different approach. Who knows, it just might work.
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