Over the months of preparation and execution of a church capital campaign, there are many things churches do to hinder the spiritual and financial results of their campaigns. This list is not exhaustive, as churches can be very creative in sidestepping best practices, but presented here for your edification is a list of 40 common ways to hinder your church’s capital campaign.
Asking for too little
Asking for too much
Asking the wrong questions or the wrong people
Assuming going cheap is good stewardship
Assuming social media alone can raise significant revenue for your organization
Assuming that your organization deserves support just because you are doing good things
Assuming you communicate with all age demographics the same way
Assuming you know what your donors think, what they want, or what they believe is important
Avoiding preaching and teaching clearly, compellingly, and unapologetically on stewardship
Believing your members truly understand biblical stewardship
Focusing on the goals of the church instead of the benefits to your donors
Converting all direct mail communications to digital or social media
Expecting your committee to effectively lead the church without formal training or support
Failing to prioritize the campaign from the standpoint of your time, effort, and focus
Focusing too much on the tactical process and not enough on goals & outcomes
Having a poorly designed or nonexistent web page for donations
Having a poorly developed case for support
Including too few facts and figures in making the case for support
Including too many facts and figures and not enough emotion to sell your vision and mission
Ineffective use of personal testimonies
Making campaign decisions based on feelings instead of objective information
Making the capital campaign about money rather than ministry
Not being serious about your website and overall digital communication strategy
Not having a strategic plan that spans pre-campaign preparation through post-campaign follow-up
Not investing in staff training and development on stewardship
Not tracking the proper metrics
Not paying attention to long-term planned giving opportunities
Not praying effectually about the campaign
Not pursuing major donors strategically
Not seeking outside professional counsel or ignoring that counsel
Not talking one-on-one to your members frequently enough
Not using personalization in your written communications
Mentally prioritizing financial results over spiritual results
Refusing to use a proven fundraising tactic because you don’t personally like it
Running the campaign at the wrong time
Rushing the campaign and not giving adequate time to prepare tactically or spiritually
Thinking you have communicated often enough and well enough
Our church capital campaign services help you avoid these and other stumbling blocks to a spiritually and financially successful capital campaign. If you would like a complimentary copy of our report on the 10 quality factors that distinguish successful church capital campaigns from the other kind, please use the contact form to request your free copy.