Capital Campaign Testimonials

Value We Have seen: Bang for our buck: I talked to consultants in the $100,000 range. Honestly, that is still worth it given the outcome, but Rod’s fee is extremely reasonable and the return on investment will be astounding. His fee is many times LESS than what I saw to be the industry standard. In our case, our initial one-time offering to kick off this campaign was over TEN TIMES the fee we had paid Rod. And that’s NOT counting the 3-year commitments which will make his fee look like a gratuity. Spiritual Progress: This campaign has challenged our people to be all-in for Christ NOT just in giving, but in their marriages, family, workplaces, and evangelistic opportunities. In fact, we have baptized 16 new believers during this campaign. Sin Exposure: We have also seen a couple of families really expose that they think more of their opinion than they do of truly listening to a logical argument from Scripture. This has produced some good conversations and even repentance in multiple areas of life. A general excitement and joy: Everyone, young and old, has had a renewed vigor about Christ and His church. Our children’s ministry and youth ministry decided to do a coin drive CONTEST during my giving preaching series and have raised several thousand dollars in change (plus the odd 20-dollar-bill thrown in by parents who want their side to win ;-)). A sense of urgency to expose our community to the gospel: The seeker-friendly ecclesiology we both cringe at tries to attract the unbeliever into some sort of false fellowship with the church without conversion to Christ. But one thing we can learn from them is that a community that doesn’t know you exist is not going to be impacted with the true biblical gospel. We have seen a heightened awareness of the need to preach Christ by having our community know we are here and come to church to hear the gospel. Increased General Fund giving: Another one of Rod’s predictions that came true is that we’ve seen an uptick in general fund giving as well. Because as people evaluate their entire lives and finances to contribute to the building fund, they naturally evaluate everything at once. One of our elders just said last night, “Our church has stepped up its game in regular giving.” And yes–a PHENOMENAL result in our financial results: Our initial commitment was $157,378—much more than we had projected. There was a lot of weeping and joyful laughter amongst the elders when we learned this. On Commitment Sunday we received 3-year commitments of $939,040. These combined for a grand total of $1,096,418—over a million dollars. This is more than 2 times our annual giving of $525,829. Steve Swartz, Senior Pastor Grace Bible Church Bakersfield, CA

As you can likely infer at this point, we did hire Dr. Rod Rogers. And, to quote a reference of his that I called during the vetting process, “I wasn’t impressed by Rod’s work….I was blown away.” What first caught my attention during our interview with Rod Rogers was not his answers, but his questions. While we interviewed a number of strong candidates, if our experience was any indication, the capital development field has a much higher population of talkers than listeners. I would describe our interviews with him more as “conversations,” rather than the question/answer, question/answer format that these meetings often take. In fact, I asked Rod directly at one point, “When you are speaking in front of a congregation or a group of potential donors, how would you describe your tone?” His answer was essentially, “Conversational, just as we are talking right now.” Three weeks later, when he spoke in front of our congregation for the first time, his conversational tone, not to mention his dry wit, went over beautifully. Despite the image that many people have of Baptist churches, ours is quite the opposite, and any shouting, or manic calls for an immediate commitment, would have spurred a stampede for the exits. In fact, during the business meeting when we voted on the funding to hire Rod, one of the members said straight-out that he wanted assurance that there would be no home visits or high-pressure tactics. Coincidentally or not, after hearing Rod’s first talk, the same member who had expressed this concern was one of the first to invite Rod into his home to discuss the campaign further. Rod used a phrase called “relational giving,” to describe his philosophy. In short, it means that while some people would indeed give out of obligation or social pressure, the long-term givers with the most generous gifts are usually those who feel most personally invested in the program. By the time we kicked off the campaign, more than 75 percent of the adult membership had volunteered for at least one committee, a higher participation rate than we have ever experienced for anything. One concern we did have was that fundraising for the building fund might “cannibalize” the weekly collection, which funds our operating expenses. Rod shared that, in his experience, the regular donations actually increase during a well-coordinated capital campaign because so many more people feel invested in the organization. Six months later, that is exactly what we have experienced. Inevitably with a search process like this one, several strong candidates emerge, and then it becomes a matter of personality and the most comfortable fit. While I wouldn’t presume to tell another church or organization who or what would be the best fit for them, I can say unequivocally that I was confident in Rod Rogers’ abilities when I signed the recommendation to hire him, and that confidence only grew exponentially as we worked together. Sincerely, Christopher P. Nicholson Capital Campaign Committee Mt. Hope Baptist Church Sterling, VA

The Weed Berean Church was blessed by the Lord with wonderful results in our church capital campaign. We exceeded our campaign goals and the results would not have been possible without the guidance from Steve Anderson. Throughout all phases of the campaign, Steve provided critical and tactful input and encouragement. Answers to questions were given in a very timely and thorough manner. His guidance and advice were given in a manner that helped hold us accountable and done with much encouragement. In addition, Steve’s input was always insightful and, most importantly, grounded in the Word. Surprisingly, the capital campaign attracted new members as visitors were attracted to a church that was growing and doing things. How the campaign was handled was an attraction, the campaign was so grounded in the Word it did not offend visitors, but encouraged them to join our church. Having never done a Capital Campaign before it was critical to have professional consultation in order to conduct a successful campaign. Steve provided the consultation we very much needed, and as stated above, the results would not have been possible without him. We praise the Lord for how He blessed the campaign and how He is helping us grow in many areas, but especially about worshiping Him through our giving to His work. Michael Deross, Capital Campaign Chair – January 2013 *UPDATE* The church shared with me a reference they provided another church. I very much recommend Steve to you. He worked very closely with me and our team on each step of our campaign – planning, Kickoff Event, preaching, teaching, publicity, follow-up, etc. He was instrumental with helping to put together a timeline that fit our timeframe, and which included all of the phases. He also was a tremendous help to me to ensure I knew my role and could help our team stay on schedule. He continues to stay in touch with me, reminding us of the monthly/quarterly reports that need to be communicated to our church. The only thing I would change is to be ensure there is enough time for planning prior to the Kickoff Event, and to get your team on board prior to the planning phase beginning. That was our issue, not Steve’s. We would definitely want Steve to help us with future campaign.

“Through his expert guidance and strictly following the timeline he gave us, we saw God move through our congregation in an unprecedented way. Multiple families who had never embraced the principle of tithing made a commitment of obedience to God and even went beyond that to pledge their offerings toward our new building. He provided insight we would have overlooked. He redirected us from present paths that were unwise. He supports the sufficiency of Scripture and honoring King Jesus above all else. He was a tremendous blessing for us. Steve came in and equipped us with training, materials, timelines, and most of all encouragement. He helped us strategize and conform the campaign to fit our church’s culture while constantly encouraging us to press to toward the mark and have faith in God and the process. Without hesitation I highly recommend this man of God to any church considering a stewardship campaign.” Bob Thomas, Senior Pastor, Church of the Harvest

“When we began our second capital campaign we new that we needed help, but were looking for an affordable solution. Steve Anderson and AMI were the answer to our need and became an invaluable resource. The time Steve spent with us onsite at the beginning of the campaign allowed him to really get to know us and to offer solutions that were unique to our situation. His depth of insight added tremendous value to our church even though we had been through a capital campaign before. I would highly recommend Steve to any church looking for guidance regarding any of their stewardship needs.” Eric Sanzone, Community Pastor, Grace Bible Church, Virginia Beach VA

“Steve Anderson was incredible as a representative of CDS. As [I was] a reluctant [volunteer] Capital Campaign Director, Steve gave me more help, assistance and direction than I ever thought was necessary. His leadership skills were proof of his incredible knowledge base, which helped Riverside excel at a faster pace than we thought was possible. His ability to critically review, systematically organize, and logically implement and guide was simply extraordinary. This was a truly biblical approach to fundraising, which made it enjoyable, yet challenging. The most impressive and in my opinion the most critically imperative component of Steve’s guidance, was to honor and bring God glory during the process. Because of his guidance, I believe Riverside grew spiritually and was able to overcome a myriad of obstacles while uniting the church as the body of Christ. I look forward to our continued journey over the next three years and I treasure the opportunity which was afforded me to befriend a brother in Christ. I will recommend Abundant Giving without reservation or hesitation to any organization who desires intellectual honesty, Christlike integrity and character, exponential spiritual growth and guidance while working toward a financial goal.” Johan Adendorf, Campaign Chair, Riverside Church of Christ, Layfeytte, LA

I am a pastor at a church in central CT of around five hundred people and in 2021, we knew that God was calling us to begin to build a new facility to reach more people in our local area. We contacted Rod Rogers at Abundant Giving and he began to work with us without delay on what we would need to successfully launch and manage our capital campaign. From our first interaction, to the launch of the campaign, to the start of pledges coming in, it has been an absolute joy to work with Rod and Stephen, who do things with excellence and attention to detail. What has been invaluable is the outline that Rod has developed for running and executing the campaign from the prep to the follow-up. We were able to move through each week of preparation with relative ease because the deliverables for each week were listed and indicated so clearly. Our campaign team was able to communicate with Rod as often as needed in order to make sure that we were set up for success. The online resources that we were given access to allowed us to take on this monumental task with confidence and guide the congregation through each step with ease. The quality of the resources and sample letters and studies were immensely helpful and faith-building for the leadership as well as the rest of the church. When all was said and done, 300+ families made 3-year commitments of $2.8M and we received almost $200K in the initial sacrificial offering on Commitment Sunday. The entire experience was excellent. I would highly recommend Rod and Stephen Rogers and Abundant Giving for your next capital campaign Peter Leal, Jr. Associate Pastor, Victory Church Middlefield, CT

Our Campaign Produced an Abundance We are very pleased with the campaign. From my perspective as Sr. Pastor, the manual [now online] was most helpful because it laid out a very simple easy-to-follow path that produced results. From our Campaign Director’s perspective, our consultant, Rod Rogers, was the most helpful because he was able to answer questions, bring clarity, and provide just enough accountability to keep things moving in the right direction. It is hard to see anything that could be improved upon; it produced more than what we needed and went very smoothly. Jason Meechan Senior Pastor Kona Faith Center Kealakekua, Hawaii 808-323-3788 PastorJason@hawaii.rr.com

“If God is leading your church to expand, then this program is what you need to accomplish that God-size task. Why? Because the campaign material starts where all great accomplishments for God starts…PRAYER! Prayer is woven throughout the whole campaign. I cannot tell you what a difference it made in our campaign team and our church family, as we cried out together for God’s help. We had many, many praises of what God did for us! The Campaign provided us with weekly task lists that kept our team focused, and of course Steve Anderson made sure we got it done! He worked with our Pastor and each of us each step of the way. Our capital campaign sacrificial gift offering exceeded our goal! It was a great experience working with him and we give him our highest recommendation. Louann Mazon, Campaign co-chair, Gassaway Baptist Church, Gassaway WV

“I am writing today to offer my strongest recommendation and endorsement of Stephen Anderson and AMI Church Consulting Services. Stephen has been extremely beneficial in helping Raleigh Road Baptist Church conduct our most recent campaign. Over the past 23 years, Raleigh Road Baptist Church has engaged in 8 previous campaigns. This one, however, was significantly different. We entered this campaign with the daunting task of raising funds for debt reduction. Stephen’s presentation to us in July 2009 convinced us that he was the one who understood the purpose of what we were trying to accomplish. He did not present himself as our “hire,” but as a genuine partner in helping us accomplish our goals. Stephen provided excellent resources and tailored the campaign to fit our needs. On the rare occasions his recommendations were not taken, he quickly deferred to the church leadership and emphasized that his job was to help us make the best decisions for our situation. In light of the many campaigns Raleigh Road Baptist Church has conducted, it is high praise indeed that THIS campaign is considered by many of our long time members to be the best campaign to date. I am pleased to give Stephen Anderson and AMI Church Consulting Services my strongest recommendation. ” Pastor Rob Pochek, Raleigh Road Baptist Church, Wilson, NC

“As a fellowship that had never undertaken a capital campaign, I think we all had reservations that such a thing would be a pressure, not a pleasure! Working with Steve Anderson of AMI Church Consulting Services turned out to be a wonderful, and blessed, surprise. Steve was patient, organized, guiding without being controlling, and always “on call.” He also kept the focus on this as part of our walk with God, showing us how a capital campaign was more than a program, it was one way God works out His purpose in His people. As a result we not only had a marvelously successful campaign, but we also grew both individually and corporately. I can heartily recommend Steve both professionally and personally. A year later he continues to be both a mentor and a brother. We are grateful to God for bringing Steve and AMI to our fellowship!” Pastor Wayne McDonald, Metrocrest Community Church, Coppel TX 2011 Update A couple years back you led us through our first-ever capital campaign. May/June of 2012 will be the end of that, and our plans have taken quite the turn. First, our current pledges are running at nearly 100 percent in follow-through. That has built a cash reserve that we thought was going to be applied to our first building project. In God’s providence, this July a local area church contacted us. For a variety of reasons, they have chosen to close. They asked if we were interested in their existing facility! Long story short, we are acquiring an existing church for half what it was going to cost to build our own! And because of the good work you led us through, and the continuing faithfulness of God’s people, the funds were available to make this happen! Thank you for being such a huge contributor to God’s work in our midst. Without your leadership and counsel we would not have been in this position. God has used you to bless us, and we pray His blessings upon you! Well done !

“Steve Anderson has been a huge help to our building campaign that has been ongoing for several years. We have now broken ground on a 44,000 sq. foot building for our church family and to reach the lost of our community. We now have most of the steel up at this time. We will have a 1,200 seat auditorium, an administrative building, many Sunday school classes, and rooms for our school and small college. We also have a new full size high school gymnasium. Steve has given valuable advice on our capital stewardship campaign. We hired him as a consultant for our campaign and he was very helpful. Steve has also given us valuable advice in choosing an architect, building design, actual lending and much more. I believe Steve has a heart for helping churches. With his big heart and his vast experience, I believe you will greatly benefit to get him involved in your building process. Also, Steve’s book, Preparing to Build, is a great resource for anybody preparing to build. Whether you are in the early, middle, or late stages of your building program, I believe reading his book would be a very big help.” Pastor Joe Esposito, Pacific Coast Baptist, Long Beach, CA