Raising money is going to cost you…

Time….it takes time to share your story and you never get the luxury of only sharing it only once and only through one medium.

Energy…it takes energy to discover what God is calling your church to do or become.

Effort…it takes effort to develop a strategy and define actionable items that create results.

People…it takes people encouraging others to get involved and there will always be someone who will leave your church using money as an excuse for his or her departure.

Money…it takes money to raise money and you might need to look outside your staff for guidance along the way.

Of course, the ability to fully fund your church and facilitate eternal life change and spiritual formation should be worth whatever it costs you along the way.

But if the cost just seems too high and appears to involve too much work, don’t do anything different. Nothing bad will happen immediately. Over time you will help direct money and people to other churches who are willing to incur the cost in exchange for seeing the evidence of life change.

Raising money will ALWAYS cost you something!

1. 5 technology mistakes churches make and how you can fix them

2. Executive Pastor Mike Bonem on organizational theory and church funding

3. Is your church brave enough to be this generous?

4. How to talk about money in church

5. How does your church’s budget presentation compare?

6. My notes from Xpastor event with Brad Leeper from GENERIS

7. Build Community, Fund Ministry series in review

Last but not least…my e-book Push the limits of Church Funding…is quickly approaching 1,500 downloads/reads. Really excited to hear about the ways this piece has inspired church leaders with new ideas and creative thinking when it comes to generating ministry funding.

Out of curiousity: What topic would you like me to cover in my next e-book?

Here is what is great about this video:

1. It’s not professional looking. I don’t mean to imply that the Executive Director doesn’t present herself or her organization as legitimate. I often hear the excuse: “I can’t afford a professional video.” Go get Flip Video’s HD camera and begin telling your story and the story of those impacted by your ministry…TODAY. Don’t wait until you can “afford” to have a professional videographer. Truly, you can’t “afford” to wait.

2. It’s very specific. Listen to the growth in supplies, teachers, and number of professional learning programs that the Executive Director lists. She didn’t say: “Thanks for your faithful giving. We were able to do a lot of cool stuff.” Quantify the impact of the ministry investment made with the capital from the person in the pew. Don’t expect them to connect the dots.

3. It’s personal. She talks about teaching those involved in this ministry the value of eating together and celebrating the season. (Obviously, this video came out during the holiday season.) What the Executive Director did was connect with what many people associate with about the holiday season: eating and celebrating around large tables with family and friends and celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Orphans don’t have this “built in” advantage because there is no extended family to celebrate with. The Harbor creates community and family and an opportunity for the children to hear the Gospel.

Here is the BIG question: How does this video compare to your church’s budget presentation?In other words, if you were to lay the two side by side, which one would the people who sit in your pews fund? (Hint: They are being asked to make this decision almost every day.)

The person is the pew has a choice and holds the power to fund your church, The Harbor, or more than 1.2 Million other NPOs. What is your church doing to ensure the resources God intended to fund your ministry budget ends up in the offering plates of your church?

It’s “game on” time. Are you ready?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niIj2COGzz8]

This six part series represents a desire to quantify the assimilation and cultivation process within churches using whatever management system the church currently has in place to measure the behavior and actions of people.What people “say” matters little in comparison to what they “do.” It’s our job as church leaders to facilitate a series of spiritually transformative experiences that help them connect, grow, give, and serve.

Are you taking advantage of technology to improve, inform, and measure your church’s disciple-making process? If not, why? If you don’t, someone else will and chances are it will be an organization OTHER THAN the church. (It’s sad to think that those who lead organizations outside the church are more strategic about reaching our members than we are.)

I hope this series has challenged your thinking about the use of technology in your church and will lead to changes in your strategy to develop the time, talent, and treasure God intended to fund the Kingdom impact he has called your church to accomplish.

Listen or download the entire series.

Podcasts in this series:

1. Lifecycle of church membership

2. Connection creates community

3. Community facilitates interaction

4. Interaction leads to engagement

5. Engagement fosters commitment

6. Commitment precedes funding

Yep. It’s unavoidable. Sorry. (Don’t like it. GO FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO DO!)

If we have to talk about money…and you do…

(go on..practice saying “it”…that’s right…m-o-n-e-y…it’s really not that scary…really)

then we better make sure we get a few things right.

I like what Jeff Brooks had to say in What it takes to be a fundraising writer.

Let me rewrite his ideas in the context of church. When you talk about money, remember these three things:

• Talk about money from the perspective of the person in the PEW, not the person in the PULPIT.
  
• Forget about what YOU need. It’s not about you. It never was. It never will be.
• Get over your inhibitions related to money and acknowledge they are YOUR problem.

Start talking about money. We have Kingdom impact to fund!

To help, I have Lauren Hunter with ChurchTechToday.com, Steve Caton with Church Community Builder, and Tom Roepke a really innovative church leader who has experience in institutional fund development and currently serves in a local church setting. This is a six part series. Each Monday, I’ll post a new podcast capturing our discussion. I will also post a brief outline so that you can quickly preview what will be discussed.

I hope you are as blessed by this series as much as the four of us were in the process of creating it.

Here is the outline of our FINAL conversation:

Focus: Church funding begins with capturing the heart of an individual, not the dollar. Anyone can get a few dollars for just about anything. When we are talking about cultivating generosity, the soil in which this behavior grows is that of commitment. Without an emotional connection and an expressed commitment, sustainable, sacrificial giving doesn’t happen.

Key ideas:

1. Multiple giving options make it easy for people to give.

2. Communication of impact leads to more frequent and larger gifts.

3. Managing giving patterns could reveal a ministry opportunity.

4. Fully assimilated members tend to serve in leadership, be consistent givers, consistently participate in activities and events, and carry an overall positive and satisfied story into the community.

Listen or download the final podcast of this series.

Previous podcasts in this series:

1. Lifecycle of church membership

2. Connection creates community

3. Community facilitates interaction

4. Interaction leads to engagement

5. Engagement fosters commitment

Bill Seaver has been encouraging me to test this platform and see if it would be an effective way to communicate with my readers. His advice has proven to be invaluable to me in the past, so I thought I’d give it a try.

I took some existing content and assembled into a book format. Then, I contracted with a local Web designer who I’ve worked with for years and loaded it on Issuu.com and Box.net. That was Monday afternoon, March 22.

What happened next was nothing short of a miracle.

By the time I got up Tuesday morning at 4 a.m., I already had nearly 100 alerts in my inbox. Thinking someone had hacked my account and sent out a crazy direct message about how much money I made selling tissue paper (or something) on Google, I rushed to open my laptop and see what had happened.

I realized that Ed Stetzer had endorsed the e-book about 12:30 a.m that morning. By 4:10 a.m., more than 200 people had already read or downloaded the e-book. Then, Ron Edmondson published an interview with me later that morning. Those two posts along with a series of Tweets and Facebook updates from countless other church leaders sent off a chain reaction that took this experiment “viral” in every sense of the word.

To date, more than 800 people have read or downloaded the e-book. The number continues to grow daily.

I continue to receive notes that tell me how much it challenged them to think differently and offered a vocabulary and process to what they already intuitively knew as well as notes that said it was the encouragement they were looking for to continue to “press on.”

Kerry Bural from also featured the e-book in the post “Same Old, Same Old” just doesn’t cut it.

I’m grateful to everyone who mentioned the e-book in a Tweet, Facebook update, blog post, e-mail, etc., and I’m indebted to those who took the time to download or read the e-book online. I pray that it was helpful to you in your ministry.

I’m humbled I get to do this for a living.

God is good. All the time.

To help, I have Lauren Hunter with ChurchTechToday.com, Steve Caton with Church Community Builder, and Tom Roepke a really innovative church leader who has experience in institutional fund development and currently serves in a local church setting. This is a six part series. Each Monday, I’ll post a new podcast capturing our discussion. I will also post a brief outline so that you can quickly preview what will be discussed.

I hope you are as blessed by this series as much as the four of us were in the process of creating it.

Here is the outline of our fifth (only one more to go!) conversation:

Focus: When someone makes an emotional connection, they begin to identify with the organization. I’m no longer visiting “that” church but “my” church. Ownership is key to long-term commitment which is the foundation of a sustainable ministry.

Key ideas:

1. Should a person have to be physically present to become a member?

2. What about serving? If people who volunteer are the most committed, how are you fostering volunteerism? Are you equipping people to serve “where they are” or in their strengths?

3. When does this become important indicator of commitment? How does involvement translate to first gifts and/or increased giving?

4. Frequency of interaction indicates the potential for commitment.

Listen or download the fifth podcast in this series.

Previous posts in this series:

1. Lifecycle of church membership

2. Connection creates community

3. Community facilitates interaction

4. Interaction leads to engagement

Too many churches still print out a line item or summary budget and make it available to the congregation to pick up at their leisure. They fail to take advantage of the opportunity to tell the story behind the numbers.

I recently had the chance to sit down with Jess Erickson from Spiro Graphics to talk about work he has recently done with a local church to achieve a more creative way to communicate the “black and white” church budget. You can listen to our conversation as we discuss the key elements to creative budget communication strategy.

Here is a great example to consider. Below are the key thoughts from our conversation:

1. See the big picture.

Church leaders have the opportunity to treat their church as a brand and use all of their communications with their membership to reinforce that brand. Starting with their “prospectus,” the church can effectively communicate the personality, value, and goals of the church. A well designed “prospectus” will engage the congregation in an ongoing conversation of what the church is doing and where the church is headed.

2. Use visual elements effectively to communicate your message.

Images, colors, and type treatments can be combined in various ways to connect with church members visually and emotionally. A church that desires to be a cornerstone of the community can use conservative type treatments and a traditional color combinations to reinforce that image. Churches that want to portray a more dynamic personality may choose bolder colors and modern type faces. Images of spring buds or sprouting seeds can reinforce the message that a church is wanting to grow.

3. Pictures are worth a thousand words.

Photographs of community work projects, mission trips and community involvement can highlight a church’s commitment to effect the world and let the membership know where their contributions are being applied. Images from Bible studies, youth events, or worship services speak volumes about how a church ministers to its members and how the members minister to each other.

4. Don’t forget your audience.

No matter what approach is taken, the most effective communication a church can have with it’s membership will be consistent, focused, and engaging. It is important to remember the audiences that will receive the prospectus and target your communications to them. Good writing and good design will help your “prospectus” become an essential tool in your stewardship program.

To help, I have Lauren Hunter with ChurchTechToday.com, Steve Caton with Church Community Builder, and Tom Roepke a really innovative church leader who has experience in institutional fund development and currently serves in a local church setting. This is a six part series. Each Monday, I’ll post a new podcast capturing our discussion. I will also post a brief outline so that you can quickly preview what will be discussed.

I hope you are as blessed by this series as much as the four of us were in the process of creating it.

Here is the outline of our fourth conversation:

Focus: Engagement is proactive participation in a cause or organization. It’s what happens when someone raises their hand and says I’m ready to bring what I have to the table. This is a key shift in the continuum of church membership.

Key ideas:

1. How can technology improve how we manage the time between someone first visits to the time they choose to become a member? How do you move people through the funnel of commitment: support, believe, belong?

2. What role does data play in informing our decisions and managing the relationship with church members?

3. Tracking behavior and participation on an individual level reveals what interests that person and indicates what’s most important to them. How can you leverage that knowledge to expose them to similar opportunities for impact?

Listen or download the fourth podcast in this series.

Previous posts in this series:

1. Lifecycle of church membership

2. Connection creates community

3. Community facilitates interaction