Butter or margarine? Soup or salad? Paper or plastic? Highway or back roads?
Most of life’s decisions are benign. It’s rare to face a life-altering choice. When you stand at a pivotal crossroads, you must have a trustworthy guide to help you make the best decision possible.
Let’s focus on one defining moment in a church’s life —a construction project. Whether taking on a new build, addition, or renovation, it’s a high-stakes proposition.
The decisions made during this time will become blessings to enjoy – or – challenges to overcome for the foreseeable future. One of the most important decisions is selecting a church capital campaign consultant.
An essential yet commonly overlooked aspect of a church construction project is selecting a church capital campaign consultant. The right capital campaign consultant will do more than raise funds – they will empower you to raise disciples. The wrong one can leave you with a mess to clean up.
What is a Capital Campaign Consultant?
The short answer is – a coach. A capital campaign consultant is a guide who can help you maximize your church’s opportunity to impact your community for generations to come.
Nonprofit capital campaign consultants will empower you to mobilize your church to achieve the financial goals necessary to fund a God-sized vision. This includes many moving pieces:
- Determining an inspiring yet realistic financial goal
- Creating timelines to include critical milestones and deadlines.
- Crafting a consistent, clear messaging, properly timed
- Cultivating intrinsic motivation and momentum among the congregation
- Developing fundraising content in line with your church culture
- Establishing an all-encompassing plan from the planning stage through the fulfillment phase of the capital campaign
A successful building project requires a church construction company that cares about more than buildings. We will walk alongside you from the conception to the completion of your construction project – including helping you partner with the right capital campaign consultant for your unique situation.
5 Red Flags in Choosing a Capital Campaign Consultant for Your Church
Sometimes, you don’t know what you want until you see what you don’t. Here are five things you DO NOT want to see in a capital campaign consultant for your church construction project.
1. A Capital Campaign Consultant Unprepared for Your Project
If a capital campaign consultant can help you get where you’re going, they must know where you are. In your initial meetings, it should be clear that they have studied your church’s website, community demographics, language (e.g., small groups vs. home groups, Elders, or leadership team, and denominational affiliation(s).)
They should also come prepared with a list of questions to determine essential information that’s not public information, such as the following.
- What are the critical statistics over the last several years? Consider the following metrics:
- Attendance, individual giving, debt structure, and history of past campaigns
- What is the growth/decline trajectory of your congregation?
- How many giving units does your church currently have?
If a capital campaign consultant has not done their homework on you, be cautious about proceeding.
Is Your Consultant Prepared for Your Project? Ask These Questions.
A well-prepared consultant will be able to answer the following questions without a problem. Make sure you ask open-ended questions to gain insight from their answers.
- Tell me about your experience with churches similiar to ours
- Ask for references from a church that encountered difficulties or challenges in their capital campaign, and how they worked to make things right.
- How do you discern what we should be able to raise?
- Ask for details around each phase of the capital campaign including the following:
These questions should not surprise the capital campaign consultant you want to work with. If they are, that’s a red flag.
2. Mirroring You Instead of Challenging You as a Coach
Most people appreciate being affirmed. But, a high-quality capital campaign consultant will coach you in ways that make you uncomfortable. For example, some church leaders don’t like talking about money. However, a person’s relationship with money is essential for their discipleship.
If a capital campaign consultant affirms everything you’re doing and doesn’t challenge anything – that’s a red flag. You need someone who can help you achieve what you could not on your own.
Will Your Capital Campaign Consultant Coach You?
A helpful guide for your capital campaign will be glad you ask questions like these.
- What growth areas do you see for our church?
- How have churches similar to ours approached a building project like this?
- What concerns do you have about our ability to raise funds?
A helpful capital campaign consultant will strike the right balance between challenging and supporting you. If they fall into the ditch on either side of the road, that’s a red flag.
3. No “Skin in the Game”
You want a capital campaign consultant motivated by more than a paycheck. You want a coach who takes your campaign’s success personally and is prepared to go the extra mile if things get off track. They should always have a feel for how things are going and where things may be starting to slip.
They need to connect with your vision. If the vision for your church doesn’t captivate their heart, you may find the lack of alignment to be a source of friction throughout the process.
How Invested is Your Capital Campaign Consultant?
If a capital campaign consultant shares your values, they will be eager to engage questions like these.
- How do our core values resonate with you?
- What ways would a successful campaign impact you?
You want to work with someone willing to do whatever it takes to help you succeed because they believe in your church’s mission and vision.
4. Promises too Much and Prioritizes too Little
Capital campaigns cause you to live in the tension between trusting God and testing God. That is, you should take bold, courageous steps of faith – and – live within the reasonable boundaries of wisdom.
If a capital campaign consultant affirms whatever fundraising goal you have without regard to the complex data of your congregation, that’s a red flag. They should clearly articulate why the think you can raise the fund-raising goal you agree to.
A general rule of thumb is that your capital campaign goal should be 1.5-2 times your annual giving. Anything beyond that should trigger a warning light unless they are able to clearly explain how you get there. You may be able to anticipate higher results in the following situations.
- You’re raising money for an initiative that impacts the vast majority of your congregation.
- The capital campaign solves a meaningful problem that people are emotionally engaged with.
- Someone in your church has the financial capacity – and desire – to fund a significant percentage of the campaign.
Churches are filled with people at different stages in their journey of generosity. When capital campaign consultants aren’t committed to helping everyone in your church take the next step in their faith and have a plan to do that, that’s a red flag.
Why? Because a wise church capital campaign consultant will prioritize more than the campaign. They will be invested in raising more than money; they want to raise disciples.
Is Your Consultant Over-Promising or Under-Prioritizing? Ask These Questions
Don’t sell yourself short. See how far your capital campaign consultant can take you with the following questions.
- How much money would be unreasonable for us to try to raise?
- How have churches been negatively impacted by trying to raise too much money?
- What are your goals for people’s generosity in our church?
- How do you envision this capital campaign helping our people enjoy more of God’s heart?
The right capital campaign consultant should be able to answer these questions easily. However, it’s a red flag if they cannot provide answers that align with your vision for God’s church.
5. Has Not Adapted to the Post-Pandemic and Multi-Generational World
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted every aspect of society, including capital campaigns. Many capital campaign strategies have succeeded because many GenX and Baby Boomers lead the charge.
However, now the Millennials and GenZ are becoming the foundation of who will attend your church in the future. There is also great wealth redistribution taking place right now in the generations.
The pandemic has caused people to be reluctant to engage in long-term campaigns that may last more than three years. Further, many prefer to avoid interpersonal, in-home meetings or high-pressure conversations focusing on money-only techniques.
These are strategies of the past. The sun is setting on that approach.
If a capital campaign consultant is bringing stale fundraising strategies they have used for the last 20 years, hitting your God-sized goal will be much more difficult.
Three Questions to Discover if a Capital Campaign Consultant Has Adjusted to the Post-Pandemic Culture.
Utilize these questions to jump-start the conversation about how your consultant has adjusted to the post-pandemic world.
- What Best Practices have you implemented over the last 3-5 years?
- What was the most successful capital campaign you were a part of? When was it?
- How have you seen capital campaigns shift in recent years?
- How have you adjusted your capital campaign strategies since 2020?
Much like the Great Depression impacted an entire generation, the global shutdown of 2020 had a similar impact. The capital campaign consultant you’re looking for will have made adjustments to meet people where they are today.
Get the Guidance You Need Today!
There’s no question about it. If you’re going to take God-sized risks to achieve a God-sized vision – funding will be required. High-capacity capital campaign consultants for churches will empower you to lead your church into an inspiring vision.
Our team at Catalyst Construction can provide more than general contracting. We’ve been on your side of the desk. I served as an executive pastor for over 15 years. I would be honored to guide you on a path filled with green lights and no red flags.
Ready to get started? Reach out today for a free consultation!
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