Capital Campaigns Are Different, Not Dead

Stewardship firms continue to send out emails that ignore that capital campaigns are different, though not dead. Long before COVID-19 hit our shores capital campaigns were in danger of irrelevancy. Here is a list of some of the major reasons why capital campaigns are not what they used to be.

1. We have had three major crises in this young century each impacting the economy significantly. Each crisis created financial stress and uncertainty among our key donor groups especially those that gave the majority of the funds raised.
2. Churches were already re-thinking their building strategies building smaller facilities than in the past. Now with COVID-19 church leaders are re-evaluating the need for physical structures at all.
3. The aging demographic of our key donor groups, especially Baby Boomers is causing less to be raised in campaigns than in previous years. Fundraising experts have said that non-profits have a closing window of opportunity as a result of the shift in generational giving practices.
4. Younger generations are more building adverse as well as suspicious of any programmatic approach to fundraising.
5. The pace of today’s congregant demanded a new direction in the process used to raise capital dollars.

There are multiple reasons for the decline of the traditional campaign. The point is that if you are still attempting to raise capital dollars with 20th-century strategies you will be disappointed. Times have changed and so must our strategies. To be effective capital campaigns in this COVID impacted 21st century must be different!

Given the changes forced upon us by society and COVID it is past time we recognize that the how of raising capital dollars has changed not the why.

Growing churches will always need to raise money over and above their yearly budgets. Whether to fund new facilities, renovate existing facilities or to pay off debt the need for capital dollars will never cease. That is the why. Yet the how must change to meet the changes of our day.

This is why, winners don’t do different things they do things differently. We are different not for the sake of being distinctive. We are different to be effective! Yes, you can raise capital dollars in 2020. The question how. Remember, capital campaigns are not dead they are simply different.

Mark Brooks – The Stewardship Coach