Fundraising for Church Building

[Green Beret]

Power Ball

Pfffffffft! I wouldn't be surprised if that is a method used in some of the churches around here.

 

[Green Beret]

8 years ago, our ministry was at a stand still because of lack of room.  We needed to build a building in order to go forward. 

The need was legit.  And the people understood it was.

We promised the people that if they sacrificially gave, we would squeeze every penny until it screamed.  And we did.

We decided that we would not go into debt in order to build it.  Instead we set up a three year plan to try to raise the money. 

1.  For three years, we voted that 10% of every Sunday's tithes and offerings would be funneled into the Building Fund.
2.  For three years, every Wed night offering went directly to the building fund.
3.  For three years, every 5th Sunday offering went into the building fund.  We called these "Sacrificial Sundays" and urged the people to seek the Lord's leading in doing something truly sacrificial.  We had 12 of these Sundays during the three years. 

At the end of two years we began building.  At the end of three years we had the 10,000 sq foot building completed.  We hired out the pouring of the slab, the AC/heating, and the drywall hung and finished, but did everything else ourselves. 

The $ 1 millions dollar square foot building (turn key price at $100 per sq foot) was built for $270,000 and was finished and paid for in three years. 

Two things that never cease to amaze me is God's grace and the generosity of God's people when confronted with a genuine need.

That is an excellent idea and application. I might "steal" it from you if you don't mind.

A very well established (over 135 years old) IFB church here in our area sold off some unused land to the county to raise money for their building program. They also had a land management company pay them very well for rights to place a cell tower on their property. Those two things allowed them to finish their building program and be debt free.

We need to add on to our main building as well. We are evaluating the idea of using currently unused land that we own to fund it. There are more than a few firms that want to partner with churches to build retirement homes or ACLFs on church property. Also, builders down here are now doing "micro-communities" instead of large sub divisions. If you have 4 or more acres of land you are not using, it may be something to look into.

However, I must say I like Frag's method. It sure beats floating church bonds!

 

[Bruh]

8 years ago, our ministry was at a stand still because of lack of room.  We needed to build a building in order to go forward. 

The need was legit.  And the people understood it was.

We promised the people that if they sacrificially gave, we would squeeze every penny until it screamed.  And we did.

We decided that we would not go into debt in order to build it.  Instead we set up a three year plan to try to raise the money. 

1.  For three years, we voted that 10% of every Sunday's tithes and offerings would be funneled into the Building Fund.
2.  For three years, every Wed night offering went directly to the building fund.
3.  For three years, every 5th Sunday offering went into the building fund.  We called these "Sacrificial Sundays" and urged the people to seek the Lord's leading in doing something truly sacrificial.  We had 12 of these Sundays during the three years. 

At the end of two years we began building.  At the end of three years we had the 10,000 sq foot building completed.  We hired out the pouring of the slab, the AC/heating, and the drywall hung and finished, but did everything else ourselves. 

The $ 1 millions dollar square foot building (turn key price at $100 per sq foot) was built for $270,000 and was finished and paid for in three years. 

Two things that never cease to amaze me is God's grace and the generosity of God's people when confronted with a genuine need.

I can follow a man that operates like this.

 

[rsc2a]

Why not use the members to plant other,  more local,  churches instead of building bigger?

 

[The Rogue Tomato]

Have a bake sale.

Or sell "vows of faith" or little prayer cloths like Robert Tilton did.  He made a lot of money doing that.

 

[FundamentalDan]

Have a bake sale.

Or sell "vows of faith" or little prayer cloths like Robert Tilton did.  He made a lot of money doing that.

My brother and I used to love to watch Tilton and laugh when we were young.  He used to always pray over a pile of papers that he said contained prayer requests.  One day, they panned down from the ceiling, and one of the papers on top was a grocery store receipt.

 

[Green Beret]

My brother and I used to love to watch Tilton and laugh when we were young.  He used to always pray over a pile of papers that he said contained prayer requests.  One day, they panned down from the ceiling, and one of the papers on top was a grocery store receipt.

You guys had better quit talking about Robert Tilton or I'm going to post that YouTube!

 

[Fresh Air]

8 years ago, our ministry was at a stand still because of lack of room.  We needed to build a building in order to go forward. 

The need was legit.  And the people understood it was.

We promised the people that if they sacrificially gave, we would squeeze every penny until it screamed.  And we did.

We decided that we would not go into debt in order to build it.  Instead we set up a three year plan to try to raise the money. 

1.  For three years, we voted that 10% of every Sunday's tithes and offerings would be funneled into the Building Fund.
2.  For three years, every Wed night offering went directly to the building fund.
3.  For three years, every 5th Sunday offering went into the building fund.  We called these "Sacrificial Sundays" and urged the people to seek the Lord's leading in doing something truly sacrificial.  We had 12 of these Sundays during the three years. 

At the end of two years we began building.  At the end of three years we had the 10,000 sq foot building completed.  We hired out the pouring of the slab, the AC/heating, and the drywall hung and finished, but did everything else ourselves. 

The $ 1 millions dollar square foot building (turn key price at $100 per sq foot) was built for $270,000 and was finished and paid for in three years. 

Two things that never cease to amaze me is God's grace and the generosity of God's people when confronted with a genuine need.

Interesting. I had a friend that tried something similar, and his regular offerings went down while he was raising money for capital expenses. Did you have that same experience?

 

[Green Beret]

Why not use the members to plant other,  more local,  churches instead of building bigger?

Good question.

If the members could be self sustaining after a short period of logistical and financial help from the original group, I'd say it was warranted. That is , of course, if they felt that was the Lord's direction for them.

In our case, it wouldn't work because it is not as much for handling numerical growth as much as it is for common sense. We have multiple buildings on our property and really need to combine them for a host of reasons - distance, weather, stewardship of use, etc..

There is one other consideration here as well, cost. Here in our area of Florida, and I'm sure in most of the rest of the world, one piece of land to build upon is less expensive than two.

 

[Tarheel Baptist]

Why not use the members to plant other,  more local,  churches instead of building bigger?

Many very large churches do just as you suggest.
Still others have multiple services and use their buildings many times each weekend.
Something that might be an alternative for Frag in the future.

 

[Tarheel Baptist]

8 years ago, our ministry was at a stand still because of lack of room.  We needed to build a building in order to go forward. 

The need was legit.  And the people understood it was.

We promised the people that if they sacrificially gave, we would squeeze every penny until it screamed.  And we did.

We decided that we would not go into debt in order to build it.  Instead we set up a three year plan to try to raise the money. 

1.  For three years, we voted that 10% of every Sunday's tithes and offerings would be funneled into the Building Fund.
2.  For three years, every Wed night offering went directly to the building fund.
3.  For three years, every 5th Sunday offering went into the building fund.  We called these "Sacrificial Sundays" and urged the people to seek the Lord's leading in doing something truly sacrificial.  We had 12 of these Sundays during the three years. 

At the end of two years we began building.  At the end of three years we had the 10,000 sq foot building completed.  We hired out the pouring of the slab, the AC/heating, and the drywall hung and finished, but did everything else ourselves. 

The $ 1 millions dollar square foot building (turn key price at $100 per sq foot) was built for $270,000 and was finished and paid for in three years. 

Two things that never cease to amaze me is God's grace and the generosity of God's people when confronted with a genuine need.

Interesting. I had a friend that tried something similar, and his regular offerings went down while he was raising money for capital expenses. Did you have that same experience?

Most organizations that offer consulting help to churches on raising funds recommend a three year program like Frag describes. Our church is in year two of a three year plan and we are on track to raise $1 million. We have not seen a drop in regular giving during our capital campaigns...we've had 3-4 over the past 30 tears.

 

[Frag]

8 years ago, our ministry was at a stand still because of lack of room.  We needed to build a building in order to go forward. 

The need was legit.  And the people understood it was.

We promised the people that if they sacrificially gave, we would squeeze every penny until it screamed.  And we did.

We decided that we would not go into debt in order to build it.  Instead we set up a three year plan to try to raise the money. 

1.  For three years, we voted that 10% of every Sunday's tithes and offerings would be funneled into the Building Fund.
2.  For three years, every Wed night offering went directly to the building fund.
3.  For three years, every 5th Sunday offering went into the building fund.  We called these "Sacrificial Sundays" and urged the people to seek the Lord's leading in doing something truly sacrificial.  We had 12 of these Sundays during the three years. 

At the end of two years we began building.  At the end of three years we had the 10,000 sq foot building completed.  We hired out the pouring of the slab, the AC/heating, and the drywall hung and finished, but did everything else ourselves. 

The $ 1 millions dollar square foot building (turn key price at $100 per sq foot) was built for $270,000 and was finished and paid for in three years. 

Two things that never cease to amaze me is God's grace and the generosity of God's people when confronted with a genuine need.

Interesting. I had a friend that tried something similar, and his regular offerings went down while he was raising money for capital expenses. Did you have that same experience?

We never experienced that.  We made a few budget cuts during the three years in order to absorb the 10% taken from the tithes and offerings.  We also held monthly men's meetings for the entire three years to give updates.  Keeping your men in the loop is essential.  Our sacrificial Sundays became a great blessing -- many of our people sold some things that they could live without so that they could give extra on these Sundays.  We tried to use the example of Barnabas as a template for sacrifice, not that any of our people sold their land.  But most of us have enough toys or extra things that we could really sacrifice to the Lord.

I think it is important to ask your people to sincerely pray about what God would have them to do, then do it!  God is better at dealing with people when it comes to giving than I will ever be.  Also, as pastor, you need to set the example of sacrifice.  On the fifth Sundays, I chose not to take a pay check for three years.  Didn't advertise it, but I did it because that is what I knew God wanted me to do.  We also came with an offering those weeks also.  You really do find out that you cannot out give God, and the testimonies of God's provision and generosity to our people during those years were amazing!

 

[Frag]

Why not use the members to plant other,  more local,  churches instead of building bigger?

I agree with your premise.  I have identified our "Jerusalem" -- the radius from our church that we can realistic evangelize.  Outside of that radius are five key areas that we are praying to eventually start churches in.  We started the first church 5 years ago, and it is now self supporting.  We will start the second, Lord willing, in the spring of 2015.  Hope to do one about once every five years.  Our prayer is that in 20 more years, there will be 6 churches total in our region of southern Indiana.  It is very rural, so a church running 100-150 is a very strong church.  How neat would it be to think that before they throw dirt in my face we might be able to see our rural church be used of the Lord to plant 5 more solid, self-supporting churches. 

 

[Frag]

As to the OP, I detest fundraisers.  Never have used them, never will.

Something about going out to the world and asking them for the money to do God's work -- if others do it, I don't throw rocks, but have never been able to do it myself in good conscience.

Might want to think of what you are teaching your youth group and Christians school kids by fundraising.  Please list the character benefits of teaching children to sit in front of Walmart and beg people to spend $3 on a candy bar that is not worth 50 cents. 

Nice.  Maybe they will grow up and hold a piece of card board one day at the intersection......

Ok.............off my soap box...............

 

[FundamentalDan]

As to the OP, I detest fundraisers.  Never have used them, never will.

Something about going out to the world and asking them for the money to do God's work -- if others do it, I don't throw rocks, but have never been able to do it myself in good conscience.

Might want to think of what you are teaching your youth group and Christians school kids by fundraising.  Please list the character benefits of teaching children to sit in front of Walmart and beg people to spend $3 on a candy bar that is not worth 50 cents. 

Nice.  Maybe they will grow up and hold a piece of card board one day at the intersection......

Ok.............off my soap box...............

I am with you on this. When I came to this church, money was very tight and we were not making budget. I had several suggest to me ways we might raise money. Then I read George Mueller's autobiography.  He made a statement to the effect of he was tired of trying to make it easy on God.  So, he decided to operate purely on faith. I decided to adopt that motto.  So far, we are paying all bills on time and starting to be able to fix up the building. 

 

[bruinboy]

First, ask the people to give sacrificially.  If that fails, ask the pastor give a little bit.

 

[Frag]

First, ask the people to give sacrificially.  If that fails, ask the pastor give a little bit.

Anyone who pastors you is already sacrificing a LOT....

8)

 

[AmazedbyGrace]

How should churches raise money during a building program?

What methods are appropriate?

All methods are appropriate. Don't let anyone tell you differently. Sell hot dogs. Do a few car washes. Raffle off some items sitting in the garage.... Go for it.

Well, I certainly do not agree that all methods are appropriate because clearly some are unethical...I've witnessed a few of those.
(not referring to your examples).

 

[christundivided]

How should churches raise money during a building program?

What methods are appropriate?

All methods are appropriate. Don't let anyone tell you differently. Sell hot dogs. Do a few car washes. Raffle off some items sitting in the garage.... Go for it.

Well, I certainly do not agree that all methods are appropriate because clearly some are unethical...I've witnessed a few of those.
(not referring to your examples).

The methods are not unethical in and of themselves. Can you name one of the methods you consider unethical.

I tell where your problems stem from.....

You actually think you're building little Temples called "local churches". In reality, you're not building anything other than a place for the real Temple of Christ to gather. It's nothing more than a building. Nothing.

 

[subllibrm]

As to the OP, I detest fundraisers.  Never have used them, never will.

Something about going out to the world and asking them for the money to do God's work -- if others do it, I don't throw rocks, but have never been able to do it myself in good conscience.

Might want to think of what you are teaching your youth group and Christians school kids by fundraising.  Please list the character benefits of teaching children to sit in front of Walmart and beg people to spend $3 on a candy bar that is not worth 50 cents. 

Nice.  Maybe they will grow up and hold a piece of card board one day at the intersection......

Ok.............off my soap box...............

I agree with you to a point. But there is also the question of how you define fundraising.

We recently had a large rummage sale. The proceeds designated to a foreign mission project. All of our promotional material made it clear that we were selling our possessions to give to another believer for the advancement of the gospel. Nothing had prices and all items were "sold" to the person who wanted it and made a donation. Our teens were also there and did free car washes.

Now we could have asked the church people to have their own sale and bring the money to the church for the project (actually some did that as well). By doing it the way we did, we involved a large portion of the church, got a huge crowd out to rummage (many who have come back to visit) and were blessed with a large monetary boost to the project.

We do not ask the community to pay our bills by selling cookies and cakes. But we are willing to turn our "stuff" into cash to give away. When the believers were selling their stuff in Acts I am sure that some of those possessions ended up in the hands of unbelievers.

Going to do it again on August 16th. If anyone is interested in a monster rummage sale, you can PM me for details.