Here at CGS we are often asked about the factors needed to ensure a successful capital campaign. Many could be mentioned, but in our experience few are more important than the quality of the campaign leadership team. In other words, you must recruit the “A – team”! You may be wondering “How do I identify and recruit the most qualified [...]

Church leaders have been talking about it for months, but now you are hearing rumblings from the congregation and even visitors . . . your building looks and feels “tired”. What should you do? Before embarking on a major building or renovation project, following are several recommended steps that will help make sure your congregation is ready: Focus on Ministry Needs: [...]

As an additional service, Church Growth Services maintains a strategic partnership with Catalyst Faithworks to provide comprehensive design services for our capital campaign communication materials. Catalyst Faithworks has developed a portfolio of all CGS recommended campaign printed documents which can easily be edited to include your church’s specific information and logo/theme. Catalyst Faithworks becomes a valuable resource to do [...]

No, we’re not talking about the imposing architecture of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania’s Golden Triangle! We’re referring to the Golden Triangle of successful church building projects. The idea behind the Golden Triangle is simply this – for any church building project to succeed the: Ministry Needs — Financial Resources – Building Design Must all be in creative balance. If not, the project simply does [...]

Winning athletes know that their success on game day begins with their early training and conditioning. Church capital campaigns are no different. Following are some “conditioning exercises” that could help your congregation in the early preparation for a major capital campaign. Prior to your campaign kickoff, offer a financial literacy class. Many families genuinely want to give but just don’t [...]

Here’s a radical idea for your next church building project – consider the entire congregation to be “ad hoc” members of the building committee! Totally impractical? Perhaps not as much as you may think! Why involve so many people? Simply this – we’ve discovered that oftentimes the strongest, most sacrificial financial supporters of a project are those who have initially [...]

Our Strategic Partnership with Jeffrey Parker Architects will add value to your project by integrating their creative design process with the essential steps of our Pre-Campaign Assessment. Designing churches requires a unique skill set – creating a facility design that meets ministry goals, adheres to a stringent budget and is enthusiastically embraced by congregational members. Specializing in churches for [...]

Question – what percentage of your constituent’s total assets are cash, savings or checking accounts? Answer – about 10%. Next question – what percentage of your annual church giving comes from cash, savings or checking accounts? Answer – possibly 95% (or more!). Final question – what’s wrong with this picture? Answer – read on to find out. “What’s wrong” is [...]

How can you increase and facilitate non-cash gifts of financial assets, real estate or tangible property? First, let your people know that you are actively seeking such gifts. This could be accomplished simply by publishing a quarterly announcement stating: “If you are interested in making a non-cash gift to our ministry such as stock, mutual funds or real estate, [...]

As the saying goes; “You only get one opportunity to make a first impression – make it your best.” Over the years, I’ve attended hundreds of church meetings (both large and small) where a new building project was presented to the audience for the first time. Many were memorable, a few were not. Separating the great ones from the mediocre simply [...]