What percentage of your constituent’s total assets would you say are found in cash or checking accounts? Answer: about 10%. What percentage of your annual church giving comes from cash or checking accounts? Answer: generally 95% (and sometimes more!). What’s wrong with this picture? “What’s wrong” is that most church leaders do not actively seek non-cash gifts. This is unfortunate [...]

“Roughly 95% of American churches have less than 500 attendees, but these churches face a critical lack of resources.  While large churches can afford big staff, specialized coaching, and cutting-edge technology, smaller churches often struggle to find resources that are practical, applicable, and affordable. That’s where we come in. 95Network was founded in 2016 by Jim Powell, Pastor of Richwoods [...]

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 [...]

MortarStone is generosity intelligence. Using intuitive analytics and professional strategy, MortarStone helps you grow your church attendance and increase ministry funding.

You have a gorgeous set of architectural drawings for a new building addition that your committee has been working on for months. You are ready to present them to your congregation and are sure everyone will immediately fall in love with them. You only anticipate a few ‘minor’ questions to clarify the details of the new facility features. Our [...]

Will Rogers famously exclaimed “Buy land. They ain’t making any more of the stuff”. For those of us seeking to encourage creative generosity, we might paraphrase this to say – “give land, or any other type of real estate, and receive a great tax benefit”. Just like gifts of securities, real estate can provide donors with many of the [...]

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 [...]

Once you have your “A-team” leaders in place, it’s time to start filling those empty chairs with volunteers. We know recruitment may feel overwhelming, so we would like to share some simple steps that we have found to be helpful. Determining the optimum team size for each team is an important first step. Some simple research into overall tasks and [...]

There are many myths associated with church capital campaigns. Here at CGS, we decided it was time to investigate the myths and find reality. To do so, we commissioned an independent agency (Arbor Research) to conduct a rigorous research project. Their study encompassed 52 pastors representing 17 different denominations. The findings from the study were surprising and many myths got [...]

Our strategic partnership with NEXT Consulting Services aligns CGS with seasoned professionals who share our values and are highly experienced in the para-church ministries that we do not directly serve. With over 100 years of cumulative non-profit and business leadership experience to draw from, NEXT Consulting Services has the heart and expertise to assist ministries with a variety of [...]