Pastor Tom Townsend
"With Church Growth Services help, we began a journey that encouraged us to consider that stewardship was not so much about money, but more about the heart. Bill carefully led us as we prayed, shared, prayed some more and ultimately committed ourselves to the task and funding of the project that we believed God had directed us to do."
Building Expansion
God has blessed your ministry with growth. You’ve concluded that a major building expansion is the inevitable next step. But, the need for a capital campaign to fund the project seems daunting. Where do you begin?
Renovation
Just like our bodies, as time passes your church facilities can show signs of aging. The physical image of your facilities may be discouraging to your congregation and creating a barrier to reach newcomers. A capital campaign for renovation can succeed, but requires a distinct approach.
Debt Reduction
Paying off “yesterday’s dream” can be a challenge. There are no exciting plans for expansion or fancy architectural drawings to show to your congregation. And yet, you can create a compelling vision for debt reduction if you clearly and intentionally identify the “faces” of your campaign.
Our Four-Step Process
The CGS "Four-Step Process" is designed to create a culture of generosity - to help your congregation to grow in the grace of giving and to steward God's resources with excellence and in allignment with Biblical principles.
While the campaign substantially increases immediate funds, Generosity Culture Development provides a long-term plan to retain generosity within your church.
"Assess Capacity"
The Financial Analysis that CGS provides can help you early in the process to determine the scope and the priorities for the building project. The financial assessment can prove beneficial in developing drawings within your projected financial capacity and in communicating with your construction team members.
"Get Ready"
By some estimates, as many as 50% of the churches in America have a set of blueprints gathering dust in the pastor’s office because the project was never built. Our goal is to see that never happens to your church.
To accomplish this, we begin with our distinctive process called the Pre-Campaign Assessment – but it is far more than merely an “assessment” – it is where we intentionally coach church leaders on best practices to present your project.
The strategy typically includes developing a compelling case statement, making presentations, inviting focus-group feedback, conducting confidential interviews, and surveying the congregation.
By measuring your congregational enthusiasm and ownership and comparing it to our exclusive database of churches, we determine if your congregation has a “green light” to succeed with your campaign. You might think of it as a “stress test” for your campaign – similar to the diagnostics your physician might use before giving you the “green light” to run a marathon.
"Make Commitments"
Your “Get Ready” (Pre-Campaign Assessment) resulted in a bright “green light.” You can now confidently proceed to launch your Capital Campaign to challenge your people to make generous, sacrificial commitments to the vision of your initiative. And, they will commit generously – because of what they have already revealed to you in the Pre-Campaign Assessment.
You are not moving forward “blindly in the dark,” but rather confidently, with your eyes wide open in the full light of day. Your campaign goal, strategy, and leadership team were clearly identified in previous step with the help of your congregation. You can’t miss. It’s like receiving all of the answers to the test before taking the big exam!
"Gather the Resources"
Your previous step just concluded with the biggest celebration moment in recent church history. Capital campaign commitments blew past your financial goal! Your campaign is over... actually, it is just beginning!
Successful capital campaigns aren’t just about what is committed – more importantly they are about what is actually received.
At CGS, we routinely achieve collection rates of 95%-105% of the amount committed by coaching church leaders to develop an intentional three-year master-communication plan. It is built on one core premise: you can “thank people into faithfulness.”
It’s not really rocket science, and it is vitally important. The goal is to have every one of your capital campaign participants as excited when they write their very last check as they were when they wrote their first!
Six Core Advantages with Us
CGS will work with you to create a campaign and process that fits YOUR CHURCH. We will create a plan that is Biblically-based and that is low-pressure. Our plan will also give you results!
Maximize Campaign Results
The unique CGS Pre-Campaign Assessment ensures you know the heart of your congregation and what they are willing to sacrifice to see the mission accomplished.
Turn Spectators into Players
Right from the start, our strategy will be highly participative. We will coach you to get your people in the game sooner rather than later.
Fits Your DNA
The only way to truly customize a capital campaign plan is to gain intimate knowledge of who you are. Our Pre-Campaign Assessment achieves that level of insight.
A "Safe" Third-Party
We value honest counsel. People will often tell church leaders what they believe they want to hear, or nothing at all. What you don't know can kill your capital campaign. We listen really well.
Ability to “Read Your Chart”
It's not all that difficult to gather data – it's another thing to have an extensive historical database and the depth of experience with which to wisely interpret it.
No False Starts or Failed Campaigns
The process is anchored by our proven Pre-Campaign Assessment as well as six decades of experience, so we know the difference between a “green light”, a "yellow light", and a "red light".