Archive for June, 2009
Weekend Recap
This past weekend my family and I made it up to Nebraska for a wedding. Being the savvy dude that I am, I found time to squeeze in as much church planting work as possible. Here’s a recap of the weekend:
- Had dinner with a couple of couples and my buddy Tom at Lazlo’s on Friday night. These were all folks that I had met before and wanted to pull together to get them to meet each other and give them a chance to meet my wife and girls.
- After dinner we drove to Meg’s folks place in Geneva (about an hour outside of Lincoln).
- Saturday – woke early and was on the road back to Lincoln by 5:20am.
- Met a guy in his fifties for breakfast at Scooters in the haymarket. This was one of the most encouraging conversations I ‘ve had thus far in meeting with folks. As a young church plant, we’re in desperate need of guys like this to come along side us with wisdom, maturity, and experience.
- Next up was a meeting a guy at Indigo Books with a local guy that that works as a CPA in Lincoln. Talked about the mission and vision of 2 Pillars and I’m praying for how God might move in his life with respect to our church plant.
- Met a guy at the Coffeehouse next. He works for Campus Life and is prime for being a part of our plant.
- Saturday lunch was spent with a guy that I’ve been talking with about leading worship.
- After lunch, I rushed over to a friend’s house to change clothes in prep for the wedding I was there to attend later that evening.
- Last meeting of the day was with a dude tapped in with UNL athletics. He offered a ton of encouragement to me and extended his and his wife’s friendship to me and my family knowing that what we’re embarking on is going to be quite difficult. He didn’t mind that I was over-dressed.
- Finished up the night be meeting my wife at the wedding (thanks to my bro for giving her a ride).
- Spent Saturday night in Geneva chatting on my in-laws wonderful porch that overlooks a quaint little pond.
- Sunday morning – ~8 tired hours in the car back to St. Louis.
Headed to Nebraska this Weekend
My family and I are headed to Nebraska this weekend for a wedding and to see and spend some time with some family. We’ll be having dinner with some folks interested Project 2 Pillars tonight and then I’ve got a packed out schedule Saturday morning/afternoon meeting with various folks in downtown Lincoln before the wedding Saturday evening and driving back to St. Louis on Sunday.
If you think of it, pray for safe travel and for great relationships of various contexts to spawn out of the dinner tonight and the meetings tomorrow.
Church Plant Fundraising: Summary Post
Below is a listing of all of the posts from the Church Plant Fundraising Series:
- Church Plant Fundraising: An Introduction
- Church Plant Fundraising: How Much and When [Preparation]
- Church Plant Fundraising: Who [Preparation]
- Church Plant Fundraising: Contacts How/When [Preparation]
- Church Plant Fundraising: Logistics [Preparation]
- Church Plant Fundraising: Architecting [Plan]
- Church Plant Fundraising: Final Thoughts
Church Plant Fundraising: Final Thoughts
This post concludes the series on fundraising even though I’m sure I’ve got a lot to learn and will continue to learn as things proceed ahead. I’ll shortly post one more summary post of all of the posts from this series.
But first, some final thoughts on fundraising:
Be Organized
I’ve hit on this throughout in talking about preparation and planning, but this is more general than that. Be organized in how you manage your supplies (contacts, letters, envelopes, postage, fundraising booklets, thank-you cards, etc), be organized when you “do” fundraising (set aside a dedicated block of time to make phone calls, create your initiating letters, write thank-yous, etc), and be organized in how you handle monthly supporters.
Work Hard
In case you still think this is easy, expect to put 2-3 hours per week in to it, minimum and then add in all of the time for meetings on top of that. This time is spent managing contacts, creating booklets, making phone calls, writing initiating letters, hand-writing thank-yous, meeting, following up, going to the post office, printing booklets, trips to Kinko’s, printing and stuffing envelopes for monthly givers, keeping track of giving vs. commitments, tracking your status, etc. Fundraising is work so expect it to be work and if you’re not organized, expect it to take twice as much time.
Expect it to Cost
You’re going to have some upfront costs that you need to account for. Before funds start rolling in, you’re likely going to have to put forth some cash of your own for fundraising booklets, envelopes, postage, etc. A good color booklet, folded and stapled costs some money. Factor this in. Go get a quote from a printer. Budget yourself at least a few hundred bucks on the front end to get things rolling.
Be Persistent
In case you’re not with reality, what you’re doing is a heck of a lot more important to you than it is to the people you’re asking to support you. Practically that means that the information you give them gets tossed in a pile with the rest of their bills and is soon forgotten about; conversations you have fade quickly from memory. Follow-up calls are essential. Many times, it’s going to be difficult to get a hold of a person and when you do, they’ll need some more time to think and pray about supporting you. Stick with it, be persistent and stay on top of it.
Don’t Take It Personally
Some people aren’t going to support you. Some will have good reasons and want to share them with you. Some won’t have good reasons and won’t want to share them with you. No one is obligated to give you a reason for anything. The people that God plans to use for this purpose will be used for this purpose.
Be Upfront and Straight-Forward
Don’t beat around the bush when you talk with people. God has called you to a mission and if you are fully convinced of the calling, get out there and ask people straight-away to support you. Don’t coward around the hard question when you meet with them, don’t tip-toe around the straight-forward when you follow-up. Show them respect and let them know with confidence that God has called you on this mission and that you are fulfilling that calling, in part, by doing the hard work of raising support for that mission.
Pray, Trust, Grow
Fundraising involves a lot of the same skills that it takes to build a core team. You’ve got to network with people, cast vision, and convince them of the mission that God has called you to. If church planting and fundraising don’t drive you to your knees, nothing will. What you’re embarking on requires a ton of trust and that trust comes through prayer. Approach this time as a huge time of growth and expect it to be challenging, expect it to be hard, but expect to come out the other end closer to God.
New Resource: The Gospel-Centered Life
Our friends at Coram Deo announced yesterday the release of a new resource that they put together called The Gospel-Centered Life.
I am excited to get my hands on this and will be strongly considering it for use in our core development phase of Project 2 Pillars. Read more about this resource on the Coram Deo blog or visit the World Harvest Mission website and buy yourself a copy.
