Running a Successful Church Building Appeal

Running a major appeal to buy, build or refurbish a church building can seem a daunting task. Many churches struggle to cover their running costs as it is, without the additional work of funding a capital programme. It requires specialist knowledge, as well as additional resources and a lot of commitment to plan and run a church capital appeal, which can take several years to complete. However, many churches have shown that it can be done if approached in the right way. So where should a church begin when contemplating a major appeal?

Get the Vision Right First

It cannot be stressed too much how important the development of a joint vision is for achieving success. The church leadership really must lift its sights above the need to build better toilets and a kitchen or to reorder the building. This will simply not inspire external donors (or even the congregation). Instead, it is vital to think through what difference the new facility will make both to the church and to the community and to put this front and centre of any appeal. Yes of course better facilities may be important, but the real impact is how they will change lives (for example, by helping to host groups of older people, young parents, disadvantaged groups etc and in so doing change their lives for the better). Vision is key, so time spent on getting this right is a good investment and it should all be summed up in a clear vision statement. Developing this document is also an opportunity to engage the congregation (and others) and get their buy in to the project.

The Appeal Planning Process

The next priority is to plan the appeal effectively. Rather than being an afterthought when drawings are ready and planning permission has been sought, churches should start thinking about funding the work as soon as they have a rough idea of costs (not forgetting, of course, that it also takes money to raise money, so a realistic allowance needs to be made in the budget for this, on top of building costs and other fees).

The best approach to planning the fundraising is the classic capital appeal process:

1. A funding feasibility study, followed by the
2. Development of the appeal strategy and then
3. Its implementation

More information is given on our Capital Appeals page. Click here for further details.

The Appeal Feasibility Study

Once the vision statement is available, the feasibility study can be conducted. This will test a wide range of issues and come to a conclusion about the likelihood of success. In other words, it will tell the church how strong their chances are or running a successful appeal.

One important issue that the study will investigate is whether the Case for Support is strong enough. This is the compelling argument as to why anyone should support your appeal. What are the needs being addressed, what benefits will be created and what difference will be made to people’s lives? The aim is to demonstrate the vision supported by facts that will make people want to give because they believe in the cause and have confidence that it will achieve its goals.

The Appeal Strategy

Assuming the result of the feasibility study has been positive, the next stage is to produce the appeal strategy, which sets out how funds will be raised, from which sources, by whom, at what cost and in which timescales etc. It is the detailed roadmap for the appeal and can be updated over time as the appeal progresses.

Implementation

The final stage, once the strategy is agreed, is to implement the appeal itself. Here, an important question is how the church will find the people with the time and skills to carry out the many tasks involved, which range from researching potential donors and funders to planning and running events, keeping detailed records, claiming Gift Aid, thanking donors and updating them on progress.

Most churches can muster some volunteer input for much of this work. Although it is important for the church leaders to show leadership and lead from the front, they should be wary of taking on too much. So part of the appeal planning above will be to identify the many tasks involved and find out who in the congregation is able and willing to take them on.

Where there is a shortage of skills and/or capacity, there is specialist help available and it is possible to buy this in. However, this will not mean that the church itself can sit back and delegate all of the work to paid outsiders. Having some professional help, however, will bring in valuable skills and expertise which may be lacking, speed up the appeal and help the church to avoid common pitfalls.

So while major appeals are serious undertakings, there are tried and tested ways of delivering them and many examples of churches that have succeeded, enabling them to deliver their missions and remain effective centres of hope for their communities.

IFurther Information

If you require help at any stage of a church building appeal, or just need to talk through the issues, please call us today to discuss your ideas on 01903 723519. We have experienced consultants who have worked with many churches to help them achieve their funding goals.

Finally, a copy of our paper on church building appeals, produced in partnership with the Church Growth Trust, is available free on request by emailing ben@wgconsulting.co.uk