Selecting the right fundraising consultant

By Jane Page

Special to the Recorder

Church members at Yates Baptist Church in Durham were ready to renovate and expand their facilities. They had a general plan and an idea of what they wanted. But the 640-member congregation had to figure out how to raise the $1.8 million for the project.

"We needed some outside help to raise this amount of money for our church work," said Mike English, chairman of the church's long-range facility committee. "We decided to have a capital funding program and hire an outside consultant to help us."

After interviewing three church fundraising consultants, the church selected Dan Euliss, team leader of stewardship education and offering promotion for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, to conduct the financial campaign.

The convention's stewardship department is just one of several that coordinate capital fundraising campaigns for churches. Several national companies, such as Cargill Associates, based in Texas, and LifeWay Church Resources, located in Tennessee, offer similar services. The groups charge for their services, often based on the size of the congregation.

Euliss and his team offer a 13-week program entitled "Mobilizing to Build." It focuses on securing commitments for capital funds to be paid over a three-year period. The emphasis is divided into four phases: preparation, communication, commitment and follow-up. The majority of campaigns take place in the fall or spring.

"Our program is a biblically-based process designed to encourage church members to give sacrificially for church building needs, land purchases and debt reduction," Euliss said. "The program is not about equal gifts, but equal sacrifices."

The first seven weeks of the campaign focus on evaluating the church's giving potential, setting goals, building the organization, training the leaders, preparing promotional materials and creating a spiritual climate. The next four weeks focus on intense communications with church members. The final two weeks are the commitment period, including a celebration banquet.

Many church members fear that a capital fund campaign will be too expensive, Euliss said. However, the convention's program includes the consultant's fee, banquet expenses and printing costs. The total cost is usually no more than 1.5 percent to 2 percent of commitments, he said.

"Some churches also are afraid we will use high pressure methods or do something to hurt the spirit of the church," Euliss said. "However, in our case, the consultant is responsible to the Baptist State Convention and has concern for the total giving efforts of the church. The basic emphasis is to build up the spirit of togetherness in the church through financial discipleship."

The convention stewardship office also has a one-day program entitled "New Challenge" especially designed for smaller churches, usually fewer than 125 members.

Yates Baptist received pledges for $1.2 million during its campaign. The funds are being used to renovate the education building and construct a new welcome center and a special youth space. Construction work is just starting on the projects. The fundraising campaign was conducted in June 2003.

"We received pledges two times our normal church budget so we had a very successful campaign," English said.

Cargill Associates, based in Fort Worth, Texas, also has conducted fundraising campaigns at several Baptist churches in North Carolina. The 12-to-16-week program focuses on receiving pledges for a three-year period.

"We encourage churches to conduct a capital feasibility study before beginning the building fundraising process," said Cade Garrison, director of marketing for Cargill. "It is extremely important to learn the financial potential in a church before getting started with a building campaign."

The key to a successful fundraising campaign is the involvement of all church members, he said.

"This biblical stewardship can end up being the spiritual highlight of the church," he said.

According to Gwenn McCormick in his book Planning and Building Church Facilities, every dollar raised in a capital fund program can save $2 in interest and pay back over the life of a 15-year loan at 12 percent interest. The church is able to save the interest, but it is also freed from long-term principal payments. It also opens the way for a fast-growing church to prepare for the next building program which might have been delayed by long-term indebtedness.

English, with Yates Baptist Church, said the capital fund program was a positive experience for his church. "We were extremely pleased with the way the campaign worked out for us. We are now well on our way with our new construction."