How many churches put their stewardship and capital campaigns on autopilot once the “system” is in place?

It’s easy to grow complacent as long as the results are stable. But when church membership drops (COVID, industry relocating, a change in ministers) suddenly the cash flow changes.

After more than 40 years observing fundraising and campaign efforts, leading them, and helping with after-action discussions, here is my top list of mistakes:

1. Don’t take things for granted. This covers a lot of ground, but I’m thinking of specifics: Don’t forget to thank the family that pledges (and contributes) $500 a year, or $1,000. Their gifts may well grow when they realize their gift is valued and recognized. Ignore them, and it’s not likely they’ll increase their giving, and they may cut back or stop. Thank you letters can be automated and then personalized with a quick scrawl at the bottom – “John, was great to see you at the Church Picnic, and thank you for supporting this year’s campaign.”

The smaller gift-givers understand they aren’t in the $10,000 donor group, so they are especially appreciative of a thank you and direct recognition of their gift. Sometimes the small gesture has the greatest impact.

2. Don’t forget to make the ask, again. I’m talking about follow-through with first-time givers. They need to be placed in a special category to grow their involvement.

Too often, a family will give, say $1,000 as their annual gift, and at the end of the year, it’s like they’ve been forgotten. Sometimes they don’t get a thank-you note. Surprisingly often, they don’t get a mailed letter or even an email to remind them of the next stewardship campaign and that you’d like them to prayerfully consider another $1,000 pledge or perhaps even more, to support a special initiative such as partnering with Habitat or a new after-school tutoring program.

I know you think that is uncommon – but even in churches that have staff just for stewardship and generosity, things fall through the cracks. Don’t let this be one. It’s doubly difficult to get those people back once they feel they’ve been ignored or spurned. There are a lot of other worthy non-profits competing for their gifts. Pay attention.

3. Don’t assume that church members know what’s going on. We’ve talked about church social silos before, where members group themselves based on common interests, but think everyone else knows about their special interest. You’ve got parents of young children, parents of school-age children, families involved in sports and travel ball, empty-nest couples, retirees, people working two or sometimes three jobs, people dealing with personal challenges … the silos keep popping up. And each of them thinks everyone else understands how hard it is to get a three-year-old up, dressed, fed and to daycare before 8 am.

To counteract these assumptions of knowledge and awareness, over-share church news. Use all the available platforms to talk about the church budget meetings, the need for more Sunday School teachers, the timeline for the upcoming church campus clean-up, whatever it might be. Post it on the website, send it out via email and text, put it in the Sunday bulletin, mention it from the pulpit, use social media and, where possible, link it back to the church website. Tell the story!

4. Don’t over-sell. In your stewardship or capital campaign, have clearly identified needs or wants that gifts will support. Wherever possible, provide back-up data (we need to replace a 12-year-old HVAC unit that is out of warranty and three years past its life expectancy; we need to replace the rubber mulch on the K-4 playground to provide a safe play space – the current rubber mulch is four years old, has degraded and doesn’t provide cushion for falls). But don’t forget to include inspiring stories about what the church means to its members and the community. It’s important to be transparent about needs, but without solid storytelling of how the church is serving the world, it gets too transactional.

Whatever you list, have a plan to execute and achieve the goals if you meet your campaign goal. No one wants to have to wonder and then ask, “hey, what about the new playground rubber mulch that was a $14,000 expense – where did that money go since it clearly didn’t guy new playground mulch?”

Keep these pitfalls in mind and you’ll be in a much stronger communications position.