Capital Campaigns for Churches: Why and How

This guide will walk you through the what, the why, and the how of capital campaigns for churches. If you think now might be the time to run one, this guide is for you!

Capital campaigns are a great way to make big dreams a reality, and one thing we at CauseVox know about church communities is that they often have big dreams. If you’re looking to fund a major project for your faith community, a capital campaign might be the way to go. 

Why Run a Capital Campaign for Your Church?

Let’s start with the basics: what is a capital campaign?  A capital campaign is a specific fundraising push to raise a large amount of capital for one project or purpose.  You set a period of time, a goal amount, and a reason for the fundraiser. They’re ideal for building new buildings, purchasing land, renovating buildings, buying equipment, or starting up a new major program.

Capital campaigns also happen to be extremely well-suited to many of the needs of churches. That’s because church communities often rely on a central location that needs upkeep or expansion over time. Some common examples of church-specific projects include:

• Building a new building
• Renovating an old building
• Buying additional land
• Paying off debt
• Mission work
• Expanding the ministry

It’s important to remember that beyond raising money when you’re running a capital campaign as a church, you’re also going to be focused on how your project helps your congregation grow spiritually and communally. When you choose your project, think carefully about how it fits into the values and mission of your church, and how you’ll use the literal and physical growth to spur the spiritual growth of your congregation.

How to Run Capital Campaigns for Churches

Once you’ve selected the project you’ll be funding, it’s time to put together the plan for your church’s capital campaign. While you’ll have a lot of work to do, here are the basic steps it takes to put on your capital campaign:

1. Focus on your goal: Although you already have a goal in mind, you’ll want to flesh it out a bit. Think about why you’re choosing to run this campaign and how it furthers your church’s mission and values. You’ll also need to decide how much you need to raise for your project to be a success.
2. Look at your timeline: Take a look at your calendar over the upcoming year or two and think about how your capital campaign will fit in. Are there particular sermons or themes you want to incorporate into the project? Is there a time you’re extra busy and won’t have time to dedicate to the campaign? Plan your timeline based on what you’re already doing.
3. Write a budget: Yes, you have a goal amount in mind, but now is the time to think about all the elements of your budget, including expenses and different gift tiers.
4. Build your team: Most capital campaigns have a committee that works to make them run. Think about who you want on your team. The more involvement you have from church members and leadership, the more successful you will be, so you’ll want to include volunteers, staff, pastors, elders, and board members on your committee.
5. Think about your stakeholders: Before you start reaching out to anyone, you want to have a clear idea of who might make contributions to your capital campaign. Think about who is deeply invested in your church and about who has the means to make large gifts. Start a list so that you can begin strategizing.
6. Run a feasibility study: A feasibility study is your time to see how realistic your goals are. You’ll want to talk to representative folks from all the stakeholder groups: volunteers, staff, board, church members, church leaders, etc. This is your time to understand if your community is bought in, so ask about whether your community will get involved, what will help motivate them, and any potential pitfalls they can see.
7. Write a communications plan: The first step of your communications plan is your case for support. Essentially it is an outline of what you are fundraising for and why the project is important. Once you have it, start planning out the channels you’ll use for marketing, when you’ll use them, and who you’ll send communications to.
8. Connect with your congregation and educate them on their role: It’s essential that your congregation is on board with your capital campaign. Actively listen to members when they give feedback, and help your congregation understand how they can support the campaign. You may also want to add a service element to the campaign so that those who can’t make large gifts can still feel involved.
9. Build a donor recognition plan:  Donor recognition is all the work you do to make sure your donors feel appreciated and seen. Think about how you’ll thank your donors both during and after the campaign.

Getting Your Church’s Members Involved in Your Capital Campaign

Your church members are going to be your most powerful support base during your capital campaign, so you want to think carefully about how you’ll get them invested in the work you’re doing. In your to-do list above, this falls under steps 7 and 8: your communication plan and connecting with your congregation.

The best way to be successful is to start early and be intentional about what you share with your congregation and how you share it. Start by considering the communication channels you have at your disposal. These might include:

• In person communication during services
• A website
• Social media
• Email
• Physical mail
• Posters or flyers
• Phone calls or texts

Early on in your process, you’ll want to let your church members know what you’re fundraising for and what your goals are. Not only are they likely to be your donors, they’re also a great pool for potential volunteers. Consider reaching out to specific members who could get involved early to let them know you’d love their help. This is also important to remember as you start to ask for donations: while you certainly want to send out mass appeals, it’s generally more effective if you ask someone one-on-one. Think strategically about who you want to make time to ask.

The beginning of the campaign is also a great time to get feedback from your congregation. It’s incredibly important that the people in your church know you’re listening to them throughout the process: it’s the best way to get buy-in and to ensure that your campaign is also living up to the values of your congregation.

In addition to sharing information early on in the process, you’ll want to make sure that you regularly update church members on how the campaign is going. You can also incorporate members through volunteer activities or events throughout the campaign. Throughout all of this communication, remember to be transparent. This is your community: not only do they deserve to know the plan for the campaign, they’re also more likely to give and share if they understand where their donations are going. 

Digital Communication & Donations

don’t underestimate the importance of your virtual presence. According to NP Source, 60% of churchgoers are willing to give to their church digitally, and direct mail with digital ads yields a 28% higher conversion rate. That means that if you’re skipping social media, email, and digital advertising, you’re missing out on a lot of potential donations. Not only that, but virtual donation platforms have started to incorporate tons of amazing features like text-to-give, peer-to-peer fundraising (which we’ll talk about in just a minute), and matching gifts. Your communication strategy should always include some digital elements.

Types of Fundraising Campaigns

So you know that you’re going to be running a capital campaign, but it turns out that capital campaigns can actually include a few different types of fundraising. Let’s take a look at what they are, how to get started with each, and the benefits of including them.

Crowdfunding

No matter what kind of capital campaign you’re running, it will include an element of crowdfunding. Crowdfunding is simply raising a large amount by asking many people for small donations. This will be a large part of your capital campaign, since you’re going to be asking many people to contribute to your larger project. 

One major benefit of using a crowdfunding site is that you can use it as your dedicated website with information about the campaign and a place to donate. It’s also a great place to share your case for support. We mentioned this earlier in your communications plan, and the case for support is the heart of your communications. Essentially it is an outline of what you are fundraising for and why the project is important. You’ll use it when speaking to donors, volunteers, and community members, so be very thoughtful in putting it together. It should help highlight the impact of the project, and connect that impact to personal stories. You can use a crowdfunding site to share it prominently with anyone who might be interested.

One-Time Donations

Of course you’ll want a way for your donors to give on your website or a dedicated page for your capital campaign. That means you’ll want the best possible donation page. While you typically want to encourage recurring donations, remember that this is a time-limited fundraiser and so you might need to change your strategy. You want donors to make their gift now so that you can use it to reach your capital campaign goal. Setting up one-time donations with CauseVox is wildly easy, whether you do it through a crowdfunding page or through a donation form embedded directly on your website.

Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

Peer-to-peer fundraising is any fundraising effort that relies on peers reaching out to each other on behalf of a cause. Your supporters fundraise on your behalf by reaching out into their social networks through personal and team pages. This is a great element to include in your capital campaign because it allows you to extend your reach exponentially. It’s an especially powerful tool to include in a church capital campaign because each of your church members is a potential fundraiser.

You could have each church member create their own personal page and reach out to friends, family, and other connections to support your campaign. Another option is to look at team pages. Teams can set a goal together and fundraise as a group: maybe you have small Bible study groups and you can start a friendly competition with prizes to see which one can raise the most. Families could fundraise together. Think about the different communities that exist within your church and encourage them to make team pages.

CauseVox and Your Church’s Capital Campaign

One of the biggest benefits of using a crowdfunding platform like CauseVox is that it has tons of features that help your campaign to look professional and keep the whole process tied to your existing website. You can custom brand your site with your own colors and logos so that donors know it’s you.

Plus, CauseVox lets you add a progress bar, so you can show how close you are to reaching your goal and help motivate donors. If you’re worried about focusing on a virtual page when you’re sure to get offline donations, CauseVox has that covered too. You can add in your offline donations to your total, so that your progress bar  is up to date. Even better, you can use CauseVox’s free manual fundraising thermometer: just copy a simple bit of code and you can embed it directly on your website so that your community can see how close you are to your goal. 

Pledge Donations

Another great feature on CauseVox for capital campaigns is the ability for donors to make pledge donations. This function lets donors commit to a gift and pay it off in installments over time.  That means you can focus on your small to medium level donors and help them make larger gifts in a way that’s easy for them, with no extra work for you. You can also track pledges made off-line and their payments through CauseVox.

Let CauseVox Help You Run Your Capital Campaign

To learn more about how CauseVox can help you launch and carry out a capital campaign for your church, schedule a demo.  https://www.causevox.com/schedule-a-demo/