In your next capital campaign you need to understand that half of the half will give half. If you cannot connect to this half then your campaign will raise significantly less than you hope for. So, let’s get you connected to your half!
First, let me define what I mean with my title and statement. In any church 1/2 of all that is given is given by around 15% or less. The few always have and always will give the majority of your dollars in any endeavor. For one thing it is economics and for another it is spiritual maturity. This is true for any size church. Let me illustrate with real data from clients I now serve.
Church A has a $261 K annual budget of which 15.6% gave 50% of that amount. 7.5% of their donors pledged 1/2 of the total capital campaign dollars.
Church B has a $539 K annual budget of which 15.1% gave 50% of that amount. 9.9% of their donors pledged 1/2 of the total capital campaign dollars.
Church C has a $714 K annual budget of which 15.9% gave 50% of that amount. 9.0% of their donors pledged 1/2 of the total capital campaign dollars.
Church D has a $2.6 million annual budget of which 13.3% gave 50% of that amount. 7.2% of their donors pledged 1/2 of that total capital campaign dollars.
In fact the larger the church budget the smaller the percentage of donors who give half. So, basically for any size church half of the half will give half.
Do you know who these people are and how to connect your vision to them? Often pastors will tell me that they don’t want to know who gives what. I understand that. There are ways to still impact this key group without you knowing what they give. Frankly we know where they work, live and what they drive so we do have some idea of their worth. Knowing who they are is half of the battle. The other half is knowing how to appropriately challenge them to be on board with your project.
Do you know how this segment of your church feels about the project you are about to raise funds for? What questions do they have? What is the level of their support? Knowing ahead of time what questions, reservations or objections they have will better help you connect them to the vision of your campaign. If you don’t know what they need to know and hear it is doubtful they will make the kinds of pledges you need to hit your target.
Use your campaign time wisely on the group that stands to give the most. Every gift is important. You have to know how to value the widow’s mite equally with the large gift. Yet without significant gifts you will not raise what you need.
The reality is that those who are struggling to give you anything week by week will not be the ones pledging to your capital campaign. We stress working with this group to build them up to become consistent givers. My Giving365 plan does that. http://giving365.com/
In a capital campaign we put our focus on those who can and will make pledges. Knowing the right way to impact this group is the difference between success and failure!
Mark Brooks – The Stewardship Coach