First Christian Church in Lawrenceville, Ga., is a modest-sized congregation with a bigger debt than they’d like. Fortunately, they also have a large vision of stewardship that allows their generosity to shine through. That’s why they embarked on a capital fundraising campaign to reduce a portion of the debt that was holding them back. And, because their past experience with Disciples Church Extension Fund has been positive, they came to our ministry for assistance with their campaign through our Capital Fundraising Service.
Their timing was perfect as DCEF was looking for congregations willing to pilot a new delivery model for our Capital Fundraising Service. While DCEF has always provided a personalized approach to fundraising assistance, most of the service’s resources used to be compiled into pre-packaged manuals that a congregation would use in concert with an advisor’s counsel. DCEF is now offering congregations a more customized approach to fundraising. An advisor works with a church to assess its fundraising capacity through a feasibility study, so campaign goals can be realistic and achievable. Then, the advisor and the campaign leadership determine what resources they will need to conduct a campaign that speaks to the unique needs, personality and ethnicity of the church and the project they seek to fund.
These resources are then customized for the church and uploaded to unique DCEF website pages that only the congregation can access. This electronic approach to the fundraising process enables the congregation to personalize their resources even more and share them more easily as they go through their campaign. It also keeps the cost of the campaign low (already very competitive with other fundraising organizations), which means more money is available to fund their project.
Using these online resources, advisors then walk alongside the congregation during personal visits and through phone and email to ensure the campaign stays on track and headed toward success.
That’s the way it worked for Lawrenceville. They exceeded their goal, which will enable them to retire a portion of their debt and refinance the balance through a loan with Disciples Church Extension Fund, which they can now afford. The campaign chair was pleased:
“Thank you all for your assistance with the campaign. As always, your estimates and advice were very accurate. I thought that the Spiritual Life portion of our campaign was well done and well received…Thanks for your help!”
For more information about DCEF’s Capital Fundraising Service, contact an advisor.