Fundraising & Capital Stewardship
Fundraising By Raising Faith
If you need to raise capital for a piece of land, a new building project or just to pay off debt, Briar Patch Consulting can help. There are a lot of stewardship firms to choose from, and we’ve personally worked with many throughout the years.
When choosing an agency, these five things should cause an uneasy feeling somewhere inside your spirit. You may want to think long and pray hard before making the leap. Trust us, and we’ll show you our the scars later.
- If the fundraising contract requires you to pay the consulting fee before the pledges are made.
- When the fee is set based upon the size of your church or the amount of money you are attempting to raise.
- If the consultant arrives with a campaign workbook and the company logo is printed on the front. Why? You may be looking at a generic, one-size-fits-all approach to fundraising that lacks creativity and an understanding of your culture.
- When the consultant doesn’t tell you up front that the lead pastor is one of the most important factors to a successful campaign. If you happen to be a pastor and are reading this, don’t make the mistake of believing that you can delegate this area of leadership to your staff or a committee.
- If you hear this formula: You can expect your church to give 1.5 times your annual budget over a 3 year period. Why? God is greater man’s formulas.
How We Are Different
Briar Patch Consulting prefers to work off of a set of principles or convictions when designing a capital campaign. First, we believe that the way we conduct business will matter when arrive at God’s throne. Therefore, we work at an hourly rate, plus travel expenses. Secondly, we want to find a way to get everyone in your church involved in the stewardship campaign. When people are involved in what God is doing, they make sacrifices rather than “pledges.” They also celebrate when it’s all said and done, rather than complaining about their church only caring “about money.” Third, we don’t believe in raising money by guilt, games or gimmicks. Enough said. Fourth, we believe that the Spirit of God will guide us during the design phase of your campaign. And finally, you raise faith before you raise money. Weak faith always equals little success. Great faith, even when it’s only the size of a mustard seed, will move your mountains into the sea.
For Briar Patch Consulting, this is our ministry, not a career or a business. We’re not interested in travelling to your church to make a sales pitch in front of your board or committee. We don’t hustle business and choose to work with an exclusive client base. After a thirty-minute phone conversation, we will be able to let you know if we are the right fit for your congregation.
