Church Capital Building Appeals
The undertaking of a major appeal to buy, renovate or build a new church facility can seem a daunting task. After all, many churches struggle to cover their running costs, without the additional burden of funding a capital development. It requires dedicated resources to plan and coordinate a church capital building appeal, often over several years
In order to raise significant funds there are some important matters to take into account. The first relates to the planning of your appeal. Far from being an afterthought when drawings are ready and planning permission has been sought, churches need to start thinking about funding as soon as they have a rough idea of how much money they will need.
The recommended route is to follow the classic capital appeal approach:
- Funding feasibility study
- Development of the appeal strategy
- Its implementation
More information is given on the Capital Appeals page. Click here for further details.
Underpinning this process is the Business Plan which looks ahead to when the new building is complete and describes how it will be used and what the ongoing finances will look like. Funders and lenders will normally want to see this.
A key to a successful appeal is a strong Case for Support. This is the compelling argument as to why anyone should support your appeal. What are the needs being addressed, what benefits will be created and what difference will be made in people’s lives? The aim is to create an inspiring vision supported by facts that will make people want to give because they believe in the cause and have confidence that it will achieve its goals.
An important question for every church considering a major appeal is how they will find the people with the time and skills to carry out the many tasks involved. There will be a plethora of jobs to do, ranging from researching potential donors and funders to planning and running events.
Most churches can muster some volunteer input for much of this work. Although it is important for the church leaders to show leadership and lead from the front, they should be wary of taking on too much. Thus part of the appeal planning will be to identify the many tasks involved and find out who in the congregation is able and willing to take them on.
Where there is a shortage of skills and/or capacity, there is specialist help available and it is possible to buy this in. However, this will not mean that the church itself can sit back and delegate all of the work to a paid outsider. Having some professional help, however, will bring in valuable skills and expertise which may be lacking and help the church to avoid common pitfalls.
If you require help in any of the stages of a church capital building appeal, or just need to talk through the issues involved , please call us today to discuss your appeal on 01903 723519
