I was with a lead pastor of a large church a few days ago. He’s an old friend who had recently become aware of the giving habits of his staff. This guy is a great leader who wants to take people on a journey. The conversation was primarily about how to get his team to [...]
Pastors: How Much Time Should You Spend Fundraising?
A few weeks back I listened to a podcast on This American Life that explored the subject of political fund raising. Specifically they focused on how much time Senators and Congressmen spend on fund raising. It is a shocking amount of time! Donor development, and actual fundraising events, are a regular part of a normal [...]
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10 Things Every Church Planter Should Know About Church Buildings
1. Plan For Facilities From Day 1 – If you just planted, in 5-7 years you’ll need a building or a new job! 2. Build A Long Runway – “Church Building - How long does it take…really? 3. Track Everything – Good financials and attendance numbers put the bank’s bean counters at ease. 4. [...]
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When Is A Church Ready To Build? Part 3
A church is ready to build when: You’ve Got Margin I covered this a little in Part 2 but it’s worth a deeper dive. More often than not these days, the bank(s) you work with are going to be more interested in your margin than your equity, cash position, or anything else. You may have [...]
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When Is A Church Ready To Build? Part 2
A church is ready to build when: Giving is around $1,200 per person Why $1,200 you ask? Because it seems to be the average giving per person in healthy churches we build for. (There are also some national stats that put the number in this ballpark) In the course of a normal year I have approximately [...]
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Church Construction Funding
If there is one thing you should know before you buy anything it’s how much you’re willing or able to pay. The only way you can possibly understand how much you should to spend is to have a solid understanding of how this purchase impacts everything else you want or need to spend money on. That’s [...]
Church Construction – When should you build?
How do you know when its time for your church to build? Here are four things to think about when you’re thinking about building. 1. Finances – obviously money matters when you’re building a new facility. Here is blog I wrote specifically on Church Construction and Money. 2. Max Facility Use - Do you have a document that [...]
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Church Building Budgets – 3 Things You Need To Know
One of the first things we accomplish at Cogun when we take on a new client is to nail down the 3 church building budgets. Thats right…there’s 3 of them. Understanding Affordability is the Critical Success Factor in any church construction project. One of the biggest communication miss-steps is when the church says they [...]
9 Questions To Answer Before You Buy
In addition to being an all around awesome guy, Bryan Miles with his wife Shannon Miles Advisory Group to help churhes streamline their ministry with high quality outsourced services. This is a great article he wrote on how the church should make puchasing decisions. Bryan Miles Guest Blogger When it comes time for most churches [...]
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Church Building and Money
Church Construction Quick Start Guide – Build a long runway Having a long runway means you have a great idea of where you’re going and how you’re going to get there long before you actually need to arrive. I’m often with churches that need their new space yesterday. They’ve come to what they believe is [...]