Fundraising for Churches: 12 Keys to Success Every Church Leader Should Know

Fundraising for Churches: 12 Keys to Success Every Church Leader Should Know was written because your church or faith-based organization needs to raise money, including annual operating support as well as capital and endowment funds for building and maintenance.

Of the $358 billion that was donated in the United States last year, one-third, or nearly $115 billion, went to religious causes. While this is clearly a huge sum, that percentage has been declining for years, from over half of the money given away.

Why the decline? It could be that we as a nation are less faithful than our ancestors. Perhaps there are just more choices for giving. No matter the cause, what can be done about this decline in giving to churches?

The authors, Linda Wise McNay, PhD and Sarah B. Mathews, CFRE, believe that churches and other faith-based organizations need to become more adept at raising funds, just like any other type of nonprofit. McNay and Mathews explain that no longer can we be idle bystanders and passively wait to see what comes in the collection plate or depend on people to embrace tithing. In this powerful book they show us, step-by-step, that there are things we can do to help the process along.

Fundraising for Churches: 12 Keys to Success Every Church Leader Should Know is written with church leaders in mind—whether they are clergy or other staff members, or lay leaders and volunteers. By the time you have finished reading it, you will have a clear understanding of how to raise meaningful dollars. More to the point, you will have the confidence to launch a highly ambitious and successful fundraising campaign.

Contents

Chapter One: There are Three Secrets to Successful Fundraising

Chapter Two: You Must Have a Compelling Case for Support

Chapter Three: Strong Leadership is Essential

Chapter Four: You Must Have a Written Strategy/Plan

Chapter Five: Everyone is a Prospect

Chapter Six: The Spiritual Side of Giving: Churches Have an Advantage

Chapter Seven: Operational Funds Have Less Donor Appeal, but They are Essential

Chapter Eight: Your Major Gifts Strategy is the Fastest Way to Raise More Funds

Chapter Nine: Capital Campaigns Will Likely Occur During Your Tenure. Be Prepared!

Chapter Ten: Endowment Building is Critical for the Future of Your Church

Chapter Eleven: Innovations and Technology Can Jumpstart Your Fundraising

Chapter Twelve: Your Annual Pledge Drive May Be in October, but Stewardship is All Year Round

Linda Wise McNay is an independent fundraising consultant with Our Fundraising Search in Atlanta. She is in her second decade consulting and has served more than one hundred clients. Linda's nonprofit background includes work with both higher and secondary education, the arts, and human service organizations and has included work in capital campaigns, annual fund, planned giving, membership, strategic planning, and development search. In addition to assisting many faith-based clients in their fundraising efforts, Linda has helped her own Baptist and Methodist churches with their stewardship. Prior to years of consulting work with Alexander Haas, Linda served as chief development officer for the High Museum of Art, leading its efforts to raise $95 million to bring great art from the Louvre and China to the Atlanta community. During her tenure, she also managed the execution of an endowment campaign, initiated the institution's first full-time planned giving effort, and increased the museum's membership to a record fifty thousand. During this time, Linda served as national president of the Art Museum Development Association. She currently serves on the Directors Counsel, University of Kentucky Art Museum. Linda served as director of advancement at Pace Academy, a K-12 private school in Atlanta. At Pace, she led the school's largest and most successful capital fundraising campaign with a goal of $15 million. The campaign was an overwhelming success, reaching goal ahead of schedule, under budget and with 95 percent parent participation and 100 percent board and 100 percent faculty/staff participation. In higher education, Linda has held positions including vice president of the Georgia Foundation for Independent Colleges; executive director of the Emory Challenge Fund at Emory University; director of development at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and alumni and development roles at her alma mater, Transylvania University. In her career, Linda has been responsible for raising more than $250 million for her employers and clients. She is the author of Fundraising for Schools: 8 Keys to Success Every Head of School Should Know and Fundraising for Museums: 8 Keys to Success Every Museum Leader Should Know as well as the author of numerous articles for publication. Linda is a regular speaker and presenter at workshops and conferences. Linda earned her doctorate in the philosophy of higher education from Georgia State University. Her doctoral dissertation was entitled, The Relative Cost Effectiveness of Three Direct Mail Techniques on Non-Alumni Prospects. She also earned a master of business administration degree, specializing in personnel administration, from the University of Kentucky; and a bachelor of arts degree from Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. Linda and her architect husband, Gary, have two adult sons.

Sarah B. Matthews is in her second decade as a financial resources consultant. She currently serves Visiting Nurse Health System as the director of individual giving. Actively involved in church ministry since 1989, she has worked with churches in most mainline denominations from Rhode Island to Florida, but because Sarah is an Episcopal Church rector's wife, she is keenly aware of the challenges involved in funding campaigns in churches. Her consulting work has been with Cargill Associates (Texas) and the Episcopal Church Foundation (New York) and independently through Matthews Consulting (Georgia), and has helped her clients raise over $10 million. Her breadth of knowledge and experience include discernment and visioning services, feasibility studies, capital campaigns, annual fund drives, asset mapping and strategic planning, and leadership development. She is also a speaker and trainer at the diocesan and conference levels and has been the director of development at a small Christian university. Sarah is currently serving on the advisory board for Emmaus House, a ministry of the Diocese of Atlanta, and served on the Commission on Stewardship for the Diocese of Atlanta for eight years. Sarah is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and has earned the Certified Fund Raising Executive designation. Sarah is a past board member, having served as secretary/treasurer for The Episcopal Network for Stewardship (2011-2014). Before focusing on church consulting, Sarah served as the founding director of the Kingsport Community Foundation. She directed the education and training efforts of a large national Christian association, and spent eight years in the hospitality and meeting planning industry. Sarah earned a BS in communications from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.