A $300,000 Donation from Unbelievers? Here's How We Did It.

You may think it’s impossible — but it happened.

Many pastors believe myths about developing funds for their ministries such as:

• Churches in impoverished areas can’t raise a lot of money.  It’s just not there. You can’t “squeeze blood out of a turnip.”  Since the economy has devastated a community, city, area or state, money can’t be raised for ministry because there is no money to be raised. 

• Only members and regular attenders give to a church.  Members are the people who have the most invested in a church.  They are the only ones linked to and involved in the church. In addition, unbelievers don’t buy into the vision of the church otherwise they would attend.  In fact, sometimes pastors feel it is difficult to get their members to understand and adopt the church’s vision.

However, God supersedes and debunks these 2 myths as a church plant is proving.  Starting just over a year ago, The Bridge led by Steve Bently, had an average weekly worship attendance of 202 in January and on the 3rd Sunday in February had 302 in attendance.

These 2 excuses could be cited by Steve and the Bridge because they are located in  Flint, Michigan. As most of Eastern Michigan has been hurt by the recession and more specifically, the slump in the auto industry, the community of Flint is also feeling the pain.  Flint had a great history in the automobile industry and in fact, is the home of General Motors. Now according to the Census Bureau and the Chamber of Commerce, the median household income is just over $28,000.  The population has decreased by 11% in the time period from 2000 to 2009. Twenty-six percent live below the poverty level. Flint is not the first place I would think to look when raising funds.

However, the mission of The Bridge is “bridging the gap between fear and faith.”  The Bridge does this by providing recovery ministries, job search assistance and one-on-one discipleship.  Through his contacts in the community, Steve found 3 individuals who wanted to transform Flint back to its “glory days” of prosperity.  After sharing his vision and the results The Bridge is having in transforming lives, these 3 men sounded interested in helping. When Steve and a member of The Bridge contacted me about this opportunity, they asked, “what should we ask them to give to, how do we ask non-believers to give to a church, how much do we ask for, what will motivate them to give, how do we present our mission and vision to them in a way they could join, not just now, but in the future;  if they give, what next?” All of these were insightful and perceptive questions. I understood their nervous excitement of not only potentially receiving very large gifts but also the possibility that they may not give at all.

Through our bi-weekly coaching call and our meeting at a recent GHC cluster, we developed a plan, strategy and printed materials for this meeting.  As the old saying goes, “if we fail to plan, we plan to fail” and “we must prepare to win.” So on February 24, 2011, Steve and a member of The Bridge presented how The Bridge has changed parts of Flint and how much more progress he will make toward transforming the city of 100,000 people with a gift of $300,000.  After asking, Steve nervously paused for a response and he received all he asked for.

There are several lessons churches can learn from Steve’s experience:

• Just because the church is in a poor area doesn’t mean it can’t raise a lot of money.  Maybe it can come from people outside the church.

• Unbelievers will give to a church if they see positive results and more specifically that a community is a better place because the church is there.

• Fund-raising works best when the donor’s values are important to the church and when the gift expresses those values through the church.  People give in response to what is important to them. They want the gift to accomplish something important to them.  

• Know what is important to donors in general and to the donor you are approaching in particular.

• Churches will benefit if they think in terms of the tangible results their ministries are producing.

• Churches will benefit if they see and highlight God’s work to their members and the world.

• Churches can raise more if they get help.

• Churches must ask to receive.  If a church is not receiving, it could be that it is not asking.

• If pastors don’t want to raise money, their ministry potential will be restricted.

•  Think in terms of the team:  Steve brought someone along with him for his presentation.

Planning for Retirement: Pastors Q&A

Now more than ever, pastors ask me questions about fund-raising. 

How can we buy a new building?

How do we close our budget deficit?

How do we raise our income to afford another staff member?  

Where can we find the money to pay off our debt?

However, those aren’t the most frequently asked questions.

I’m asked questions about raising support for new churches and new ministries.  When a ministry starts, the leader needs money for his/her own salary, rent for a building, marketing materials, etc.  However, those aren’t my most frequently asked questions.

The most popular questions I’m asked by pastors are about retirement.  

“Will I have enough to retire? How much do I need? $1 million? $2 million?  Will Social Security be enough? Will it still exist when I retire? Will I outlive my money?  What if I have a prolonged illness? How much should I give my kids (even adult ones)? They need to eat — my grandkids do, too.  What if the stock market crashes again as it did after 9/11 and in ’08 and ’09? How much can I spend in retirement? Will I need to work part-time?   How can I plan with rising health care costs? Is my denomination’s pension secure?”

While some of these issues are common to pastors in the past, many are not.

I’ve found most pastors will be able to retire eventually if they do 4 things:  1) Save 15%+ of their income toward retirement, 2) avoid debt ($1500/mo. in debt payments is $1500/mo. someone doesn’t need to earn to afford the same lifestyle), 3)  set goals and 4) most importantly give because that’s how we draw near to God (Malachi 1, 3, Matt. 6).

Even though someone does these productive actions, it is still possible to destroy one’s retirement.  I’ve seen the 3 common mistakes pastors make when it comes to retirement. I wouldn’t have guessed pastors would make these mistakes, but they do.  It doesn’t matter if pastors do all the right things (the 4 behaviors mentioned above), if they commit these mistakes, their retirement could all vanish or set them back years from retiring or possibly make retirement meaningless.  Pastors can save tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands of dollars and yet destroy their retirement if they commit 3 common mistakes.  

The first of these mistakes is retiring without purpose.  Dan Buettner did a TED talk on Longevity entitled, “How to Live to be 100.”  The talk found 4 groups of people who had abnormally long lives and not just existing, but active and thriving including taking long walks, gardening, skiing and living healthy, vibrant lives.  These groups of people were found in Loma Linda, CA, a community in Costa Rica, a group off the coast of Italy and one outside of Okinawa.

Buettner found four common denominators for these active people who lived vibrantly to over 100 years old.  The one which stands out to me is having the right outlook. People who live long, have a purpose for living. Their purpose may be to take care of children or grandchildren or the garden.  However, those who lived long knew what they were living for.

There was at least one person in the Bible who didn’t have a purpose.  Even though she did everything her employer asked her to do, she was fired.  Even though she was faithful and loyal to her husband, he kicked her out of the house.  At the time she found out she was pregnant, her husband abandoned her. Even though she was faithful to the Lord, she felt He had abandoned her.  This lady was Hagar.

In the middle of her circumstances, God showed up and asked her 2 crucial questions. One was easy to answer and the other was difficult. God asked, “Where did you come from?”  She answered quickly and easily. Then He asked the second harder question, “Where are you going?” She didn’t answer that question. I wondered why she would avoid that question and then thought that the answer could be that it’s easier to stay depressed than it is to dream about the future.  It’s easier to stay overwhelmed that it is to overcome our obstacles.

So God gave Hagar the answer to this second question and it changed her life.  I suggest that before someone enters retirement or before retirement goes further, he/she ask the same question God asked Hagar, “Where are you going?” 

So, where are you going?

More specifically, determine the top 5 things you’d like to do in retirement and even in your life. Take 3 minutes to think about it and ask the Lord what He’d have you do (I know this may not be enough time, but it’s a start).  Whether you’re 2 or 102, God has a purpose for you here. Otherwise, He’d take you home to be with Him. When I first did this, I wrote and wrote and filled a legal pad. When I reduced the list to 5, I had to eliminate the house on the coast and the BMW and the million-dollar income to get down to 5.  However, I don’t want to imply that any of those things are wrong for anyone else.  

Let me give you an example from what a 76-year-old lady shared concerning her top 5.  They were:

1. Rid her life of clutter.

2. Rid her life of mindless worry.

3. Be a joy-filled encourager to someone else through her positive attitude.  This one showed me that her focus was on how she could help someone else and not just about getting someone to serve her.

4. Help her son pay off ministry debt.

5. Live a healthy, vibrant and long life.

While I changed some of the details, these 5 “targets” helped direct her focus and energy.  My “Top 5” has done the same for me. They have guided me in accepting and rejecting job offers.  They have helped me prioritize my calendar. They have guided me in who I talk to in a day and directed me in setting a lifetime, 10-year, 5-year, 1-year, and monthly goals.

You may not be that goal-oriented, but I would encourage you to have some general direction for your life in retirement.  Think about what your ideal life would look like. This could promote healthy longevity. The first retirement mistake: retiring without purpose; building big barns and forgetting to be rich toward God (Luke 12).  The antidote? Determine your purpose for retiring before you retire.

Live purposefully.

Planning for Retirement: Pastor's Q&A Pt. II

The second mistake pastors make in retirement is saving without consistency.  

I remember the second week in March of 2009.  I received 3 calls from 3 pastors that I’ll never forget (again I will change enough details to disguise identity).  When the 3rd pastor hung up, I thought, “Things are about to get better soon.  Things can’t be this bad for long. The first guy called and went off on his rant.  “I can’t believe this stupid war Bush got us into. And now we’re stuck paying for it.  Now Obama says he’s going to raise taxes. My housing allowance is being threatened to be taken away.  My one neighbor is out of work and my other neighbor is taking furlough days. He is afraid he will lose his job.  I’m upside down on my mortgage, my denomination’s retirement is down over 40%. I’m 71 and was going to retire in the next 6 months and now I can’t.  I can’t afford to lose more. I’m going to move all my money in denomination’s retirement plan to the fixed account. What do you think?”

While I can’t advise you on that, I have 3 words for you.  Don’t do that!  Don’t take all the loss without getting the bounce back.  We’ve had bad times in the past and they got better. The economy was bad in the Great Depression and got better.  It was bad in WW2 and got better. We had nuclear missiles pointed at us from Cuba in ’62, but things got better. Under Nixon, we had wage and price controls, but it got better.  President Regan got shot 10 years later and the economy was poor especially with high CD rates and high (15%+) mortgage rates, but things got better. The economy slumped during the Gulf War in ’91 but got better.  It slumped after we found Y2k was only a scare and after 911, but it got better.

People panicked each time and made poor decisions just as things got better. When did many denomination retirement plans turn around and go up again? When people had given up hope in March of 2009.  So, logically (I say sarcastically), he put all his money in his denomination’s fixed account and received none of the rebound in value. He “locked-in” his losses.  

This is not intended to give any investment advice.  I’m just observing what I saw this and other pastors do with a multitude of denominational retirement plans.  I suggest receiving professional guidance on these matters or contacting your denomination’s retirement plan for specific direction and advice.

The second pastor called and on “script” repeated the 1st pastor’s talking points on the economy (not that they even knew each other).  So again I repeated those 3 simple words, “Don’t do that.” I won’t share with you the details, but he lost over half of his money because he withdrew half of what he had from his denomination’s retirement plan, paying taxes and penalties. 

The third pastor “quoted the same script” . . .  “Bush messed up, Obama did too, things won’t get better, this time it’s different, you don’t understand . . .” and on and on. 

I was feeling very irritated at this point and blurted, “Don’t do that. When you get a statement from your denomination, put it in the drawer and don’t look at it until I tell you you're allowed to.”  (I know that was harsh.) He talked to his denominational retirement plan representative who said something similar. With fear and trepidation, he kept things as they were in his plan and retired December 30 last year.  When he called again, I told him to write a note to his denomination’s retirement representative and thank her for saying, “Don’t do that! That decision made you nearly $750,000. You can retire today because of her!” Now I’m not endorsing every or any denomination’s retirement plan, but just describing what I saw in these cases.

What is the antidote to letting emotions take over? Save patiently.

Live with purpose.  Save with patience.

Attracting the Generous

I was recently asked, “How do you attract generous people to your church?  It’s one thing to create generous people or teach generosity, but what if we could attract people who are already generous.  What if we evangelized the generous.  Are there things we could do to be more attractive to giving people?”

Dr. Tom Stanley, marketing professor at Georgia State University and author of the best selling book The Millionaire Next Door, wrote another book in 2009 entitled Stop Acting Rich.  This book updates The Millionaire Next Door and shares characteristics of the affluent, characteristics of people who don’t necessarily earn high incomes but have large balance sheets/networth.  These people have $1 million + in savings. 

So to be able to attract the affluent, one must know who these people are and what their tendencies are.  According to Stanley, the balance sheet affluent are by far more generous than the population as a whole and significantly more generous than those who earn high incomes of over $250,000.

So what are the characteristics of the affluent who are generous?

Four Characteristics of the Wealthy who are Generous

1) They live with financial margin.  These generous people have found that they don’t need things to be happy and satisfied.  They find satisfaction in being with family and friends, delaying gratification and saving.  They live on less than they could afford and save for a “rainy day.”  Many times they’re asked, “You have plenty saved.  Why not stop and smell the roses?  Why not spend a little and have some of the finer things in life?  You’ve sacrificed for years.  Now live a little.”  These affluent don’t receive their joy and fulfillment from spending money on things and possessions, but in saving and enjoying the habits they’ve created.  They have confidence that they don’t need all their income to live.  If they spent everything they could, they wouldn’t have anything to save and thereby receive less satisfaction.

Proverbs tells us that in the storehouse of the wise are grains and fine oils because the wise person knows that wealth is not just about more consumption but also saving.

2) They live with minimal debt.  Debt takes part of the affluent’s income that they could use for saving because debt requires payments.  Saving on monthly expenses produces margin.  That margin is a higher priority than consuming more especially consumption that requires debt

Proverbs 22 says that the borrower is slave to the lender.  The Bible doesn’t say that debt is a sin, but it doesn’t speak positively about debt and even discourages using debt.

3) They have goals and plans to achieve them.  The affluent know that what they focus on is where they move.  If they focus on specific tangible goals, they may not achieve them, but they will be working in the direction of their goals.  They know they will achieve more with goals than if they hadn’t set goals.

Goals are what they can control.  So if they focus on what they can do instead of what is out of their control, they tend to be happier and less overwhelmed when difficulties come.  Goals make the affluent proactive and tangibly designing what they want to become.

In Luke 14, Jesus encourages people to count the cost.  He encourages people to see what the final outcome, find the steps and accompanying trials for taking those steps and then to decide what to do.

4) They give. The affluent gain more pleasure from saving and giving than they do from consuming.  They have confidence that even if they give, they will have enough.  The Christian affluent believe that God will take care of them better if they spend 90% of their incomes and give 10% or more to Him, rather than spending 100% or more of their income on themselves.  If the affluent had massive debt payments and “needed” expensive things, they wouldn’t have enough to save and to give.

Recently, I spoke with a 22 year old at the airport and this young man just started his first job.  He was taking home just $2,000/month.  Even though he only had this job for 4 months, was living on his own away from his parents and renting an apartment, he found a way of saving $4500.  He also said that he gives $250/month to his church.  When asked why that amount, he said, “Everyone gives 10%.  I can do better than that.”  I had to say, “Wow!”  Then I was compelled to add, “With that much money left over each month, what kind of car do you drive?”  He said that he drives an ’06 Honda Civic.  So I had to ask, “You could lease a new Civic for probably $250/month.   You could easily afford that.”  Indignantly he said, “Why would I do that?!  My expenses would go up $250/mo.  I couldn’t give as much or save as much.” 

That young man was not a millionaire, but he’s on the path to become a millionaire.  I have a feeling that this young man will earn more than $2,000/month before long.  It isn’t about how much money someone makes that determines how much they’ll give, but about the way they think and manage their resources that they already have.

What does all of this have to do with attracting the generous? 

How can a church attract someone who can give generously?  The bottom line is that churches tend to attract people like the people who attend already.  In other words in relation to money, churches attract people who handle money like they do.  So if the church incurs significant debt, they will attract people who do the same.  If the church has margin and saves some of its money, the church will attract people who do the same.  If the church gives 10% or more away to missions, it will attract people who generously give also.  Now this won’t be true 100% of the time, but I’ve found if the church spends everything that comes in and lives month to month, the congregation does the same.  However, if the church has margin and limited debt, there is a high likelihood that many in the congregation do the same. Maybe that is because people manage the church’s money the way they handle their own.  So to attract the generous affluent, manage the church’s resources like the affluent.

One church in a rural town of 7,000 people took this approach to attracting generous people to their church.  During the week, a past mayor stopped by the church to see the pastor even though he had never attended the church.  The mayor remarked about the increased number of cars around the church on Sunday and the activity throughout the week.  The pastor gave him some insight as he discussed changes in their budget priorities.  He also commented that the church didn’t lay anyone off in the recession of ’09 because they budgeted for about 15% of their income for savings.  So even though that margin was eliminated in the recession, the church didn’t need to lay anyone off.  The church couldn’t save like they were saving, but because of financial margin, jobs were saved.  The past mayor pulled out his check book and wrote a check for $25,000.  I would think that the mayor would think that the church didn’t need the money and thus wouldn’t give.  However, the mayor thought that since the church was that responsible with the resources they already had, it would be responsible with more money to make even a more significant impact in the community.  Since then, the past mayor started attending the church and gave a piece of land valued at $750,000 in case the church ever wanted to build.  However, the land could be sold and the proceeds used for other ministries.  This church handled it’s money the same way this affluent donor did by having margin, never incurring debt and even though I didn’t mention it, generously supporting ministry outside the church.

The moral of the story is that if a church wants to attract people likely to give significantly, handle its money similarly to people who have money saved.  These are the people who give, according to Stanley, over 3 times what the average American gives. 

This also makes me think that margin generates expansion instead of expanding and hoping to receive margin.  Many hope to receive growth if they hire staff or start a new ministry.  Sometimes that growth doesn’t happen and the margin never comes.  Maybe it happens in reverse, that margin attracts the generous and then there is room to expand.

How do we move toward margin? 1) Prioritize it.  Before thinking of expanding staff and raises, make sure there’s margin.  2)  Focus on reducing debt.  3)  Generate additional income through a variety of strategies.  4)  Communicate that the church handles it’s money like the generous affluent do.

A Book I Wish I Could Have Read after Seminary

Our mission is to resource high level leaders.  We serve leaders going through transition and transformation.  We serve leaders of new churches, and we serve and equip denominational and parachurch leaders who want to resource ministry leaders in which they serve. 

Recently, I asked a pastor, “What would be helpful for you and other pastors as I write my blogs?”  I expected him to say he wanted to hear updates on churches I’ve helped or tips for fund raising or best practices in fund raising from across the country or how to do some sort of fund raising campaign, etc.  However, he asked me to share resources churches can use.  He was asking for tools or books to save him some time in research.

A book was recently recommended to me by Dr. George Swank.  As I read it, I knew this book would be very valuable for pastors, executive pastors and stewardship ministers.  Not Your Parents’ Offering Plate by Clif Christopher and published by Abingdon Press shows the change in demographics and reasons people give today verses why they gave in the past.   It explained the roll of the pastor in fund-raising and gave concrete next steps for pastors who don’t see this as their roll and don’t want this to be their role.

I especially enjoyed the chapter on the 3 pockets of giving.  Normally, when I hear of giving pockets, I think of different things people will give to.  People will give to missions or buildings or disaster relief or poverty or a certain kind of ministry like youth.  Just because someone gives in the weekly offering, doesn’t mean they won’t give to some other project.  People will not normally (even though they do sometimes) take what they give from weekly offerings to give to disaster relief because it is a different “pocket” they give out of.  The “pocket” chapter has a different perspective.  It doesn’t look at pockets people will give to but pockets of resources they give from.  Christopher gives 3 sources people will give from and those 3 sources will receive different sizes of donations.  People will give out of their “earned income” pocket whether through a job, a pension, social security, etc.  From this source, people will tithe or give a percentage of what they receive (at least eventually we hope).  The second pocket Christopher mentions is the “capital pocket” which has to do with saving, investments or other assets like life insurance cash value or real estate.  The third pocket is the “estate” pocket referring to donations when one passes away.  An interesting question he asks is, “What would happen if half of a congregation tithed on their estates?”  If an American has an estate worth $500,000 including life insurance and retirement plans, then a tithe would be $50,000.  If a church has 100 household, then with these numbers would represent $2.5 million in donations if half of the households tithed their estates. This chapter implies to me that if churches are only receiving gifts/donations from members’ income, they are probably receiving 1/3 (or less) of what they could be receiving.

I really liked the final chapter, “The Top Ten Things I Would Do Now,” Christopher lays out an annual system for teaching stewardship, presenting the budget, sharing testimonies, instructing in personal financial management, changing members’ mindset toward money and giving, preaching, cultivating/training top givers, and how to say, “Thank-you.”

I appreciate the thought provoking questions at the end of each chapter.  Christopher also provides a section at the end of each chapter called “Things To Do” which list practical next steps for implementing the principals in each chapter.

I am grateful to our churches and individuals who support our ministry making it possible to resource and serve high level leaders.