The Trump Cards of Timing
How do various stewardship trump cards determine when you should go forward with raising dollars?
When I was younger we played the card game of Spades. I was never particularly good at Spades which might be why I no longer play. I never seemed to get the hang on it in terms of strategy or just the sheer luck of the draw of a winning hand. One thing I do remember vividly about Spades is that you always wanted to have spades in your hand. You could be playing the ace of hearts and think you were going to win the hand and someone else could throw in the deuce of spades and beat you. Playing a spade was a trump card that beat all other cards in play.
In stewardship there are certain trump cards that affect the timing and success of your ability to raise funds. Knowing what they are and how to react to them could make all the difference in the world for your next project. In this edition of The Stewardship Coach we will identify three such trump cards and their potential impact upon your stewardship future.
Stewardship Trump Cards
- Vision Trumps Economy. We are often asked, ěHow will the economy affect our campaign?î The corresponding question then is should we delay or put off our campaign until the economy is better. We wrote a whole article about this entitled ěItís the Economy!î in an earlier Coach that you can go online to read at www.TheCharisGroup.org First, who says the economy is bad? While it may be bad in areas like Flint, MI in your area it could be booming. However the national feel of things is that it is fragile. There are a lot of reasons behind this that we donít have time to go into here but you do need to know that itís a reality in the minds of many people. What we have found however is that a burning God given vision will motivate your people to give no matter what the economy looks like. Here are some key points to ponder:
- Find Godís vision for your ministry. Once you have the mind of God you will be surprised at how everything else will fall in place.
- Preach your God given vision compellingly and with passion. People are attracted to vision and will give to support it if you believe in it!
- Put the economy in context. What will happen if you donít move forward with that project? What happened in the past when the economy was bad? High interest rates in the past or a challenging stock market has not stopped churches from building. It should not stop you either.
- Need trumps timing. We are asked repeatedly about when is the best time to start a capital stewardship campaign? Our answer is always that the time to start planning your next campaign is now the answer for when the actually campaign should begin is, it depends. Obviously with all things the more time that you give in preparation and planning the more successful you will be. However you can spend too much time worrying about all the details and miss the window of opportunity that is before you. When you need dollars always trumps timing considerations.
I once worked with a church that was next to a major interstate. One day the state came and said we are acquiring your property and you have six months to move. Their need for dollars trumped timing. Another church was recently told by the bank that before they would grant their loan they needed to be in a capital stewardship campaign. The need for dollars trumped the need for time. When you need dollars can make all the difference in the timing of your campaign.
- Getting it right trumps getting it on time. Often churches will be concerned about a particular date on a calendar that the campaign must be completed by. We recently worked with a church that in May of 2006 asked us if we could finish the campaign by October of 2006. The issue was they would be starting their Christmas musical planning around that time. My comment to them was I would rather get the campaign done right than to get it done on some arbitrary time frame. They were not going to be breaking ground on the new building until late 2007 so they did not need dollars until then. After consideration we put off the intensive part of the campaign until 2007 and recently saw them double the amount committed in their last capital campaign. Taking the additional time made all the difference in the world.
In the card game of Spades you not only need to know what the trump cards are but you need to know when to play them and how to play them. The best players are the ones that can consistently do that to produce winning hand after winning hand. At The Charis Group we know what the stewardship trump cards are and how to play them. We would love to have the opportunity to work with you and your ministry. We are a national company with offices in Atlanta, Little Rock and Tucson. Give us a call today and see how The Charis Group can benefit you!
Mark Brooks
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