Campus Generosity. Works. How to Cultivate Generosity in a Multisite Setting. Scott Williams and Joel Mikell

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2 Campus Generosity Works How to Cultivate Generosity in a Multisite Setting Scott Williams and Joel Mikell

3 contents Introduction 1. Senior Pastor Buy-In 2. Campus Pastor Buy-In 3. Systematic Approach 4. Sensitive Approach 5. Vision and Appreciation Events 6. Ongoing Development 7. Online Giving 8. Leadership Development and Business Connection 9. Cultivate the Stories 10. Lead by Example Conclusion Five Easy Ways for You to Connect with RSI Four Easy Ways for You to Connect with Scott Williams Other Resources from RSI About the Authors Appendix

4 Introduction A growing number of churches are choosing a multisite growth strategy. Though there are great benefits to this strategy, there are some issues that must be addressed. One of the most significant problems lies in the area of stewardship and generosity. Some multisite churches are discovering that neither the main campus (or broadcast location) leadership nor the campus pastor is clear about the strategies that will cultivate generosity at the campus level. Let s look into this issue a little deeper. Prior to ministry, I (Scott) had many different leadership roles that allowed me the opportunity to foster relationships and participate in the cultivation of donor development. I even worked as a lobbyist and political consultant. In those two roles, my primary responsibilities were to cultivate relationships with those who believed in the candidate, cause, or organizational vision and encourage giving and provide opportunities to give. In these situations I had to have two things in order, if I was going to be successful. I had to truly believe in the person or organization I was raising money for. I had to believe in their vision, what they stood for, what they represented, where they were going, if they could legitimately make a difference, and if it was a worthwhile investment for those donors I was cultivating relationships with. 4

5 I had to be comfortable with the ask. I had to be comfortable sitting across the table, in a large room, through an ... and asking people to give. The ask was always easy when I truly believed in the person or organization I was conducting the ask for. Once I began working in full-time ministry and specifically as a campus pastor at LifeChurch.tv, I began to see the parallels between the donor development strategies in my previous roles and the donor development strategies necessary for a campus pastor. It was pretty easy because I knew that, without a doubt, each weekend lives were transformed, relationships were restored, students were becoming world changers, and children were learning to love Jesus as a result of the ministry. It became easy to ask and very easy to say, Thank You! The multisite model is relatively new. The issues related to the multisite model have not yet received the thorough examination they warrant. This is partly due to the limited data related to the model. Most solutions are anecdotal at best. Multisite ministry is unique in that there is one broadcast location with several churches under the umbrella. Though these churches are united in their strategy, they are unique in their individual personalities. Some satellite campuses will mirror the mother church whereas others will look and feel like something completely different. 5

6 Most church leaders need to be reminded that the multisite strategy requires a thorough understanding of the individual natures of the campuses. Because the campus ministry often is a scaled down version of the main campus, attenders may develop a different attitude toward supporting the overall ministry of the church. There are a number of ways to fostering an effective donor development strategy, but you are in a great starting position if you (1) believe in the vision of the organization and (2) are comfortable with the ask. Beyond that, I have identified Ten Keys to Creating an Effective Multisite Donor Development Culture. In no way are these keys, strategies, thoughts, ideas, and systems a substitute for prayer, the Holy Spirit, faith, and trusting God. They are simply tools and strategies to work in concert with these spiritual elements. 1. Senior Pastor Buy-In One of the most critical elements for an effective giving and development plan is to have ultimate buy-in from the senior pastor and leadership team. The senior pastor and leadership team must be willing to give and foster a culture of generosity. (You can t lead people to do something that you re not willing to do.) The senior pastor must not only cultivate buy-in from a level of personal generosity, but must have the belief that stewardship is important. A culture of stewardship development is necessary, and it s a key to releasing some of the talents, gifts, and resources 6

7 of members of the congregation. The senior pastor sets the tone with how the church talks about giving, the types of giving messages that are taught, and the stories that are told. Everything begins with the leader s heart, and how it relates to giving will permeate throughout every area of a church. A senior pastor must say, I m in and I get it, or it will be difficult to put together a strategy without buy-in at this level. It doesn t matter what consultant you bring in or what anyone else says. If the senior pastor doesn t cultivate the we are all one church attitude, the campuses will exist as rivals. Although the goal is for each campus to pay its own way and maintain its identity, without a tight bond to the main campus, a campus s growth and development will be hindered. A senior pastor must be viewed as the pastor of the entire organization, not being isolated at the main campus and using campus pastors as ministry surrogates. The campuses want to know the pastor just as the people on the main campus know their leader. This is hard for churches where the campuses are separated geographically, but it is still a vital part of the process. The senior pastor also must continually communicate the vision for the church. The vision needs to include the campuses and the dreams the church has for them. Many campuses view their giving as helping the main campus with its ministries. Until they see themselves as a part of the big picture, they will continue to keep their money to themselves. 7

8 2. Campus Pastor Buy-In Just as it s critically important for the senior pastor and leadership team to buy in to a generosity development culture, it s equally important for the campus pastor to do the same. In general, this is a more difficult learning curve for campus pastors who come from such wide backgrounds, denominations, and ministry experiences. Many have never had to approach the subject of asking someone to give. Senior pastors especially if they were church planters understand the importance of talking money and raising support. If donor development is going to be an integral part of your multisite strategy, then donor development and understanding of what it takes should be key interview questions when making the decision to hire campus pastors. This can provide great insight on the future potential of particular campus pastors. Often times campus pastors will need training and development in this area, and with the right heart and right systems, they can be successful. Campus pastors must echo the vision of the church presented by the senior pastor. Their job is to cultivate an atmosphere of trust and allegiance to the organization not an us versus them conflict. Sometimes there are situations where campus pastors desire to become senior pastors and have the tendency to treat the campus as a unique church. This tendency must be resisted so that the overall ministry of the church isn t compromised. Cultivating generosity at the campus level will vary depending on how the campus was started. If the campus once was its own church that was acquired by a parent church, the generosity 8

9 issue must be addressed from one perspective. However, if the church was started by the parent church with people from its ministry, the generosity issue must be addressed from a different perspective. Existing churches that were taken over by a parent church probably had generosity issues in the past. Financial issues are one of the main reasons churches vote to come under the umbrella of a parent congregation. People who remain at that campus might be out of the habit of giving and will be relieved to have the pressure taken off of them. Churches that are planted by the parent church will face a different set of problems, but generosity won t be at the core unless it is a core issue for the parent church. In this situation, encouraging the continued faithfulness of the leaders of the new campus will be instrumental in developing a culture of givers. 3. Systematic Approach The donor development strategy must be very systematic and open. Campus pastors must be privy to information about specific donors at their individual campuses. This allows for the system to flow appropriately. There must also be a system for recognition or flagging of large gifts, donations, and contributions. It must be clear that this systematic approach is not about showing any favoritism to key donors, but rather a way to thank them and cultivate their heart and ability to generously give toward the vision of reaching more people. Key donors are used to receiving 9

10 thank-you notes, appreciation gifts, and vision reminders from various other places they give to outside of the church, so they will expect a similar type acknowledgment from their church. Those who are key contributors in the church are generally key contributors to other non-profits, ministries, political action committees, and political campaigns. Again, they will receive thank-you notes and follow-up opportunities to contribute further from these groups, and their church having the same type of systems generally encourages them. Here are some sample systems and processes for a multi-site church generosity development. Campus pastor must be a part of all of these systems from either writing the letters, being made aware of the gifts, having lunch meetings or coffee, etc. Some of those systems and processes include, but are not limited to: or typed letters for first-time givers (see sample letter in appendix) Handwritten thank-you letters for generous gifts (see sample letter in appendix) System for notation of large single gifts on any given weekend System for tracking key givers and contributors year-to-date System for providing thank-you gifts. (Handwritten cards; books on giving such as The Blessed Life and The Treasure Principle; 10

11 leadership or business books; church swag translation: items with church logo such as mugs, shirts, bags, watches, pens; and other things.) System for regularly scheduled meetings over lunch and coffee Systems for inviting and providing opportunities for key givers to attend conferences in the Christian leadership space. Exposing them to new leadership connection and learning opportunities (e.g., Catalyst conference, Willow Creek Association s Global Leadership Summit, etc.). A systematic approach connects people to the vision. People don t give to programs or systems they give to vision. Tie everything back to the vision. It is important to grow disciples, not raise contributors. Disciples will give to support God s work. Donors will give to needs but have no allegiance to the organization. With donors, you must continually sell the effectiveness of the ministry. You are competing against other organizations that are meeting needs in the community. Many of them are better equipped and resourced to meet those needs. With disciples, their allegiance is to God, and the strength of their giving reflects the depth of their commitment to Him. 11

12 When God s people begin to understand what it means to be a follower of Christ, they will begin viewing their resources from His perspective. People can t be strong-armed into a faith relationship with God; they must be walked, step by step, toward a dynamic relationship with God. We can easily lose sight of this fact and focus more on persuading people to give than on growing them in their relationship with Christ. We must realize, however, that a person s spiritual growth is his or her responsibility. The church is to equip them for the work of ministry, not expect them to pay for the ministry that s being done. What it all comes down to is this: spiritual growth and development is the key. 4. Sensitive Approach Church leaders should be very sensitive to information about who is giving what. This information should only be shared with a select few, and the campus pastor must do a great job to balance knowing who gives what, understanding what motivates them, and respecting their anonymity. Givers should be treated like any other key volunteer or individual contributing to the vision. It s important to keep details and knowledge of amounts and types of gifts just among key church leaders. The campus pastor and maybe campus administrator/finance person should be the only ones who know at the campus level. Finance, executive leadership team, and senior pastor at the multisite Corporate Office or Central Support part of the organization would be made aware. 12

13 5. Vision and Appreciation Events There should be an annual occurrence of medium-sized group gatherings and recognition events. There are a number of ways to do these events; however the two key types are: Key Giver Invitation Only. A group of identified key givers are invited to a vision event, which helps donors see the bigger vision of the church or the multisite campus (expansions, new buildings, renovations, other campus launches, etc.). These events may be something like bus tours to see and experience the other campuses located in a particular geographic region. These events may be invitation-only events where key givers and donors are connecting with each other and are able to hear the vision from the senior pastor, leadership team, and campus pastors. Collaborative Appreciation Events. These events are a collaboration of appreciating key givers, key volunteers, and key members of the ministry. Vision will always be a part of these events. Remember, people don t give to events they give to vision. Appreciation events should lead from the perspective of appreciation, thanks, praise, attaboys, fun, inspiration, etc. This event should be held annually. 13

14 6. Ongoing Development There should be an ongoing challenge for people to give and be generous. This vision can come from stage time announcements, video testimonials, bulletin announcements, annual giving series, Dave Ramsey seminars, and other financial class opportunities. Leaders must unapologetically teach people to start with the tithe. You can even get creative with the tithe and do what many churches we consult with are now doing a couple times a year The 90-Day Tithe Challenge or The 3-Month Tithe Challenge. This was something LifeChurch.tv began years ago, and it s something it and other churches I work with around the country still do. The basic premise is you are targeting individuals who are currently not tithing and may be on the fence about giving in general. The only place in scripture where God says to test Him is in Malachi 3:10 Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. Individuals basically fill out a card with some legalese and basic information. They commit to tithing for 90 days. At the end of the 90 days, if they don t feel God has blessed them as His Word promises, they can request a refund for every dollar that they gave during that 90-day period. I know it sounds crazy, but in the more than ten years LifeChurch.tv has done this, only two people have asked for their money back. It s pretty simple: people will be happy and fulfilled by living under God s blessing. 14

15 7. Online Giving Encouraging people to give online and providing online giving opportunities are critical. The larger the percent of congregants who give recurring online gifts, the more consistent the giving will be. Not only will the giving be consistent, but also it sets the multisite campuses up for giving consistency during inclement weather and seasons of lower attendance. The bottom line is that if your church only takes cash or checks, you are missing the opportunity for a large percent of your congregation to give. Only 10 percent of people have cash or checks, so the offering bucket only gives 10 percent of people the opportunity to give. Use giving kiosks, online giving, text giving, and other digital forms of giving. The key is variety. 8. Leadership Development and Business Connection Cultivate a culture where you get like-minded business guys together to talk about leadership, business, and their role as Christians in the market place. Monthly meetings at various business leaders offices are a great way to provide these events. The thought here is that businessmen and women like to connect with other businessmen and women. They also like to tell about their business, show off their offices, and network to make a difference in their local communities. These types of meetings give church leaders an awesome opportunity to be at the forefront of various business leaders overall leadership and 15

16 spiritual development. Again, these leaders are generally the key givers; if not, they generally will become so. They will catch the vision of how everything is interconnected and how they and their businesses can contribute to something much bigger than themselves. The goal here is not to talk about giving; the natural byproduct is people having more awareness and becoming more educated, better leaders, better students of God s word, more connected, and more bought into the vision. People give to vision, not gatherings or programs. 9. Cultivate the Stories Develop a system to gather and share great stories of generosity and transformational giving. Gather these stories, with help from your team, and share these stories at all campuses (video is a great way). Seeing what s happening in other areas outside of the immediate campus location inspires people. Everyone has a story, and stories matter. Stories communicate the vision... and people give to vision. Church members at all campuses need to see the vision as presented by the senior pastor and must buy into the idea that the multisite strategy is the right thing to do. As the parent church, they will seed the campus with financial resources and leadership. Over time, the campus will become more selfsufficient and will provide its own leaders and financial support. If either the main campus or the satellite campus adopts an us versus them attitude, the future relationship between them will be strained. The stories that are part of this process will encourage participation in present and future ministry expansion efforts. 16

17 10. Lead by Example There is an African proverb that s very similar to a Bible proverb: Train a child the way he should go and make sure that you also go the same way. Don t just train people how and why to give, simply fostering a culture of generosity through your audible and written vision. Cast vision through stories of personal generosity and a cheerful generous heart starting with yourself. Lead by example and be generous. Leaders must first be generous and encourage others by setting a good example. People will do what you do long before they do what you say. Campus pastors must have their thumb on the pulse of their campuses and must be willing to address the stewardship issue long before the leadership team sees the need. The senior pastor must continually connect the campuses to the parent church. The more the senior pastor draws the connections, the more the people in the congregation will buy in and support the overall ministry of the church. Conclusion The key to developing a culture of generous people is vision. The leadership must communicate vision. Campus pastors must echo what the leaders say. The church must know where it is headed, why it is going there, and what is expected of those who become a part. The Bible is right... where there is no vision, the people perish. This truth is magnified in the multisite church. 17

18 Generosity is a byproduct of spiritual growth. The multisite strategy must be based on a desire to see people grow in their relationship with God. If the multisite approach is intended only to increase the worship attendance numbers, spiritual growth will be a challenge and, subsequently, developing a generous congregation will be impossible. Campuses can recreate their attitude toward giving through intentional discipleship. When people are taught the biblical truth about generosity, many of them will respond favorably. However, when made to feel as if they owe the church, they will push back. Cultivating a culture of generosity is a challenge for the single- or multisite church. The key is developing a system that encourages them to give as God calls them give. And once they experience the joy and blessings that come from giving, they ll give generously and consistently, with others following their lead. 18

19 Five Easy Ways for You to Connect with RSI 1. Follow RSI on Twitter and Facebook (RSI Church Stewardship). 2. Subscribe to the RSI blog on rsistewardship.com. 3. Sign up for RSI s e-newsletter. 4. Call RSI at Contact RSI to discuss your church s needs. 19

20 Five Easy Ways for You to Connect with SCOTT WILLIAMS 1. Follow Scott on Twitter and Facebook (ScottWilliams.tv). 2. Subscribe to the blog on bigisthenewsmall.com. 3. Watch videos on Scott s YouTube page. 4. Contact Scott for more information. 5. Learn more about Nxt Level Solutions on NxtLevel.net. 20

21 Other Resources from RSI [[Artwork for What you don t know about your church ]] 21

22 Other Resources from RSI Other Resources from RSI [[Artwork for What you don t know about your church ]] [[Artwork for Emerging Trends ]] 22

23 Other Resources from RSI Other Resources from RSI [[Artwork for What you don t know about your church ]] [[Artwork [[Artwork for for Emerging 10 Reasons ]] Trends ]] 23

24 About the Authors Scott Williams is an author, speaker, ideapreneur and highly sought after consultant. He lives by the mantra Everything Begins With an Idea. He is an avid blogger at BigIsTheNewSmall.com, where he challenges readers to dream BIG and think BIGGER. A firm believer in the power of leveraging social media to meaningfully impact the world, Scott has been featured in the New York Times and as one of the Top 15 Leadership Experts to Follow on Twitter. He is the author of Church Diversity: Sunday the Most Segregated Day of the Week and Go Big: Take Your Life From Ordinary to Extraordinary. As the Chief Solutions Officer for the consulting company Nxt Level Solutions, Scott helps businesses, non-profits, churches, and individuals move from where they are to where they want to be. Nxt Level Solutions works with some of the largest churches, non-profits, and Fortune 100 companies in the World. Joel Mikell is president of RSI. With more than 25 years of local church ministry experience, he brings a passion for helping churches cast their vision to reach people for Christ, as only a pastor can. He has helped church leaders raise more than $500 million for Kingdom projects and has had the privilege of working with some of the most well-known churches and church leaders across the country. Joel and his wife, Donna, live in the Shelby, North Carolina, area. 24

25 appendix or Typed Letter to First-Time Giver I noticed you recently gave for the first time here at the [Campus Name] Campus of [Church Name], and I wanted to thank you for your generosity. Each weekend, people come through our doors searching for answers, broken, lost, ready for a fresh start, or looking for a place to belong. By giving, you become a part of what God is doing to transform their lives. I m excited to see what God does in your life as you step out in faith with your finances. Here are a few things you might want to check out: See what generosity like yours makes possible in the [ annual report, giving record, or insert highlights link] Easily schedule future contributions by [Online Giving Link] If you have any questions at all, please don t hesitate to contact [Name]. I m honored to partner with you in sharing the gospel and helping people develop a meaningful relationship with Jesus and, thus, reach their God-given potential. Thank-You Letter for Generous Gifts I would like to thank you personally for giving to what God is doing through [Church Name]. Each weekend, lives are 25

26 transformed, relationships are restored, students are focused on becoming world changers, and children learn to love Jesus, thanks to the generosity of people like you. Taking a leap of faith to trust God with your finances is a form of worship and an act of obedience. Giving regularly has been a turning point for many people to experience the blessings of following Jesus, and I m excited to see what it does in your life. Giving online is an easy way to schedule your contributions. You can set it up in about five minutes at [Online Giving Link]. If you have any questions at all, please don t hesitate to contact [Name]. I m honored to partner with you in sharing the gospel and helping people come into a personal relationship with Jesus. Handwritten Note on Note Card (Can be written by hand or using handwriting software.) As your Campus Pastor, I wanted to send you a personal note and say thanks for your generosity and giving toward the vision of reaching people for Jesus at the [Campus Name] Campus of [Church Name]. Because of your generosity, our campus has been able to make a huge impact in our community. I d love to grab coffee or lunch in the near future and hear about all that God is doing in your life and family. My assistant, [Name], will be giving you a call to set something up. Thanks again! 26

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