“Raising Funds” & the “Right Stuff” For Church Planting

[I talk more about this post on The Ministry Backpack Podcast, Episode 032. Listen to it here.]

Some would say that the “ability to raise money” is a determining factor for whether or not someone has “the right stuff” for planting a church. They would say this because they believe that this skill demonstrates that this person can build support for their vision, which is very necessary for church planting. There is also the fact, so the reasoning goes, that the church planter will need to be able to raise funds as the pastor/leader in the new church from then on.

Okay. Fair enough. The thinking behind the need for fundraising is correct, but as to it being a “determining factor”  for having “the right stuff” to start? I say, “not necessarily.”  

Here are two reasons why:

1. The first reason I say this, may be better explained with a short story:

I had a friend who got a job as a vacuum cleaner salesman while he was in college and the company had him sell to his friends and family first. Their reasoning was “If you can’t sell to your friends and family, you can’t sell at all.” So he gave it a shot.

The problem was, he had to give a “sales pitch” to his friends and family, who were now in that awkward position of having to change their relationship from being “friends and family” to being “customers.”

The pitch was actually harder to pull off. His friends and family loved and supported him, but really weren’t interested in buying an expensive new vacuum cleaner that they didn’t really need. My friend also found it difficult to “put the pressure” on them to buy the product without feeling like he was pressuring them into a sale.

Friends and family are friends and family. Some may support you, but you don’t want an awkward, potential relationship-breaking, hard sell, “If you love God and love me, you’ll support me in this” kind of experience with them.  Give them an opportunity, sure, but don’t let that be the gauge of whether you should be planting a church or not.

2. A second reason I would say, “not necessarily,” is because the nature of raising funds for a new church plant is different from the nature of raising funds within an existing church.

Just because you can raise money for a new work doesn’t mean you can raise money within it after it’s already going, and vice-versa.

Here’s why. When you raise money for a start up, you are another mission or organization that people can support outside of their local church. The people you are “pitching” to have no “skin in the game.”  However, when you’re raising funds for a project within the church you are leading, it effects everyone in your organization.

If you’re building a new worship center, for example, they will participate in the benefits of that fundraising directly. Even if you’re raising funds to support a need in your community or around the world, your people will also directly participate in the benefits of ministry. It is something they are doing together as a group, rather than as a collection of individuals and organizations who may or may not know each other.

Please don’t misunderstand. If you are a church planter, you will need to be able to raise funds, even if you’re not that great at it, now. But realize that the funds you raise before you begin require a different approach than the funds you raise with the people who join your church later.

Count the cost. Plan well. Don’t be foolishly reckless. But for heaven’s sake, if God tells you to do something, do it – whether you’ve raised all the funds yet or not.

God is the One with “The Right Stuff.” I believe He just wants us to have the “right response.”

And that always involves a measure of faith.

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 Johnny Leckie is a Christ Follower, Husband to Leona, and Father to Matthew, Melissa & Michael. He is also a Church Planting Pastor, Musician, Artist, & Blogger. He’s a big fan of Coffee & Bacon and is currently planting a Church in Aurora, Colorado called Compass Church.  He is the founder of MinistryBackpack.com.