The Ritter Group

I have found that when a campaign goes on too long, year after year, its spirit begins to sag, leaders get tired and donors wonder if it will ever end.

You can sustain a great, upbeat campaign experience for 18-24 months, in my experience. This is the period of active asking for leadership and major gifts, and the broader, more public campaign events.

But there are special situations that call for a revised time schedule. My most recent new church building campaign was one of these.

The feasibility study was positive, and the first six months of campaigning was right on schedule. The present church building was 80 years old, and an early gift of land put the project within reach, or so it seemed.

But a group opposing the project was forming. This was of great concern to the pastor, who saw her role as pastor to all the members. How could she put aside her excitement for the project to listen attentively to some members’ objections?

Early in the planning process, the finance committee had asked the opinion of a local construction company about remodeling the present building, rather than building a new structure. An elevator would need to be added for those unable to handle the steps – up for worship and down for fellowship and the rest rooms.

The construction company’s verdict was clear. It would surely cost more to remodel, and at the end you would still be in an 80 year-old building.

So the campaign proceeded on the strength of their assessment. Then it became clear that not all members were in favor, especially those whose homes were older than 80 years, and were just fine, thank you.

In order not to lose these members, we decided to take a year off to hold a series of listening groups and to spend some money on a thoroughgoing remodeling analysis.

The land donor was kind enough to extend his offer to allow for this extended period. At the end of the year, the verdict was the same. It just wouldn’t be worth it to remodel.

So the campaign resumed and was successful. No members were lost in the process.

In this case, it was better to pause than to pounce.