For more than 25 years I have been involved in financial matters in Christian ministries of all types and sizes. As I reflect back on a wide variety of funding experiences, here are some of the most common mistakes that I would encourage you to avoid:
#1 - Thinking money will come because you have a need
Money does not flow to needy institutions but to promising leaders who have a realistic and inspiring plan of action. Needy institutions exist everywhere. What will make your ministry rise to the top of the many appeals and proposals people receive is a confidence in your leadership and your proven ability and/or proposed plan that will effectively address specific needs and opportunities.
#2 - Adhering only to the George Mueller pray-only-and-tell-no-one principle
George Mueller was a man uniquely used by God in the 1800s. In his lifetime he saw God’s answers to thousands of specific prayers for God’s provisions. He gave himself wholeheartedly to a group of people who have no way of providing for themselves (orphan children), made every need (small or large) a matter of specific prayer, committed to living within the means God provided, and communicated praises for God’s specific provisions to hundreds and thousands of people through an annual report detailing hundreds of prayers and God’s answers.)
Some people think Mueller’s methods are the only way God provides. But the Scriptures show many other ways: Moses had a large group gathering; David asked for leadership gifts; Nehemiah asked a major leader for government support; Paul sent appeal letters and field representatives; Elijah experienced God’s miraculous provisions with the help of ravens but also asked a woman to directly support him.
#3 - Thinking you can raise major funds without strong personal relationships
Big gifts do NOT come through bulk-rate mail appeals. Big gifts come because people are intimately acquainted with your cause and/or have been specifically asked to consider making a major commitment.
Major givers also need to be involved and asked to participate on the front end of any undertaking or project. Go to your best givers and prospects first, not last. Don’t make the deadly mistake of thinking, we’ll try our best, and then a major donor will hopefully come in at the end of the effort and save the day. Ministries that have done this have found themselves with unstarted or unfinished projects that have greatly embarrassed them and seriously eroded their credibility.
#4 - Trusting God for the payments instead of trusting God for his provision
One wise Christian leader once said, "What God orders, he pays for" and "Where God guides, he provides." A ministry policy of debt-free operations and capital expansion will allow you to experience God’s provisions in ways you would not otherwise experience it. I have experienced the value of a debt-free policy in many ministries I have served. When there seemed to be no way to meet the need without borrowing, God always opened up a way or gave us the patience to wait.
I have also seen ministries that relied on borrowing; either a solid, long-term financing plan to meet their facility needs or a "borrowing for the future" with the "hopes" that the funds would come in. A critical principle in borrowing is the issue of surety, which in its simplest terms is, "do you have a sure way to pay for the obligation you took on?"
#5 - Trusting methods instead of the Master
In this day and age, it is easy to try to latch onto various "fundraising methods" that you have heard worked for others to meet their financial needs. But I have seen God use certain methods to meet specific needs at one time and place but not another. Over the years, I have been learning to go to the Master and seek the methods (old ones and/or new ones) that he leads me to use to meet a specific need.
#6 – Only hinting at your needs
I once heard that there are four ways to have your needs met: going in your closet and specifically praying for God’s provision; using money you have or earned to purchase the item; going to God’s people, explaining the need and specifically asking them to help; and just hinting about your needs. Only the first three are biblical and they are far superior to the last method. Nine times out of 10, hinting of needs will leave leaders empty handed and resentful.
#7 - Pursuing money instead of God’s provision
It is very freeing to discover that your need is not for money but for God’s provisions. God may provide you with some or all of the money for things you need, or he may choose to provide the actual item on a donated or discounted basis! If God owns everything, he can be very creative in the way he provides. During the construction of a debt-free $800,000 building, the ministry I served with spent $300,000 in cash donations and the other $500,000 came through God’s provisions in the way of donated and discounted materials and labor.
#8 - Not personally tithing to the Lord’s work
If you want to short circuit God’s provisions for your life and ministry, just convince yourself you "cannot afford" to faithfully give to the Lord’s work. This deadly deception will do more to destroy your faith and God’s provisions than any other single thing you can do.
#9 - Attempting to use simple arithmetic to meet funding needs
A ministry that wanted to raise $9,000,000 sent a letter to the 3,000 households on their mailing list asking everyone to send in $3,000 over the next three years. Some of the wealthy quickly sent their money and decided they had done everything they needed to do to help with the project. But for many of the people, giving $3,000 was an impossible task.
In the Scriptures, God teaches that people are to give according to how God has blessed them. In many major building projects, 10-20 percent of the givers will provide 80-90 percent of the funds. If you do not recognize this truth, you will have a recipe for disaster and humiliation in trying to meet your funding goals.
#10 - Conducting major funding efforts without experienced help
Real money is not raised by neophytes striking out on their own. There are tried and proven biblical methods that need to be understood and applied. Here are a number of ways a ministry can get the help they need in order to be successful in their fundraising efforts: Send a ministry leader or team to get Christian fundraising training; use the gifts of a board member who is greatly experienced in fundraising programs and campaigns; find an experienced fundraising mentor; hire experienced development staff; pay a stipend to an experienced Christian fundraising professional from another organization to help develop a solid funding plan; and/or retain the services of a Christian consultant or fundraising firm.
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Brian Kluth is a senior pastor and founder of www.MAXIMUMgenerosity.org. His Web site has received Google's No. 1 ranking on "biblical generosity" and provides a wealth of generosity materials and resources for pastors, church committees and congregations. Kluth also posts a FREE monthly generosity newsletter to pastors, church leaders and denominations and is the author of a devotional booklet, "A 40 Day Journey to a More Generous Life" that can be used for church small groups, Sunday schools, stewardship campaigns and building fund drives.
