How To Fund a Church Plant

Here are a few tips that will help you raise the funds that your new church will need to launch and become healthy as soon as possible:

- Pray over, plan and polish your vision and strategy before you start trying to raise funds. Nothing says "I won’t be a good steward of your financial support" like not having a plan. The more serious you are about the process, the more likely others will be to take you seriously.
Put together a list of everyone you think might possibly have a heart for what you’re doing, complete with their contact information. You never know who might be willing to support the new work until you begin asking. Intentionally carve out time on your calendar to call, call, visit and call some more.

- Ask clearly and boldly! Remember that you’re giving people an opportunity to invest in God’s Kingdom work – don’t back into the question about financial support or say no on their behalf. Paint the picture of what God is doing, ask boldly, and await their answer.

- Don’t let "no" defeat you. If God has called you to start a new church, He has also made available just the right resources to fulfill that calling. When you’ve clearly and boldly asked and someone says no, move on to the next person on your list.

- Be creative to expand your list of potential supporters. When someone says ‘yes’ and agrees to support your new church, ask them if they know of two or three others who may be willing to partner with you. When someone believes in you and your work, they may very well know others who will too.

- Don’t burn your bridges. That church that wasn’t willing to partner with you two months ago (before you had anyone else on board), may be willing to help now that they see others doing so. A "no" today doesn’t necessarily mean a "no" forever.

- Over-communicate your gratitude. When someone agrees to partner with your new church send them a handwritten thank you note immediately. That shows that you truly are thankful and serves to reinforce the commitment they just made to the new church. And send another note (with an update on the work) each time you receive a check from them.

A mentor of mine told me many years ago that, "If you’re the lead pastor (or church planter), you ARE the chief fund raiser for your church … Get over it!"

[from Nelson Searcy - Renegade Pastor - Church Leader Insights - Church Growth and Evangelism by nsearcy]