Creative Animation’s extensive work with church capital campaigns has revealed challenges and opportunities when it comes to the holiday season. For church expansion projects, Christmas presents mostly challenges, and there are several reasons why.
Whenever a pastor or campaign director informs us that his church is planning to either kick off or restart a building/debt-reduction campaign in the month of December, his/her reasoning is often that:
- Increased Christmas attendance means greater exposure.
- People are already in the spirit of giving.
- The approaching New Year symbolizes a fresh start, fresh goals and fresh resolutions.
The problem is, for the church body, the Christmas season also represents the mad scramble of vacation schedules and travel plans, elaborate decorations, huge shopping lists & long lines at Walmart, visits by relatives, ballooning budgets (and credit card limits), and minds that are in a perpetual state of distraction. With few exceptions, this is one of the worst times for a church to ask its family to focus on a building campaign and “give a little extra”.
We’ve seen pastors promote a new vision from a platform adorned in fake snow, poinsettias, glistening lights and (no kidding) wire reindeer… looking to all the world like an introduction to the church Christmas play. And those churches who actually produced an elaborate Christmas production find their resources and attentions tied up in actors, scripts, music selections, props, rehearsals and pre-show jitters. Is this really the best time to unveil plans for a $1.5 million multi-purpose youth center, fellowship hall renovation or satellite campus?
Creative Animation has seen much more success with Spring and Fall campaigns, away from the Christmas hustle and the summer vacations. Obviously, these campaigns must be planned, prepped and organized months (years?) in advance, but unveiling a new vision in the month of March or September makes a lot more sense than stockpiling it onto an already overwhelming holiday season.
Christmas is a special time for churches, and it’s a great idea to allude to grand future plans (or even speak to specific goals casually), but the campaign “machine” is often best served when it can stand front and center without distraction.
May this Christmas season bring you great things.
