The fourth myth has to do with financial potential and the assumptions we make about it.

In fact, in most churches the 20/80 factor is the standard — so universal in the churches we have worked with that we have just come to accept it as a fact. In most congregations, 15-20 percent give nothing, and this is as high as 30 percent or more for some churches. In addition, you will often be through 50-60 percent of your congregation before people are giving more than $500 annually.

The Incremental Fallacy

Probably the biggest mistake churches and most organizations make when it comes to talking about financial potential is tied to the fallacy of incremental budgeting. If you are looking at your potential based on what you have always done, or adding an incremental increase, the outlook will always look the same. In settling for what you’ve always done, you are selling yourself short of your potential.

For churches that do incremental budgeting, this approach becomes a psychological barrier to believing that any additional monies are available for additional ministry. Incremental budgeting in the end provides for little more than maintenance ministry. In fact, if a church is continually deferring things, incremental budgeting may do little more than help the church survive. 

The benchmark of giving was wrong 

We were asked by a Presbyterian congregation to design a fall budget campaign. When we met, I discovered they had already given considerable thought to how to do it and they recommended we run a campaign, where the challenge was to have everyone increase their giving by 10 percent since the budget had in fact, increased by 10 percent.

I pointed out to them that 10 percent of nothing was nothing. Even for people who gave $100, surely, we would never suggest that an additional 10 percent, or $10, would be an acceptable response! The benchmark of giving was wrong! If in fact that benchmark becomes the standard from which all future giving is extrapolated, little additional monies will ever be available. The percentages look great! But the reality of actual dollars is otherwise, to say nothing about what we are teaching regarding an appropriate discipleship response.

We maximize potential when we effectively challenge people to give beyond an inadequate previous year’s level and move them to an inspired and faithful discipleship response more representative of their ability to give.

Pockets of Giving

We all know people have different interests regarding what they want to support in the secular market, but in fact those same preferences affect their giving at church too. So the other thing to consider when thinking about potential is what pockets of appeal you are asking your donors to fill. The options include operating costs (lights and heating), maintenance (building upkeep), capital (new projects that often involve new buildings), missions (overseas or local), social concerns (community issues and social justice issues), and special projects. Your organization may have additional pockets of appeal.

Some Christians only want to support missions, so all their giving is into that pocket, while others are more concerned about the appearance and ongoing operations of the church building, so that’s where their money goes. Almost everyone will give to a shiny new building, and most will respond to a well-positioned special appeal. Bit, if your members are only being asked and challenged to give to the budget, you are certainly missing out on some substantial income.

“But we can’t even make budget!”

In the face of seemingly unending shortfalls of money, we need to ask the question, “Is lack of money the real problem, or is it in fact a symptom of a deeper issue? Most of the time it is the latter. Churches shouldn’t be struggling with financial resources, and it is one of the great paradoxes of current church life that at the time of our greatest affluence we are struggling perhaps more than ever with finances. The issue is not a lack of money; it’s just that the churches are not getting it. Even though religious organizations are getting almost 35 percent of all donations, many of our churches are still struggling.

When churches are chronically struggling for money, it becomes a psychological norm and people just accept it. They buy into all the myths we have talked about in this section, and the myths become a perceived reality.

“We always have a deficit”

We met with a Methodist pastor to discuss their need to build. They wanted to raise $3 million to solve their facilities problem. In our discussion about their potential, the pastor suddenly turned and said,

“How can we even consider building when we always have a $30,000 budget deficit?”

Our response was that the two issues were unrelated. Incremental budgeting usually results in budget struggles because of the wrong assumptions involved.

It can be a dream-killer

A second effect of believing this myth is that it stifles the visions and enthusiasm of your ministers. All ministers want their churches to grow; like every other professional, they want to excel at their vocation as well. But when there is a constant shortfall, the dreams of growing ministry are put on hold, and either ministers quit dreaming or go somewhere their dreams can be realized. Good, motivated leaders won’t stay in churches that are not being proactive in not only their church ministry, but also in governance and operations. The ripple effect is that this kind of dead-end budgeting just adds to the challenge we already face in finding leaders for the church. 

The minister is often not the only one who feels discouraged and defeated in a church that is always struggling financially. Other leaders do as well. What’s the point of dreaming and planning for growth if we’re always behind on budget? When ministers quit dreaming, and leaders quit planning, the death of the vision is not far behind. And when the vision dies is often when churches find themselves at the inevitable decision of closing their church doors.

What assumptions are you making about your potential? Most churches underestimate their true potential because they are making the wrong assumptions. Don’t fall into the trap of believing that your resources are limited to what you are currently receiving.

The Seven Myths of Church Fundraising

This is a series of seven articles based on the book originally written by my father, Ben Harder, and recently re-written by myself. We came up with what we referred to as the Seven Myths of Church Fundraising. I suppose they could just as easily have been called pitfalls, or misguided beliefs, but the point is, these myths are widely-held assumptions people in the church had and still have surrounding church finances and fundraising. For many churches, these assumptions became part of the church operations and more importantly, an informal narrative of things the church should not do. 

It will be helpful to learn how to recognize and identify these pitfalls and why it’s important to move past them, because if anything is holding you back from financial success, it is one of these myths. 

If you would like to watch my video on The Seven Myths of Church Fundraising, you can do so on my youtube channel or on the about us page of my website.