I started this series after a conversation with a friend whose church was supporting a new church plant. I shared some advice that I hadn’t heard when I was planting but wished I had.
The first time I talked with a church planter, I told him I was thinking about planting a church. His main advice was about money. He told me to buy Randy Alcorn’s The Treasure Principle for everyone in the core team and then gather them together and ask them to put their treasure into the church. He advised not being afraid to ask everyone, including broke college students.
I now think his advice is wrong both in priority and method. There are a lot of other parts of planting that I would prioritize before money. However, financial needs are real. In Luke 8:1-3, women like Joanna and Susanna supported Jesus and his disciples. It’s not wrong to talk and plan for the financial needs of your ministry. Here are the financial things no one talks about.
First, money is important, but it’s not the primary thing. If you have your money right, but your character wrong, the church will be wrong. If you prioritize money but not prayer, the Word, people, discipleship, etc., then you shouldn’t be planting. More planters are derailed by character than by money.
Second, it will take more money than you think. I read all the planting books back in the day and no one talked about what it really costs to plant a church, where the money comes from, etc. I want to give you the real details. You cannot plant a church with $13,000 or $30,000. $1000 a month is not enough and everyone knows it except the church planters who assume that is how everyone got their start.
How much money do you need? You will need three times the budget you will one day have. You should figure out what your church budget would be based on the size of church you think that you will one day be. Find actual churches like the church you think you will lead and then multiply their budget by three. If you think you will lead a church with a $200,000 budget, then your target is $600,000. If you plan on leading a multi-staff church with a budget of $500,000, then your target is $1.5 million.
Third, church planting organizations won’t give you enough. You will not find a church planting group, denominational entity, or church that will give you enough to plant. Each group will only give you part of what you need. Church planting organizations budget for how much they will support each plant with. No organization I’ve ever heard of will give everything needed even to support one planter for one year. NAMB and state conventions work together and have set amounts that they will give you. They do not give enough to fully fund a plant. There might be groups or individuals that could pay for the entire thing, but most groups and individuals want to be a part of a team and not take on the whole risk as your only support. Make your plans to recruit a broad base of support.
I’ve heard urban legends about NAMB and state conventions throwing huge amounts of money at church plants. I’ve never heard a specific name though. In my state, NAMB and the state association give $18,000 max per year for 3 years. That is just the equivalent of 2-4 families’ tithe. Most planters I know work multiple jobs. Many planters are on welfare. It’s not as cushy a job as most outsiders assume.
Third, money follows vision. If you get someone’s heart, the money will follow.
A mistake church planters (and support-raising missionaries) make is that they start by asking people to fund their desire to do ministry. It sounds like this, “I want to plant a church to reach an under-reached community in Colorado. Will you give me money so that I can do this?”
A better method is to ask people to care and help reach a community without a gospel-preaching church in Colorado. Ask them to pray for it, care about it, help you do the work. When you have people that know, pray, and go, then their heart will be in it. You can then ask them to give. You want to ask excited people to do ministry with you, not fund your ministry. It sounds like, “You have been praying for and learning about the needs in this community. Would you help reach them by supporting us?”
Fourth, foundations manage money, so pay attention to philanthropy that can help you. Many wealthy people don’t have the time or interest in vetting their philanthropy. They give money to foundations that give grants or support for certain priorities or geographies. There are foundations that help churches buy or renovate buildings. Look into those foundations for support.
Fifth, guard your heart and your ministry. Flee greed. Don’t use people for their money. You are ministering to people. Some have money; some don’t. Don’t misuse, manipulate, or favor people with money.
Sixth, wealthy people need discipleship too. Henri Nouwen wrote a book called The Spirituality of Fundraising. He’s not a source I normally recommend, but he argues that fundraising is actually spiritual if we see it as a chance to help people follow God with their money. Fundraising shouldn’t be manipulating something out of someone but helping them steward their resources for God’s glory. They have people in their lives using them and their money. Nouwen writes that they need people to help them use their money for good.
I’ve been in people’s homes and seen the fundraising letters they get from politicians. I see the fundraising calendars from non-profits and orphanages. Some people have the money to make a difference. Faithful pastoring means helping people do great things with their giving. What is better than planting gospel-preaching, disciple-making churches?
At the end of Joanna and Susanna’s lives, I don’t imagine that they regretted anything that they gave. We want to do the same kind of ministry that people are glad to support without regrets.
