Capital Campaigns

THE ECONOMY’S DOWNTURN HAS been the subject of concern for homeowners, consumers and presidential hopefuls. Are we headed into a huge recession? How will it affect your church? Already, many church leaders aren’t willing to take out loans. “Church demand is down, and I believe it is due to the economy,” says J. Lyndon Johnson, president of Johnson Mortgage ...

Looking to sound off? E-mail opinions on this or other hot topics to Managing Editor Lacey Nadeau at lnadeau@vpico.com. Sometimes it seems you need to hire a consultant to advise you on whether or not to hire a consultant! Church finances are hard enough to keep straight, and a budget is not an easy thing to keep balanced. So ...

In the early part of the 1900s, church giving was done in cash, which was a voucher for precious metal. Precious metal was the exchange for grain and animals. Checks became dominant in the ’50s, but are now losing ground to electronic transactions, which are considered by many givers to be more secure and convenient. It is inevitable that churches ...

By now, many churches are aware that making it possible for members to tithe online is an essential tool for ministry. With the Internet now influencing more than 65 percent of donors before they give -- whether online or offline (Kintera/Luth Non-Profit Trend Report, 2005) -- churches can not only make it more convenient for people to give, they can also ...

Are you making a million-dollar mistake? The Space Shuttle Discovery recently blasted off into space amid great concern for its safety. That concern was based in part from the failed re-entry of Columbia in 2003. It was not until 2005 that Discovery flew at all, after months of attempting to correct the errors that led to the fatal crash ...