Just today another church told us that they were delaying their campaign until next spring.  Why?  Well anyone with half a brain knows that we are in a recession and trying to raise funds now would be a dismal failure.  So, as a result of that kind of thinking pastors and church leaders are delaying moving forward with needed projects and raising funds for those projects.  Some churches have put off their projects and raising funds for two plus years waiting on the economy to get better.  When we talk to them about holding a campaign to raise funds to allow them to build out that project they act as if we are ignorant of the times.  Actually we are very aware of the economic situation.  We believe that in nearly every instance it is in the churches best interest to move forward despite what the economy is doing.  Here are our reasons for advising to move forward now.

Good vision trumps bad economy. Our experience has been throughout this recession that churches with big vision can and do raise significant funds for their projects.  We have worked with churches in some of the hardest hit areas of the country and have seen them raise millions of dollars throughout this recession.  None of these churches had millionaire donors.  Blue collar people rose to support the God given vision.  If you are not raising money it could be your vision is not compelling enough.  People will give to support God’s work despite what the economy is doing.  We have the giving data to support that.

The Bird in the Hand Factor. Remember the old saying, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush?  That saying applies to the possibility that if you move forward with your project and campaign you might see less pledged rather than more.  However, let’s say you only pledge one times your budget over three years time.  That amount is still more than you would have if you had not asked for commitments.

You need to realize that 99% of your donors will not save their money for when you do hold your campaign.  They will either spend it on something or give it to someone else.  While you wait for the perfect time for your campaign other ministries will be fishing in your pond pulling out your fish.  You have to decide if you want to fish our cut bait!  Each year you delay a campaign you will lose thousands of dollars that you will never recapture.  Delaying your campaign does not save you money it costs you money!

Liquidity is the new buzz word when talking to banks. One reason why many churches have delayed their projects is because acquiring money from banks is harder than ever.  It is harder than ever but not impossible.  What helps your standing with the bank is a solid financial picture.  More and more banks are requiring that you have a healthy cash reserve before they will even talk to you about a loan.  A banker told me recently that they were requiring three to six months of operating expense held in reserve before they would even talk to a church about a loan.  Not long after that I asked another bank officer I met if her bank was loaning money.  She said, “Yes, selectively.”  Those who have cash on hand, liquidity, are getting selected for loans.

If you know you have to build soon, one, two or three years away, why not start raising money now?  Even if you don’t have architectural plans you can still raise funds.  You raise funds on a vision not brick and mortar.  Cast a compelling vision and people will give to support it even if it is down the road a year or so.  Starting now to raise funds will give you cash in hand for when you do go to talk to the bank.  Those who approach banks from a position of strength will be the churches banks select to work with.  Those who put off their campaign for a supposed better day will find themselves on the short end of the stick.

I sometimes think that pastors and Christian leaders put us off thinking that all we want is your money.  I confess that I do like to eat and pay my bills.  However, as ministers we are accountable to God for the counsel we give.  There many be times to put off a campaign.  Delaying because you fear the impact of the economy is not necessarily a good idea.  It could be the worst idea of the year, one that will limit your growth and momentum.  So, when a stewardship firm calls you might want to listen.  While we do like to get paid, we are fueled by a passion to help churches succeed.

Just some thoughts…

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

As I write this the Stock Market has opened up by falling over 200 points to go below 10K.  For the last couple of weeks the Market has been extremely volatile to say the least.  We have seen the gains of 2010 wiped out in just a couple of weeks.  As a result all the doomsday prophets are out telling you the sky is falling.  Days like today feeds the fear and anxiety of the public and tends to cause us to react without thinking.  What we need during Market corrections like this is perspective and patience.

Two economists that I follow are Brian Wesbury and Robert Stein.  In their Monday Morning Outlook, an email that anyone can subscribe to they sent the following email yesterday May 24th.  With the Market so volatile it is worth reading.  Here is what they wrote…

“At the risk of sounding like conservative curmudgeons who have nothing better to do than to explain why everyone else just doesn’t get it, we think one of the main problems the markets are having these days is that there is little understanding of history.

The level of anxiety and negativity, by investors, pundits and many analysts, seems out of proportion to the facts. Negativity has reached such high levels that many people seem to have lost perspective. This seems true from a short, medium, and longer-term point of view.

For example, we have seen a proliferation of stories in the media and blogosphere during the past few days about copper – “the metal with a Ph.D. in Economics” or “Dr. Copper.” The stories have focused on the Greece/Euro-induced drop in copper prices from $3.65 per pound in early April to $3.00/lb. in mid-May. This 18% drop is supposedly signaling a double-dip recession.

Don’t count on it. The double-dip crowd has never believed in this recovery. To them, this has always been a “dead-cat bounce” or a “figment of stimulus money.” They believe negative data and ignore positive data. They seem to forget the fact that copper prices bottomed at $1.34/lb. in December 2008 and even after the recent declines are still up 132% from that bottom.

The pessimists did the same thing with last week’s initial unemployment claims data. Initial claims surprised the markets by rising from 444,000 to 471,000. Somehow, this one week of negative data from what is clearly a volatile data source became more important than the past four months of overall employment statistics. The Household Survey has counted almost 2 million new jobs in the past four months, while the Payroll Survey is showing solid (200,000+) job growth again.

As we have said before, anxiety has reached such dramatic levels that economic-hypochondria has taken over the punditry and many investors. This is unfortunate.

History shows Great Depressions are very rare things. Believing that one is happening again, and buying gold or sitting in cash is a risky strategy.

Yes, tax rates are scheduled to go higher. We get it. But, they won’t move up until next year at the earliest, and the actual size of the tax hike may be affected dramatically by the election in November. Moreover, tax rates were much higher in the past and the US did not collapse.

And, yes, government is growing like crazy and deficits are huge (unbelievably huge). But this does not guarantee collapse. The US still has $150 trillion in assets and more than $15 trillion in annual output. A company of that size could easily afford to carry $10 trillion in debt.

Don’t get us wrong. We think government is too big and too intrusive and it will harm the economy over time. But, it will not kill the economy today, or even next year. Productivity is booming. New technology is lifting wealth, and living standards are rising – despite government growth.

Some might say that it is not the Great Depression we should worry about, but the 1970s all over again. This, we can agree with. However, during certain periods of that decade, particularly during 1975-76, the economy and the stock market both boomed. That’s what we are experiencing right now – a boom amidst an uncertain future.’

So what about we in the church?  What should your response be as a Christian leader?  Here are some thoughts…

Remind people that our faith is not in our 401K’s but in the God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills!

Remind them that hope does not come from Wall Street or Washington, despite which party is in power, but from Jesus our only hope.

Point to the faithfulness of God in the past recessions and His promise to always be with us.

Appeal to them to continue to put God first in all things so that they will continue to receive God’s blessings.

Help them understand that true happiness is not found in the accumulation of possessions but in an abiding walk with Christ.

Help them to walk by faith and not by sight.

Finally, lead them to rejoice in the Lord, for the joy of the Lord is our strength!

My point with this post is to simply help us realize that at the end of the day God is still in control despite what the Market does or does not do.  As I am reading through the New Testament I am finally in the book of Revelation.  While there is much that is difficult to understand about this book the one thing that you can understand is that our side wins!  The Market is falling, even so come Lord Jesus!

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

If you understand how the Stock Market works you are probably not reading this blog.  Frankly I have doubts that anyone truly understands how that place works even the people that work there!  Oh, I know that you can explain it all in text book language.  Of course it can be explained and understood at least in theory.  Yet after the recent volatility, while you might be able to explain it all you certainly cannot predict it.

As a former pastor I use to spend my Friday mornings working on sermons.  That involved reading not only the text but numerous commentaries.  Now since I no longer preach on Sundays I spend my mornings pouring over financial news.  I even read the business section and the entire Wall Street Journal before I read the sports page.  At least now that college football season is over I stick to that routine.

All this reading of articles, websites, newspapers, position papers and books has given me some knowledge of this complex system.  However it seems the more I study the less I know.  One thing that I have concluded in all this is that no ones knows what the outcome of the Market will be.  Too many so called experts have been wrong.

With that in mind and even though I did not stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, I stayed at the Hampton Inn, here are some observations.

Don’t panic over one days loss or one weeks loss. In October of 2008 the Market took a major plunge.  401K’s lost about 30% to 40%.  The “experts” talked about it taking years for the value to be returned to those funds.  In March of 2009 the Market began its upward climb.  Until just a few days ago most funds had recovered their losses of 2008.  Much faster than many people predicted.  Smart financial advisers told their investors not to panic but weather the storm.  The same advice should be heeded now.  The declines of the last week will return in time.

Course corrections are common with the Stock Market. While the press loves a bad story and a one day decline of 376 points is certainly negative it is not abnormal.  USA Today quotes Ned Davis Research as saying, “Going back to 1929, the S&P 500 has suffered 93 corrections.  They typically occur every 234 trading days, on average, or every 12 months.”  So, while the Market remains volatile I do believe we are still in a Bull Market, meaning stocks will rise.

The recent Stock Market decline does not mean that we are heading back into recession. Consider these facts from Oppenheimer’s website…

Industrial production rose 0.8% in April, slightly outpacing expectations. Manufacturing production (as opposed to utilities or mining), rose 1.0%, with strength across many of the sector’s sub-categories. Capacity utilization—a measure of how much of the nation’s industrial capacity is in use—rose to 73.7% from 73.1%. Utilization is picking up again as the recovery gains steam, but remains well below potentially inflationary levels.

The Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index rose to 73.3 at mid-May from 72.2 at the end of April.

Finally, business inventories rose 0.4% in March, with solid gains across the wholesale, retail and merchant wholesale categories. Sales (across all categories, not just retail) grew 2.3% in the month, bringing the inventory-to-sales ratio to its lowest recorded level. With sales growth outstripping that of inventories, businesses will have to ramp up production, which should support U.S. economic growth and new hiring going forward.

So, while the headlines scream about the recent declines in the market there is hope for the future.  The talking heads on TV banter back and forth about what this all means.  At the end of the day I settle into the long view of things.  Historically the Market and the economy has always recovered from recessionary set backs.  Once again we are seeing that recovery happen, albeit slower than we might like.  It is not a time to pull back or to panic.  Don’t let the headlines scare you.  Stay the course and keep your trust in that which is ultimately trust worthy, our heavenly Father.

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

A few years ago when I was starting The Charis Group the guy who was doing our print materials said after hearing our concept, “Jerry Maguire!”  My reply was who?  “You know the movie “Jerry Maguire” where the sports agent decides that working more with less clients is the key to doing agency right,” he said.  I had to confess that I had never watched the movie.  My wife Tivo’d it and we sat down one afternoon to watch Tom Cruise in the role of sports agent Jerry Maguire.  About thirty minutes into the movie I said, “I’m Jerry Maguire!”  She looked at Tom Cruise, looked back at me and smiled and said, “Yes, hon, you are Jerry Maquire.”

Ok, so I am not Tom Cruise or the mythical Jerry Maguire.  Yet in concept The Charis Group approaches stewardship consulting in much the same manner.  Our goal is to revolutionize this industry.  I believe passionately that stewardship firms like ours serve a much needed purpose for churches.  Using a firm like mine you can raise a lot more money than if you did it on your own.  Sadly, however, due to some having more of a business mind set rather than a ministry mind set many churches and pastors have a bad taste in their mouths about my industry.  My goal is to change that one church at a time.

What makes us different?  Here are the main foundational points that we call The Charis Way.

• Integrity – Honesty and truthfulness – I would rather tell you the truth and lose your business than give you a sales answer and lose your respect!
• Experience - We have the most experienced consultants in the industry.  It is not the company you hire but the consultant you engage.
• High Impact/High Involvement - We ask the questions you are not thinking about before you need to think about them.  We give all we have for you and your church.
• Accessibility - We limit the number of churches that we take to no more than eight in a calendar year thus giving you more accessibility to us.
• Solutions Based Consulting - We are wed to solutions not programs.  Others offer you meaningless websites that do nothing, or a manual with your name on the top.  We actually consult church by church.
• Sustained Follow Up - Most talk about follow up, few do it.  We stay with you for the entire length of the campaign.  Ask our references and they will tell you that.
• A Biblical Approach - At the end of the day unless the Lord builds the house we labor in vain.  We help you weave campaign principles into your church through a prayerful Bible based approach.

We are not the biggest firm out there.  I have never wanted to be the biggest.  I do want to be the best.  We are not the oldest but we are one of the most experienced.  Like the old Avis slogan that said, “We try harder,” the same is true for us.  We promise to give you our all so that you can see your dreams fulfilled.  Our goal is to take your good and make it better!  Give us a call today.

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

The tail wags the dog.  You have heard that old saying many times.  Sadly in church life it is all too true.  We often spend more time worrying about a minority of our members than we do being concerned about doing the right thing.  Recently I received a call from a layman at a church who asked me about sending out update letters to the top pledgers of their campaign.  The purpose was to thank them for their support and encourage them to continue to give through the summer.  The elder board had vetoed the idea not because it was not a good idea.  They vetoed the plan for fear that it might offend the “others.”

Like the main cast in the opening season of the TV show “Lost” I have to ask who are the “others?”  In the case of many churches I am not sure they actually exist.  If they do exist, and sadly in many they are there, they are few in number.  I once spent days at a church talking to leaders and lay people to gauge the mood of the congregation.  The pastor had told me going into the assessment that he had a large contingent of “others.”  At the end of my review I found that the “others” were few in number.  While they made a lot of noise they made very little impact with the vast majority of the congregation.  Their views were not held as important and were in fact seen as out of step with what the church needed to do.  Yet these few members had managed to stop the progress of the church because leaders were afraid of offending them.  The tail was definitely wagging the dog at that church.

Frankly we should not be surprised that there are “others” in our congregations.  If you look at the Bible you will find story after story of God wanting the people to move forward only to be challenged by “others.”  Nehemiah was led by God to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.  At the beginning of this great work he faced opposition from without by Sanballat and Tobiah.  What many miss is that in he also faced opposition from within his own camp.  Nehemiah 4:10 records that, “the people in Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.”  The next few verses talk about how the people feared attack.  Nehemiah did not let these fears distract him from God’s purpose.  As a result the walls were rebuilt in fifty-two days.  Nehemiah 6:16 records, “When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations, were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.” Nehemiah refused the let the tail wag the dog.  As a result God’s work was accomplished and God received the glory.

Here are some thoughts…

When doing a work for God you can always expect opposition.

Opposition will come from without and from within.

When faced with opposition from within consider the source.

Do those that oppose what you are doing do so from a spiritual perspective or a personal one?

Has the record of their past been one of wise Godly counsel or continual complaining?

Is their spirit one that reflects Christ like character or worldly tactics?

Many years ago the pastor I grew up under asked one of my peers a question as he was faced with making a decision at his church.  He asked, “If fear were not a factor what would you do?”  I want to ask, If you were not afraid of the “others” in your church what would you do?  If something is the right thing to do why do we let a few in our congregation talk us out of it?  What is really sad is that most of the time we don’t even know what the “others” might have done because we never take any action out of fear of what might happen.  Stop letting the tail wag the dog in your church.  You might have to put up with some noise but in the end you will discover that the “others” are more bark than bite.  What would you do if fear were not a factor?

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

I was a Senior Pastor for twenty years.  For the last twelve and a half years I have worked in the stewardship field helping pastors raise money for various causes.  I have sat in Joel Osteen’s dining room talking to him about raising money.  That same week I met with a pastor in West Virginia that ran 200 in worship.  So I have pretty much seen it all from the largest church in North America to some of the smallest.  In working with pastors both large and small I have found that despite the size they tend to all make the same mistakes when it comes to raising money.

Listed below are the most common mistakes that I have seen.  Make sure you are not guilty of these mistakes.  As I work with pastors I find these mistakes often trip them up when it comes to raising funds.

1.  Not becoming involved in the process of raising funds. This is the most common mistake of all.  Too often I find that pastors think this is not something they should be concerned about at all.  They might farm the task out to a committee or a staff member.  There is nothing wrong with assigning the duty to others but as a pastor you need to keep involved in the process.  When I ask a pastor what the budget is, or what their debt load is or their monthly payment, they often do not know the answer.  As the Senior leader of your organization there is no excuse for not knowing this important detail.

When it comes to raising money, from the regular weekly offering to capital campaigns, no one is better at it than the pastor.  When pastors disconnect from this vital area they are only hurting the church and themselves.  Get involved and stay involved!

2.  Waiting too late to do anything about finances. In my mind this comes in second.  Too often pastors are guilty of falling prey to the tyranny of the urgent.  After all there is a sermon coming up on Sunday to prepare for.  Staff meetings, visitations, counseling, committee meetings, and on and on.  Too often finances gets pushed to the back burner.  Then when times get tough and the offering plate is not as full as it was or should be THEN the pastor tries to do something.

I am finding that most pastors are very poor at long range planning.  This is particularly true when it comes to capital campaigns and other finances.  The only time they seem to think about it is at the last minute.  When you do not give yourself ample time you tend to rush through things.  The old saying is true, “Haste makes waste.”

Start thinking ahead of time about your financial needs.  Even if you think your project is a year or two away it pays to start sooner rather than later.  Those that start sooner have more flexibility and in the end greater success than those that wait until the last minute.

3.  Not giving enough time to stewardship. I tell pastors regularly that they need to spend at least ten to twenty percent of their time on stewardship.  I fear that advice goes in one ear and out the other.  Yet those pastors that are weathering the storm of this recent recession are finding greater success than those that spend little to no time on stewardship.  If you hardly ever think about stewardship then you are risking financial doom in the future.  You are the best fundraiser at your church.  If you do not give time to this necessary task then you will not raise the funds you need.

This is doubly true when it comes to a capital stewardship campaign.  I have had pastors want to hire us so that they do not have to do anything to raise funds for their project.  We do not save you time we help you use your time effectively!  If you want to have a successful campaign you need to give it what it needs the most, your time.  I often tell pastors that they are going to live the next three years on the effort they put into the campaign in the next three to four months.  Give your stewardship efforts the time they deserve!

4.  Falsely assuming that they talk too much about money and that giving is none of their business. While I don’t want to rehash two chapters in my recent book, “Stewardship Myths,” I find these two mistakes often sidetrack most pastors.  The church does not talk about money too much but too little.  Also, pastors who are ignorant of the giving trends of their church are handicapped in terms of knowing how to effectively lead their church.  Giving is a spiritual endeavor and as the spiritual leader of your church you must be involved.  Don’t let anyone talk you out of your God given role as the spiritual leader of ALL aspects of your church life.

While there are perhaps other mistakes that pastors make these are some of the most prominent.  Make sure that you are not guilty of these mistakes and you will go a long way towards meeting your budget needs.  Doing that will help fuel the dreams of ministry God has given you.

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

Remember the scene in the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy and her cohorts see the man behind the curtain operating the controls to the Wizard of Oz?  He booms into the microphone, “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!”  It is all a rouse, there is no all powerful Wizard, just a man trying to scare people with smoke and mirrors.  In my estimation the same could be said for the current volatility of the Stock Market.  We have seen recent fears of the Greek debt crisis cause the Market to plunge.  In an hour it dropped nearly 1,000 points last week.  Was it human error, computer error, a trade gone bad?  Still we do not know.  For whatever reason the Market gave up all it’s 2010 gains in a few days of trading.  Then on Monday news comes out of a European bailout and wham stocks climb by 404 points.  Now, as reality settles in stocks world wide slumping.  Watching the Stock Market is like watching a roller coaster.

Too many people use the Stock Market as a gauge of how the economy is doing.  They act as if it sets the temperature of the economy.  The Stock Market is not the thermostat for the economy but rather acts like a thermometer of how some investors feel about the state of the economy.  While the Market’s rise and fall plays into the strength or weakness of the economy it is only one factor among many that must be considered.  Too often the mood of the country is tied to what the Market has done that day.  For instance as the Market plunged last week many were proclaiming that the recessions recovery was over and we were entering into a period of decline.

Economists have been debating if the recent recovery is V shaped or W shaped.  A W shaped recovery means we decline, come out only to plunge back into recession.  A V shaped recovery means we have declined and are on our way up.  I believe we are in a V shaped recovery.  Brian Wesbury and Robert Stein, economists I follos wrote the following in their Monday morning outlook…

“A real, but brief, correction hit the markets last week. We may never know exactly what caused the Wall Street drop, but the lack of an uptick rule didn’t help. Nonetheless, at the bottom on Thursday, the market experienced its first true 10% correction in 14 months. Short-sellers were basically gleeful and many politically motivated pundits took the drop as a sign of economic trouble.

But this correction came just when economic data took a very visible turn for the better. Friday’s employment report provided a huge “thumbs up” for the V-shaped recovery. The fundamentals of Main Street are improving.

Since the middle of last year the economy has been growing at about a 4% annual rate. And like most recoveries the labor market has been a lagging indicator.  But that typical lag is clearly over.

Private-sector payrolls have grown four months in a row and have expanded at an average rate of 200,000 in the past two months. Meanwhile, civilian employment – an alternative measure of jobs that includes the self-employed and new start-up businesses – jumped 550,000 in April, pushing the total for the past four months to 1.9 million. That’s right 1.9 million new jobs – better than at any time in the booming late 1990s.

These rapid and persistent gains in civilian employment are extremely important. The government’s measure of civilian employment is usually very volatile from month to month, a function of a small sample size by the Labor Department. So getting four straight gains is quite a feat and signals a great deal of underlying strength. After the recession that ended in March 1991, we did not get four straight gains until late 1992/early 1993, when the labor market recovery was finally in full swing. After the recession that ended in November 2001, we didn’t get four straight gains until late 2003.

Those who want to bad-mouth the economic recovery are now left grasping at straws. Take former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, who focused on the rise in the unemployment rate and told Stuart Varney on Fox Business News that Friday’s report was not a good sign.

She focused on the uptick in the unemployment rate to 9.9% in April, but this was due to an 805,000 surge in the labor force. With all due respect, Ms. Chao’s argument, in effect, was that when someone who doesn’t have a job finally decides his prospects are good enough to start looking again, that that’s somehow a bad sign. That’s ridiculous.

Moreover, the labor force has grown at an annualized 3.8% rate in the past four months – this is nearly five times faster than the 10-year average of 0.8%. If the labor force would have grown at its normal rate (with population growth) in the past four months, the unemployment rate would be 9% today, not 9.9%. Soon, the labor force growth rate will slow, and with job growth now at roughly 200,000+ per month, the unemployment rate will fall rapidly.

Another concern of the pessimists is that average hourly earnings have been stagnating of late. But they are missing the fact that workers are getting more hours. Average weekly earnings are up at a 3.5% annual rate in the past six months. The benefits are two-fold – slower hourly wage growth translates into higher profits, while rising hours translates to more consumer spending power.

Month-in, month-out, the fundamentals for the US economy keep getting better. Corrections happen, no matter what the cause. But corrections are temporary. The Bull Market will live on.”

I think that is good news and good advice.  While some are conjuring up scary images of a frightening Oz breathing smoke and bellowing threats others see real signs of recovery.  We are not out of the woods yet.  Certainly we could see stormy days ahead but I do believe we are on the way up.

Even if the Market is experiencing a bumpy ride my hope is not in my 401K but in something much more solid.  I am reminded of the great hymn that says, “On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand- All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand.”  Our eyes as Christian leaders should not be on the Market but upon the Maker!  Look up to Heaven for your guidance and direction not to Wall Street.  Ignore that man behind the curtain.

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

Like many Americans I have had it with Washington politicians on both sides of the aisle.  They say one thing and do the other.  It is about time we called them ALL into accounts.  While I am very opinionated in my political views I try to keep politics out of this blog.  For one thing this blog is about stewardship issues as it relates to Christian ministries.  Some of my readers vote one way and others vote another.  They come here for advice on stewardship not on advice about how they should or should not support this or that politician.

Today I am making an exception to my standard rule about political writing and speak to an issue that few seem to be noticing, the lack of charity among our elected officials.  I am not talking about name calling or the other uncharitable things that politicians do to one another.  I am talking about their over all dismal record of giving to charities.  These wealthy individuals seem to not realize that to whom much is given much is expected.  While they expect we Americans to do our part they in turn are failing to do their parts.

In the spirit of bipartisanship I am going to list several politicians earnings and giving records below.  See if you can find your favorite candidate.

President Barack and Michelle Obama - The Obama’s last year earned $5.6 million dollars and gave nearly 6% or $329,100 to charity.  That is much improved from the year’s before he announced his bid to run for president when they gave just less than 1% to charity while making not millions but well into the six figure categories.  For a guy who famously said to Joe the Plummer that we need to spread the wealth around his charitable giving, while improving, still is not a shining example of charity.  Presidents Reagan, Bush and Clinton were much more charitable.

Vice-President Joe and Jill Biden - The Biden’s also upped their charitable giving last year to a whopping 1.5% of their $333,182 income.  While we might think that miserly consider that in years past Joe and Jill gave on average  just .14% of their six figure combined incomes to charity.  So, they are making progress I guess.

Sarah Palin - In 2006 and 2007, she and her husband donated 2 to 3 percent of their income, or about $4,000. Most of those donations, according to her tax returns, were of clothes and household items to the Salvation Army in Wasilla, Alaska.  Not hardly the kind of giving to make your heart glow.  It is reported now that Palin is making millions in appearance and speaking fees.  Let’s see if the Palin’s become more generous now that they live more comfortably as millionaires as opposed to having to make due on six figure salaries.

Dick Chaney - The Daily Beast reports, “When Dick Cheney was still a vice-presidential candidate in 2000, the charitable donations column in his tax return caught the eyes of the media. During the 1990s, Cheney earned $20,677,742 and donated $209,832, or just over 1 percent of his income, putting him well below the American average.  More recently, he and his wife, Lynne, have atoned for their tight-fistedness. In 2005, when they made over $8.8 million, the Cheneys donated just under $6.9 million to charity after exercising stock options and royalties from Mrs. Cheney’s books, according to their tax return.”

Political activist and former Presidential candidate Jesse Jackson - The Sisyphus Files reports that, “He has often claimed that he operates from a “liberal spirit of compassion and love” while conservatives are “heartless and uncaring toward the silent poor.” But according to his publicly-released tax returns, he regularly donates less than 1 percent to charity.”

In the spirit of fairness I will give kudos to the McCain’s and Clinton’s.

Bill and Hillary Clinton - The Daily Beast reports, “In the eight years after President Bill Clinton left office, he and Hillary soared north through the tax brackets, earning a combined $109 million. Much of that wealth came from blockbuster memoir sales and huge speaking fees. During those eight years, tax returns show they recorded some $10.2 million in charitable contributions, or a very generous 9.35 percent of their income.”

John and Cindy McCain - McCain gave 18% to charities in 2006, 26% to charities in 2007.  His wife, who is a multi-millionaire gives a high percentage to charity although most goes to John and Cindy McCain Family Foundation, which makes direct contributions to charities.

I find the giving of most of our politicians dismal to say the least.  How can you make $5.6 million dollars and not give more money away?  It’s not as if they have rent to pay.  How can you earn a healthy six figure income and give less than 1% to charities?  How can you be the banner girl of conservatism and give so little?  Was Sarah absent from church the Sunday’s her pastor preached on giving?  Why is it that only after the public light comes on looking at your tax returns that many of these politicians even bother to raise their giving percentages?  Frankly it is a discouraging.  In my mind it is one more reason that Americans are fed up with our do as I say and not as I do politicians.

So, while my bully pulpit is limit to you few who read this, I none the less am calling upon our politicians to put their money where their mouths are.  One great way to spread the wealth of American is through giving.  Here is a thought for our politicians, give the average of what Americans give.  It is reported that 89% of Americans give something to charity.  The average is 3.1% of their income.  That might be a good goal for some of our politicians.  After all I would not want to over burden them by asking they give 10% or more.  I mean who would pay the liquor bill?  Oh, that is right, most of the time we tax payers pay the liquor bill.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently ran up a $100K bill on a trip for food and booze all paid by you and me.  So, since we paid for dinner and drinks how about giving more to charity this year.  I am not holding my breath.

We deserve better!

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

We do one thing and do it well.  We help churches raise a lot of money.  We know we can help you raise much more money than if you tried to do it on your own.  While raising money has a lot of nuances to it at the end of the day you engage a stewardship firm for one thing, to help you raise the most money possible.  Yet as I look over the various websites of my competitors it amazes me at the approaches used to get your business.  The attempt is to show you something unique, flashy or catchy that the firm touts that no one else has or does.  It is a sales technique.  If you are not careful you will fall prey to the latest bobble or trinket when what you really want and need is help raising a chunk of change.

In over a decade of being in this ministry I have seen a lot of sales techniques to get a churches business.  Here are some of my favorites that are out there and my observations of them.

Our average pledge to budget ratio is X. You fill in the number for X.  It varies from company to company.  Typically it will be at least two times budget raised and is sometimes touted to be four times budget raised.  This is the biggest whopper of them all.  Nearly every firm I know refuses to really know what their ratio is.  Figuring out what it is would then mean they did not have plausible deniability.  One time when I worked for another firm a sales guy told a church that our average pledge to budget was 2.4.  When we got in the car I asked him how he knew that.  He said, “Oh, I made it up, but I bet it is about that.”  In other words he lied to impress the potential client.

Asking a firm’s pledge to budget ratio is asking the wrong question.  There are so many factors that go into a campaign.  I have had clients that did one times their budget and were thrilled.  When I was first starting in this ministry one of the guys training me had a church do four times their budget and asked for their money back!  The truth is that it is an apples to oranges kind of question.  Be wary of any firm that brags about their pledge to budget ratio.

We offer a ministry approach to capital campaigns. This sounds good and spiritual.  In fact many firms state this and believe it with all their hearts.  However when you press them for details they will tell you about the program that they put together for you.  They will tell you about the teams they train to do work.  The fallacy is that teams and work does not necessarily mean ministry.  Nor does a program mean ministry.  Too often we in the church insert a program, call it ministry and hope for God’s blessing.  Programs are easy to implement.  While there is an element of programming to a capital campaign it is not the same as ministry.  Don’t be fooled into engaging with a firm simply because they claim to be about ministry.  After all you were the one God called to the church to do ministry not the stewardship firm.  Stewardship firms exist to help you raise funds to fuel your dreams of ministry not do ministry for you.

We offer online 24/7 help for your church. I managed an online campaign delivery for a firm for a couple of years.  In fact much of that site still bears my mark.  At the end of the day it did little towards giving comprehensive help to volunteers or staff members.  One pastor said of it, “All it is is a glorified Microsoft Outlook.  In fact we could have utilized Outlook just as well.”  The truth is that those firms that tout online delivery for a campaign are only utilizing it as a sales tactic to impress you with how hip and relevant they are.  Online programs are just that, pre-packaged online programs with your name on top.  In the end no matter how glitzy they look, or even if they actually work, it does not help you raise one dime more.  It might look nice but it will not mean more money for you and your church.

We help raise up leaders.  We help craft your vision.  We print your materials.  We do this or that… The list here could be endless.  Think about it.  You are talking to stewardship firms about stewardship not raising up leaders.  While vision is important towards raising dollars that is not my primary focus.  My focus is taking your vision and helping you raise money.  Firms often tell you about their lessons they have written for you or their sermons or whatever.  It is an attempt to sell you soap.  I don’t write lesson materials because there is better stuff out there than what I can write.  I don’t print your brochure as there are firms whose expertise is in that area.  I partner with firms that do these tasks well.  We do one thing, stewardship.  Make sure the firm you engage does stewardship first and foremost.

So what should you be looking for?  Here are some quick bullet points.

• Expertise. Has the consultant, not the company, the necessary experience to help you?
• Time. Is the consultant limited to only a few churches a year so that they have time for you?  One dirty secret of the stewardship industry is that most consultants are way over worked.
• Connection. Do you like the person you are interviewing?  If you would not have lunch with them why do you think you would listen to any advice they give?
• Strategic Thinking. Are they asking questions you have not thought of?  Is he talking about issues that you were not aware of or had not thought of?  If you can not tell in one hour that he will add value to you keep looking!
• Results. Call others who have worked with the consultants.  Ask them probing questions.

Those are a few of the things that should matter to you.  I believe in my industry that we truly provide help to churches.  Sadly it is a competitive industry that often makes firms resort to sales tactics that have nothing to do with actually raising you money.  Be sure that you are getting what you really want, help raising funds.

As always, we would love to partner with you!

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group