A church capital campaign is a significant undertaking, requiring a unified congregation, clear vision, and substantial financial commitment. Whether you’re purchasing land, building a sanctuary, or launching a new ministry initiative, maximizing participation is essential to seeing the vision become reality. Drawing on insights from Injoy Stewardship Solutions, here’s how you can encourage and engage more people in your campaign journey.

1. Understanding the Giving Journey

Participation in a capital campaign is a discipleship journey. Many churchgoers progress through financial stages that impact their ability to give. Recognizing these stages helps leaders disciple their congregation toward greater generosity.

The five stages of giving, known as the 5 S’s, are:

• Struggling – Many people, particularly young families, face financial challenges, including mortgages, car payments, student loans, and credit card debt. For them, giving may feel impossible.
• Stability – Through stewardship education, individuals move from financial struggle to stability by learning to budget, eliminate debt, and manage money in a way that honors God.
• Surrender – Once financial stability is achieved, individuals recognize God’s ownership over their finances. This is when a true culture of generosity begins to develop.
• Sacrifice – The heart of a capital campaign involves sacrificial giving. When individuals move from surrender to sacrifice, they willingly give above and beyond for the mission.
• Surplus – Some reach a point of financial abundance. The key is ensuring that surplus does not decrease reliance on God but instead fuels further generosity.

2. The Importance of Stewardship Education

A financially struggling congregation cannot fully participate in a campaign. Churches that prioritize stewardship education—teaching budgeting, debt elimination, and biblical money management—create financially healthy members who are better prepared to give.

When a congregation understands financial principles from a biblical perspective, they move towards stability and surrender, making sacrificial giving a natural next step.

3. Creating a Culture of Generosity

Generosity doesn’t happen overnight; it is cultivated through discipleship and engagement. Churches should:

• Teach biblical stewardship regularly.
• Encourage members to take their next financial step, whether that’s moving from nothing to something, something to regular giving, or regular giving to sacrificial giving.
• Celebrate all participation levels. First-time givers and consistent givers should be recognized and encouraged.

4. Engaging the Entire Church

Participation isn’t just about financial giving. Time and talent often precede treasure. Church leaders should focus on increasing volunteerism and engagement before asking for financial commitments.

Ways to increase engagement include:

• Creating opportunities for members to serve in the church before the campaign.
• Clearly communicating the vision and impact of the campaign.
• Providing testimonies of lives changed through generosity.

5. Measuring Success Beyond Dollars

While financial goals are important, churches should also measure success in other ways:

• Increased Engagement – More volunteers, increased attendance, and greater involvement indicate a healthy campaign.
• New Givers – A successful campaign should inspire first-time givers.
• Overall Giving Growth – A campaign should not redirect regular giving but instead increase total generosity.
• Spiritual Growth – When people surrender their finances to God, their faith deepens.

6. Casting a Clear and Compelling Vision

People give to vision, not to needs. A successful campaign:

• Clearly communicates the mission and impact of the project.
• Shows how giving contributes to eternal impact.
• Connects financial commitment to spiritual growth.

When a congregation unites around a shared vision and trusts church leadership, generosity follows.

Conclusion

Maximizing participation in a capital campaign is about more than just raising money—it’s about discipleship, engagement, and spiritual transformation. By guiding people through the five stages of giving, prioritizing stewardship education, fostering a culture of generosity, and measuring success beyond financial goals, churches can experience overwhelming participation that leads to more than enough for their mission.

When individuals recognize God as the owner and themselves as stewards, their giving becomes an act of worship, and the entire church is transformed in the process.