4 Funding Models for Church Planters

Episode 643: Ed Stetzer, Tiffany Smith and Clint Clifton discuss the advantages and disadvantages of four different approaches to funding a church plant.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Some of the advantages and disadvantages of four possible approaches to fund church planting:

• The “Shark Tank” approach
• The “School Fundraiser” approach
• The “Get a Job” approach
• The “Campus Crusade” approach

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

Some assume that planting is like a business: You get a business loan and get started. But that’s not really the way it works. @clintjclifton

The “Shark Tank” approach depends really heavily on the quality of the church planter’s pitch. @clintjclifton 

The missiological effect of that paradigm is that it cultivates top-down leadership. You automatically are going to be fighting that paradigm and have to be very intentional about unleashing the whole church. @tiffanydsmith

The least common approach is what I call the “School Fundraiser” approach. The church plant tries to raise money by selling things in order to fund the mission. @clintjclifton

One church we planted had a “baby shower” for our new church. You can buy our nursery equipment or our sound equipment. @edstetzer

I’m of the view that you develop the resources anywhere, in any way you can ethically and appropriately. @edstetzer

The posture of the individual is important. If the community feels like it’s a pushy car salesman kind of thing, then it’s going to be negative for the the missional movement. But if it’s a blessing to the community, then I think it would be super helpful. @tiffanydsmith 

The church I’m involved in went into partnership with a developer and we’re building an apartment complex. Some of the revenue off the apartment complex will will fund our ministry and mission. @clintjclifton

The next one is the “Get a Job” approach and this is bivocational church planting. No fundraising needed. The planter works really hard until the church is able to offer enough support for the planter to become a staff member. @clintjclifton

One of the coolest aspects of this approach is that a lay leader or a member in the church is seeing before them a life lived out in the marketplace and that it’s a normal practice. @tiffanydsmith

I’ve seen people who are so intertwined in the community that their work gives them insight into the needs and the pulse of the community. They’re also building up relational equity. @tiffanydsmith

The next one I call the “Campus Crusade” approach, which seeks commitments from individuals to give regularly monthly amounts to support an individual missionary. @clintjclifton

This is a wonderful opportunity for people to be blessed by God to participate in the mission. @edstetzer

I love the idea of “We’re a family and so we’re supporting one another.” If you are recruiting 50 to 100 individuals to support the mission, they are a part of that mission too. It is highly relational. @tiffanydsmith

Helpful Resources:

• Clint Clifton’s article – Demystifying Church Planter Funding 
• Bill Dillon’s book – People Raising: A Practical Guide to Raising Support
• Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer
• Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass?

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