Pennington Park Church (Fishers, Indiana) strives to know Jesus and make Him known. They're dedicated to spreading the word of Jesus and sharing His love with their community. With its congregation growing, the church recognized the need to expand its building to better serve its members. To achieve this goal, they partnered with Us, Abstract Union, a boutique marketing agency known for creating bespoke campaign materials for faith-based organizations.
However, the church soon realized that its success depended not only on raising funds but also on communicating its plans for expansion to its members. Abstract Union rose to the challenge, devising a unique set of church-building campaign materials that utilized contemporary visuals and compelling copy to articulate the vision for the new space. This capital campaign was a huge hit, fueling a spike in both number of congregants and gifts. And allowed the church to renovate and expand its building to better serve its community for greater "Impact." Our goal is for the church capital campaign to be a great success, catalyzing a surge in both the number of congregants and gifts. We aspire for Pennington's vision to come to fruition, revamping and enlarging its building to better serve the community, and elevate its impact.
Crafting the campaign was a meticulous process, refining a strategy that would resonate with Pennington members while staying true to the church's brand identity. The resulting campaign materials inspired greater financial contributions and helped the church achieve its funding goals. This collaboration tells the story of how Abstract Union and Pennington Park Church came together to bring an exciting project to fruition while staying true to the church's vision and existing brand identity- proof that effective communication and tangible assets are key for a thriving campaign.
For churches, strong photo-based campaigns and a compelling message can prove to be game-changers. The quick-read copy on a poster or brochure can capture attention and resonate with those with even limited time. Meanwhile, longer-form copy provides the detailed information that donors need before contributing. Campaign materials can help leverage the force of a community by inspiring them to donate, volunteer or support the church in various other ways. Effective campaigns are the cornerstone of any successful church building financing and fundraising efforts.
About Pennington's Needs & Church Building Campaign Strategy
Pennington Park Church is currently facing challenges related to limited capacity in its building, which is hindering its ability to have a greater impact on the community. The church leadership has developed a comprehensive strategy and is launching a three-year church-wide campaign with the ambitious goal of raising $5,000,000 to fund their expansion plan.
The $5,000,000 will allow them to not just construct a larger sanctuary, but will also fund additional children’s ministry classrooms, adult education rooms, a student ministry space, a large kitchen, and additional office spaces for their staff. This new, larger infrastructure will enable the church to hold more services, offer more programs, and accommodate more members, expanding its outreach capacity and providing a more welcoming environment for the community at large.
It is the church's hope that they can reach their goal of 100% member participation, encouraging all members to make equal sacrifices for this important church campaign. This will ensure that Pennington Park Church is well-resourced and well-positioned to continue serving the community at large with an expanded capacity for greater "Impact."
Growing A Church's Impact Through Funding
For churches to expand their reach, increased funding is essential. It requires a strong commitment from the congregation and community at large. However, church funding solutions should be reduced to the meager concept of "solicitation of donations." To attain their objectives, churches must motivate members to go above and beyond their tithes and offerings on a journey of equal sacrifice. The right church capital campaign must communicate how objectives align with God's will and time. Detail why equal sacrifice, not necessarily equal financial contributions, would be the greatest kingdom giving journey- right now. Encourage prayerful consideration for each person to reflect on their unique financial situation. And galvanize the entire congregation around a common cause over an enduring duration- for Him.
Moreover, church leaders should explain how the additional sacrifice of funds will be spent, clarifying how they will improve outreach and enhance services to the community and world. In return, we welcome God to step in to mobilize members to demonstrate unity around the mission, by supporting each other throughout the process and journey. This shows lenders and donors alike that they are more likely to meet their goals and repay any loans (if any). By aligning with His will and time, working together, and showing dedication, the church can overcome any obstacles in front of them as they work to expand its outreach capacity and have a greater impact. These measures build trust with members, striving to achieve 100% participation and thus magnifying higher levels of giving. This was the thought process behind Pennington Park Church opting to use the simple capital campaign theme, "Impact." And we crafted the following communication assets to bring the campaign to life.
Craft an on-brand Church Campaign Logo as a derivative work.
A capital campaign logo plays a crucial role in the fundraising efforts of any church. It not only creates a sense of unity amongst church members but also serves as a reminder of the importance of the mission and vision behind the campaign.
When designing a logo, it is important to balance uniqueness and consistency. The logo should be unique enough to stand out, but also consistent with the church's main logo, allowing for easy recognition across all materials. It should also be versatile enough to be used in both print and digital formats.
When it comes to the design, it is important to make it eye-catching without being too flashy. A good capital campaign logo captures attention without becoming overpowering, leaving a lasting impression. One way to do this is by using colors that are consistent with the campaign's mission or church brand and by incorporating elements that reflect the church's values.
Ultimately, a well-designed church capital campaign logo can make all the difference in fundraising success. It can foster a sense of community and inspiration amongst church members. We exemplified these qualities in our design for Pennington Park Church's "Impact" campaign. We designed a wordmark logo that was modern, sleek, and simple, featuring their iconic "P" symbol and brand colors. This allowed us to bridge the gap between their brand identity and the new campaign theme, creating a bold, vibrant, and cohesive image for their church. Plus, it remains fresh within its communications pipeline while providing an eye-catching and trendy design that stands out among other traditional "churchy" graphics. Our approach kept Pennington Park Church ahead in its multifaceted print and digital media-based campaign for years to come.
Design a dynamic case statement to effectively communicate campaign impact.
Creating a compelling case statement requires thoughtful consideration and attention to detail to effectively communicate the impact of your campaign. To achieve this, start with a captivating introduction that outlines your church's situation and what you aim to achieve. This will capture readers' attention and keep them engaged. Then, specify your financial goals, objectives, and how donations will be used with a direct call to action.
We used modern design techniques and trustworthy content, presented in a storytelling manner, to keep Pennington Park Church’s campaign booklet fresh and visually engaging. We implemented eye-catching visuals such as charts and graphs for a slideshow-style or infographic-style page to help donors visualize their contributions making a difference. To ensure comfort for those donating, we concluded the booklet with FAQs. Finally, we ended with a direct call to action, encouraging members to contribute and make a difference today.
Create different pledge card designs for early and general donors.
To enhance Pennington Park Church's Capital Campaign, we developed two distinct pledge card designs – one for early donors and one for general donors. We believed that this approach would strengthen their campaign by allowing donors to have a deeper connection with the cause. Early donors, brimming with passion for the cause and more abundant resources were welcomed to shorten the giving journey. Meanwhile, general donors could embrace the mission fueled by the pioneering donors.
We achieved cohesive design aesthetics across all campaign materials by ensuring that both cards complemented each other flawlessly, without compromising on visual interest or professionalism. Subtle creative color and layout variations were executed to keep things visually stimulating yet clear and balanced. By doing this, we ensured that both pledge cards were unified with the bold, high-impact campaign creative concept – making sure each donor felt like they were part of something bigger than themselves.
Leverage the recourse of a quality campaign explainer video to alleviate complexity.
Creating a short explainer video for a campaign can alleviate the stress of inspiring members to contribute. Straightforwardly clarifying complex topics, these brief visual stories also aim to keep members engaged during a multiyear campaign. And mission giving strategies become humanized. Incorporating the right narration and narrative can uncomplicate challenging concepts, enabling donors to better comprehend how their donation will contribute to the greater good. It also forges a strong emotional connection between the donor and the cause.
We crafted Pennington Park's campaign video to emotionally captivate individuals, giving church members an understanding of why they should support the cause, and echo appreciation for how their contributions benefit the campaign. By creating a narrative that puts donors at the center of it all, the video encouraged and compelled members to take action and make an impact.
Church Capital Campaign Explainer Video // 90sec. HD, Narrative Script // Pennington Park Church - Fishers, IN
