Over the past 30 years, we have listened to many potential clients discuss “the right time” or “the perfect time” for a potential campaign. Dioceses, parishes, and schools can spend months and years trying to get every piece of potential information together or “just right” prior to engaging in a capital campaign. There have been times when we have watched communities spend countless hours and large sums of money working with architects, developing Master Plans, and ultimately realizing their dreams are out of their financial reach or they have wasted so much time planning that they have priced themselves out of the very projects they wished to accomplish.

Over the past couple of years, we have watched one parish community discuss and over-discuss a campaign to eliminate their multi-million-dollar debt waiting for the “right time” and the “right atmosphere” to raise money even after they had conducted a successful feasibility study. Finally, they were ready to begin a campaign when they learned that the religious order that serves their parish had decided to leave their community and now, they are delayed even further. Three years of additional debt payments to a bank that should have been paid off already. The offertory sacrifices of many will continue to serve a bank rather than the parish.

We have also watched as a parish spent years contemplating a parish campaign for deferred maintenance trying to compile everything they need and anticipate every potential project, only to receive a letter from the Diocese stating that a moratorium was placed on all fundraising in anticipation of a Diocesan campaign. What is the lesson in this? Time is wasting! You can create a positive environment for a campaign effort that can be very successful without having to waste valuable time and effort waiting for everything to be perfect. You see, the secret is…it will never be perfect. Time is always in flux. The economy can change; your most engaged parishioners may pass on or move; your Pastor can be reassigned and, in the meantime, the roof can leak, the plaster can crack, the parking lot may need to be repaved, or the lighting may need updating.

Don’t waste time. Always be proactive. Always be inviting. Put your best foot forward today rather than hoping to create a perfect foot forward tomorrow. Remember, it’s God’s plan, not ours! Make the best decisions for today. Care for God’s Kingdom… today!