5 make or break factors for church capital appeals

Action Planning consultants have helped many churches with capital appeals for building projects, some of them running into millions of pounds. In our experience, large projects of this type succeed or fail due to the same handful of key factors:
 

1.  Congregational giving. We know that congregations are generous – continuously and repeatedly generous. According to the 2025 Generosity Report from Stewardship, Over 90% of regular church goers give regularly to their church (more than to any other cause). Their capacity to give in support of a building project can be the difference between success and failure. If you cannot raise up-front donations and ongoing pledges equivalent to between a third to a half of your project total, you are likely to struggle to raise the balance from other sources. This often (but not always) includes funds given as a legacy gift.
    
2. Heritage or community? With regard to grant funding, larger sums are achievable for projects that preserve (or save) heritage buildings. Chief among these is the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Non-heritage projects don't currently have an equivalent grant investor to match the NLHF.
    
3. Other assets to sell. Disposing of a residential or commercial property or land can make a strategic contribution to a capital build project. Such options are not open to every church, of course.
    
4. Loan funding. Not a source of fundraising income, and a debt that will likely pass to future generations, an institutional loan can help to bridge gaps in income, but we also find that many churches complete their projects with an element of loan funding from the likes of Kingdom Bank, their central denomination, or a high street lender.
    
5. Potential for wider scheme development to include residential lettings. Increasingly churches are exploring how they might include residential properties within their scheme design. This can attract significant statutory funding as well as addressing needs in your community. We recommend checking out Green Pastures* and Christian Housing Investment Trust via Alastair@revealprojects.com

 
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