Williams Consulting Services

The Feasibility Study

The feasibility study is a market survey that tells you how close your key church members and leaders are to

making financial commitments that will help you reach your dollar goal.

Since approximately 70-80% of the money received in a capital program will come from approximately 20-30% of your donors, it is absolutely essential that your leadership gift prospects be completely familiar with the campaign purposes and ready to make the largest gifts they can.

In medium or small-size churches, the feasibility study involves individual, confidential interviews with approximately 30% of the giving units, including 80% of the top 20%.
In large churches, 40 interviews will be held, with 80% representing the top 20% giving units, and the remaining 20% a cross-section of the membership.

The interviews are arranged by local church leaders, with invitations issued by letter from the pastor and/or a key lay leader, and scheduled during follow-up phone calls. The interviews are conducted by an outside consultant, who will make a confidential written and verbal report of the results to the Capital Campaign Study Committee and others as deemed appropriate.

During the interview, each person will be asked the same questions. They will include such issues as:

The prospect's understanding of the purpose of the capital campaign,
The prospect's level of confidence in the church's pastoral and lay leadership, and
The prospect's willingness to participate with a financial commitment, and to provide active leadership and support.

On the basis of the consultant's report of the interview results, the Study Committee will be able to make informed decisions about:

The dollar goal for the campaign,
The timing of the campaign, and
The leadership for the campaign.

Often the consultant will also be engaged to serve as the campaign consultant.