Multi-Site is Changing Church Landscape

Churches with multiple locations, “multi-site” churches, are becoming more and more popular across the U.S. Over six million people attend a multisite church on a regular basis with the average multi-site location welcoming 1,300 weekly attendees. (ChurchLawandTax.com) There are currently over 5,000 multi-site locations alone in the U.S. It’s no question multisite churches are here and here to stay, but how exactly are they changing the landscape of Christianity across America?

For starters, there is a noticeable gentrification of smaller, local churches due to both internal and external factors, such as aging congregations, decline of interest in faith, lack of funding, poor spiritual leadership, and ineffective outreach. A thriving multi-site church may experience phenomenal growth at a new campus location that happens to be just down the street from a decades-established single-site church. Whatever the case may be, a struggling church, whether single or multisite, is struggling for reasons other than a new multi-site location opening up down the street.

While many single-site churches may assume the new multi-site campus is “competition,” some struggling churches are recognizing a unique situation and choosing to merge with multi-site churches as a new campus to continue ministry together. In a recent Leadership Network study of over 530 multisite churches, one-third of the multi-site locations were started by merging with existing local churches. (Leadership Network/Generis Multisite Church Scorecard) This is encouraging news to hear as the Church across America partners together to continue spreading the Gospel.

Whether you’re a single site church or multi-site, you have hopes and plans of seeing God grow your local church to better build His kingdom. Development Advisors works with local churches to create strategic facility expansion plans, including multi-site facility expansion. We are a full-service commercial real estate development organization committed to serving churches. This vision aligns with our principals’ personal values as followers of Jesus Christ.

Development Advisors provides a variety of services, including strategic planning, financial feasibility, site or building selection, capital campaign direction , financing (as owner’s representative), project team selection, project and construction management (also as owner’s representative), FF&E and AVL procurement specialists, and relocation coordination, as needed.

Our Development Advisors team is here to serve you and answer any questions you may have when it comes to both single-site and multisite church facility expansion.

Advisors Hires Chief Development Officer - Like a Coxswain!

Since July, 2014, Development Advisors, LLC, has been making plans to strengthen our team. We recently added a new Chief Development Officer who will be the primary organizer and executor of our project operations including managing our Project Directors. I am pleased to introduce Mr. Drew Kraft.

 

The criteria that we used to consider many candidates can be best characterized as a coxswain in a rowing boat as described in the book “Boys In The Boat” (by Daniel James Brown). Here is the description. “From the moment the shell is launched, the coxswain is the captain of the boat. He or she must exert control, both physical and psychological, over everything that goes on in the shell. Good coxes know their oarsmen inside and out— their individual strengths and vulnerabilities— and they know how to get the most out of each man at any given moment. They have the force of character to inspire exhausted rowers to dig deeper and try harder, even when all seems lost. They have an encyclopedic understanding of their opponents: how they like to race, when they are likely to start sprinting, when they like to lie in wait. Before a regatta, the cox receives a race plan from the coach, and he or she is responsible for carrying it out faithfully. But in a situation as fluid and dynamic as a crew race, circumstances often change abruptly and race plans must be thrown overboard. The cox is the only person in the shell who is facing forward and can see how the field is shaping up throughout a race, and he or she must be prepared to react quickly to unforeseen developments. When a race plan is failing to yield results, it is up to the cox to come up with a new one, often in a split second, and to communicate it quickly and forcefully to the crew. Often this involves a lot of shouting and a lot of emotion.”

Please join me in welcoming Drew as our new CDO!

If you would like to contact Mr. Drew Kraft, you may reach him at dkraft@developco.com or at 303-534-3344 x106.

Are you Coachable for a new Church Building Project?

Are you Coachable?

Many churches considering a facility expansion project wonder whether they need to hire a third-party specialist. Does your church need someone to oversee the expansion process? Is it worth the investment? It’s a church building- how hard can it be? Surprisingly more difficult than you might realize!

According to a 2013 study, building costs account for up to 29% of a church’s annual budget, the second-highest category after personnel. (Evangelical Christian Credit Union) Churches can’t afford to assume they know what’s best when it comes to such a large line item. Staff and lay leaders need to be coached on what to expect when it comes to a facility expansion opportunity. What are the obstacles to avoid? What’s a realistic budget or timeline to target? What steps need to be taken for the best fiscal and ministry outcome for our congregation?

The involved nature of faith-based organizations, like churches, and ever-changing regulations in commercial construction make for complicated decisions. This can vary from zoning requirements to matching vision for the church building with the current and future needs of the congregation. Construction, including church facility expansion, is the second-most litigated industry in America today after medical. (TW Church) You need an expert to help avoid significant risk in both planning and preventive measures for your new church facility.

Proverbs 3:13 says, “Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding.” Churches who want to expand their facility need wisdom from people who have the expertise and connections to effectively create a permanent worship space. Development Advisors serves church staff and building committees by sharing from our years of experience in commercial real estate and church facility development.

Church Facility Services offered by Development Advisors

Development Advisors provides a variety of facility services for our clients, including:

• Strategic relocation planning;
• Financial feasibility analysis pertaining to potential land or building acquisitions;
• Listing and marketing of existing property;
• Acquisition of new property, including comprehensive property searches (may include identification of redevelopment candidates);
• Comprehensive project management including team selection (architects, engineers, consultants, general contractors, etc.);
• Project finance coordination;
• Construction management;
• FF&E planning & move coordination; and
• As needed, comprehensive and coordinated communication with all decision-makers involved with a church’s real estate decisions (church staff, elders, real estate committee, members, and national organization).

We help coach church staff and building committees through each of these services. Our goal is to provide a well-functioning permanent worship space for you to continue doing what you do best: helping build the kingdom of God. Our Development Advisors team is here to serve you and answer any questions you may have.

Development Advisors, LLC is a full service commercial real estate development services organization with a passion for serving churches. Should you wish to discuss your vision with us, please contact Mr. Scott McLean at 303-534-3344 x103 or at scott@developco.com.

Why your church needs a strategic plan for your new facility project

As the saying goes, failure to plan is a plan for failure. There’s a reason why banks are foreclosing on church facility loans at a record rate: failure to create fiscally-responsible building plans. (Reuters) The hallmark of any successful project is having a thorough plan ahead of time. Churches considering a new facility solution need a strategic plan in place before anything else.

What every church facility strategic plan needs

A good church facility strategic plan begins with the primary spiritual direction from God because it’s God who builds His kingdom. Without God’s direction, none of this matters. It then involves wise practical steps that address the financial feasibility, unique congregational needs, and community context for the new facility. The new church facility needs to serve both the current attendees and those who the church hopes to reach in the surrounding community in the years to come.

It’s important for your congregation to understand the vision and steps of the strategic plan. The Aspen Group has an excellent article on how to create buy-in for a church building project. A solid strategic plan and buy-in will help your leadership team and building committee navigate any bumps along the way as the plan is implemented.

How Development Advisors helps churches create strategic plans

What sets Development Advisors apart from a volunteer project manager, architects, or other church facility expansion experts is our ability to help churches understand what is achievable. We do sometimes stretch our clients to consider more possibilities, but we never put our clients in harm’s way when it comes to budgeting and planning for the future.

Development Advisors works with churches to develop a strategic plan during Phase 1 of the construction process. Phase 1 includes three important areas of focus:

• Project Vision - God gives the future vision of the local church to the church’s leaders. Development Advisors takes this vision and helps articulate the future facility program (building size, parking and related space configurations) in initial building concepts. This facility program starts with the ministry needs and desires for worship, teaching, discipleship, recovery, and fellowship.
• Financial Plan - Development Advisors documents existing and future financial resources and helps predict the likely capital giving potential and the future capacity to support debt resources. We help estimate the appropriate amount of debt financing necessary to accomplish the Project Vision without hindering the church’s future ministry goals.
• Budgeting - We create a pro‐forma budget based upon the Project Vision that is then reconciled to the church’s available financial resources. As the project is further defined, we continue to provide turn-key budgets for project planning and execution.

All three of these steps help Development Advisors and the church identify a Facility Goal for the future church facility. The strategic plan is one of the biggest reasons why churches trust Development Advisors with their next facility project. We can provide third-party expertise and accountability to best serve you and your congregation as you consider expanding into a new facility. 

Development Advisors, LLC is a full service commercial real estate development services organization with a passion for serving churches. This aligns with our principals personal values as followers of Jesus Christ. We provide A to Z services including strategic planning, financial feasibility, site/building selection, capital campaign direction (hiring the right coach), financing (as owner's representative), project team selection, land entitlement, project management and construction management (as owner's representative), FF&E and AVL procurement, and move coordination. Should you wish to discuss your vision with us, please contact Mr. Scott McLean at 303-534-3344 x103 or at scott@developco.com. God Bless.