Creative Ways to Use Your Facilities for Community Engagement and Revenue Generation
Having space in your church facilities is not only a revenue generating opportunity, but it’s also an opportunity to serve. Understanding the needs of the community and partnering with them to use your space will grow your influence in meeting those needs. By choosing to pursue a creative approach in how you use your space, you will experience life-changing moments. Yes, we can promote weddings, memorials, baby showers, birthday parties, nonprofit board meetings, and community meetings in general, but there’s so much more you can do. Think outside the Space.
Discover how to use these event opportunities to help cover the costs of time and staff. Events held at your church can pay for themselves. Learn how to subsidize your facilities staff with applicable competitive event rates to work the events.
There’s a theory that events take sacrifice, but they can also generate income; income supports ministry, which improves your facility, and creates growth. Growth promotes improvements, improvements increase curb appeal, and curb apparel increases congregation potential, which increases ministry needs, and outreach for Jesus.
Learning Objectives:
- Evaluate your space and what you can offer
- Consider who can benefit from your space
- Discover how to create a plan to provide quality staff for events
- Focus on changing one thing to get started
Speaker
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Matthew McClainFacilities Manager at Crosswinds ChurchMy team and I maintain 35 acres our church owns of transitional farm land separated by creeks and gullies for runoff. This includes 5 barns, 6 homes (3 homes are renovated into offices), a few trailers, our children’s building (the Farm), and the Exchange (our sanctuary). We share the campus and work closely with local organizations like Goodness Village and Sleep in Heavenly Peace, as well as maintain Eden Garden, our onsite garden providing ministry and mentorship between seasoned gardeners and those wet behind the ears. We also support other community organizations like NA, SA, AA, Rotary Club, Asante Africa, Lead Bold, and countless other ministries who use our facilities for meetings.
In my role as Facilities Manager at Crosswinds Church, I serve vendors, staff, and my team. I work for my team. They are responsible for the results but I am responsible for their training, equipment, and value. Maintenance is a proactive pursuit that includes preventive maintenance, preventative training, and continued support. It is a triangle: the point represents growth, the bottom represents SOP and daily functions, and the middle represents steps toward growth, tools, equipment, and relationships. Always support the base. Most armies are not defeated because they are outnumbered or outgunned; they are defeated when there was not enough support to promote the vision.