The First Ten Things Church Planters Should Buy
If I were starting over, here’s the top ten things I would buy first.
- Non-profit bulk mail permit. Stop by your local post office and become friends with the person who does bulk mail. If you’re sending out more than 200 pieces of mail, then a bulk mail permit will save you a bunch of money. It also makes direct mail cheaper when you’re ready for that. I would also recommend getting a box at the UPS Store or someplace similar since there will always be someone there to sign for shipments. Never use your home address as your church address.
- Pop up banner stands (like these) These are probably the most versatile things we’ve used in the last three years and we’ve gotten our money’s worth out of them. We can change out the banners for about $30 because we have a great printer. Look for for them on clearance and buy more than you think you need.
- Docs and Forms. Yea, it’s a little self-serving, but I honestly can’t think of a better purchase early on. I would have paid $1,000 for everything that’s included. Budgets, systems, strategies, service planning documents, hiring checklists, evaluation forms, and more.
- Serve the Community Trailer. We’re doing this right now, but I wish we had done it sooner. Get a trailer and fill it with a grill, a bounce house, a video game cart, helium balloons, etc. Let your people check it out like a library book and show up all over town. A few people can invite a bunch of people to church with a tool like this.
- Sound and Lights. I would recommend finding an expert friend or consultant to tell you what you need…not a company who sells equipment as a business. I would also look for used equipment, perhaps from a band who isn’t traveling anymore or a church who has moved into a new facility. Lastly, be careful not to buy this stuff too soon, since your meeting location will dictate your needs. Save your money and be ready to pull the trigger when the right package becomes available.
- Fellowship One or The City. I would highly, highly, highly recommend that you choose a database provider and start using it before you have long lists of people. The two I’ve recommended here are great, but there are others as well.
- A Uhaul truck is better than a bunch of small trailers. You can find great deals on used ones, especially if you shop around and can be patient. We bought a 26′ foot truck for less than $5,000.
- Cases from Portable Church. We bought ours second-hand from a church that had moved into a new facility. Portable Church can outfit your entire operation, but in my opinion, their cases are the best. In our portable locations, we used one for each kids environment and another couple for the lobby. As is the case with most stuff, spend a little more money on stuff that will last.
- Adobe Creative Suite. If you’re halfway experienced with computers, you should invest in this software package. Even if you outsource, somebody on your team will want to change and tweak files and designs. There are Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator tutorials on the web, and with a little practice, you can become half-way decent. You’ll save a lot of money because you won’t have to hire a designer for everything. And you wont annoy your graphic design friends with a constant stream of favors. Search for educational and non-profit pricing.
- Action Method, Evernote Premium, Wufoo, and Constant Contact or Mail Chimp. These web tools will help your communication and organization. They are very cost effective, and like a database program, you should start using them when you are small. I also recommend dropbox.
There are a lot of other things I could add to this list, and feel free to add your suggestions. In the end, stuff doesn’t make you successful. You can have slick signs and a smooth workflow, but if you’re missing the Spirit of God, then you’ll fall way short. Never let what you have or don’t have interfere with what God wants to do.
I like to use iMind Map Pro on my iPhone for message prep. It’s free to use on the iPhone. We love Buzzsprout too. It’s an audio tool you can use to upload audio like messages, teachings, etc to Facebook. Adds another access point to our weekend message for people besides iTunes.
As far as the stuff you mentioned Michael, I would agree. As a church planter, two of the best ones on this list would be the UHaul truck and Portable Church cases.
I might have to disagree on the U-haul truck. Having both trailers and paneled trucks and from personal experience, the great thing about a trailer is if the vehicle pulling the trailer breaks down (which if it does, it is usually on the way to church) you can switch out vehicles. If you buy a $5000 U-haul truck, it will be probably be a bit older and you will need to make sure it is maintained so as not to have a break down. If it does break down or won’t start, now you are moving everything from that vehicle to another one.
Just something to think about.
definitely true on the truck. we’ve got people who can fix things, so that pushed us over the edge. we’ve done both ways as well.
On the Adobe Creative Suite: do recommend purchasing that for the first person who is capable of using it for did you use it at the beginning? I haven’t a shred of design talent and was curious if it would be useful for me.
Keep in mind on the Adobe Suite that if you get the educational package for the discounted rate, it is not able to be upgraded to newer verions at the upgrade price. The full price is what you’ll have to pay all over again.
But if you don’t want to upgrade, then no worries.
i had a little bit of experience, but wasn’t very good at all. i figured out some things with a tutorial. but you could also get someone to help out with this…if someone is willing to go through some learning and you find some samples and ideas, there’s a lot you could do.
that’s very true. i’m actually still using adobe cs3
What about pipe and drape? Should I buy a ton up front our slowly add as we go?
Your blog is so flipping helpful! Thank you. Thank you.
i would buy a whole cart at one time…after a meeting location is secured. measure where you want it to go so you can get the right amount.