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For many church leaders, the dream of securing their own building, whether through a purchase or new construction, remains a powerful aspiration.
However, finding an affordable space to hold church services can feel nothing short of miraculous. Due to skyrocketing costs today, affordable spaces are hard to come by. As a result, many portable churches and those facing costly building repairs are left struggling to afford a permanent place they can call home.
Melaku Bartolomeos can relate. As the Digital Ministry Leader at Ethiopian Evangelical Church in Minnesota (EECMN.org) in St. Paul, Minnesota, a part of his responsibility includes fundraising for important causes at his church—like the New Building Acquisition Fund they’re currently promoting to help raise funds for their new church building.
The founding pastors of EECMN are originally from Ethiopia and have since grown their church to around 450 members. But when their old church building was in need of extensive renovations, church leaders were left feeling uncertain about what to do in regards to the building.
After crunching the numbers, the church leadership discovered that purchasing and renovating a building would be the best option and soon found a former LA Fitness gym they were interested in acquiring. But receiving weekly tithes and offerings for the New Building Acquisition Fund was challenging for many church members.
“Before Subsplash, a lot of our giving was from passing the plate,” Melaku explained, “and we did have the ability to give through the website, but nobody was giving there either.” The staff at EECMN continued to dream big and trust God to provide a miracle—funds for a permanent church home.
That miracle came with the help of Subsplash Giving, particularly through the Subsplash Campaigns capabilities. The EECMN had been using Subsplash since 2012 for their church’s digital ministry, and they were continually thrilled with the results. However, it wasn’t until recently that Melaku discovered the benefits of Subsplash’s Giving Campaign feature that their dreams for a new building soon became a reality.
“Recently, when we set out to buy a new church,” Melaku said, “I happened to see the Subsplash Giving Campaign module. We decided to use it and see what would happen. We raised half a million dollars with it, and everybody gave sacrificially.”
In just a short amount of time, over $500,000 was raised or pledged towards their goal of $5 million. The renovations at the LA Fitness gym are now well underway, and members and staff are so excited and grateful for their new church building opening this fall.
By launching a focused campaign through Subsplash Giving, a whole new world of opportunities opened up for the EECMN and their members. In short, their donors could quickly create a pledge, give with ease, and track their progress without any obstacles, hurdles, or confusion. Church leaders were able to rally the community around a clear mission—raising funds for a new church building that would impact the next generation.
That’s because for leaders and pastors at EECMN, the motivation behind having a permanent church home comes from a heart for reaching the next generation and leaving a lasting impact. Many of the longtime church members have had families over the last few decades, and those children have now grown up in the church.
Finally achieving their own church space will leave a legacy for those who are reaching their teens and twenties, ensuring future generations can thrive and stay at the church for the long haul. As Melaku explained, “We would really like to leave a spiritual legacy (reverence for our Lord and savior Jesus Christ) and a church building that they will be proud to worship in.”
Today, Melaku doesn’t know what his church would have done without Subsplash! Subsplash Giving helped remove every possible barrier to supporting his church’s mission. Donors could give in the app, on their church’s website, via text, and even during their live streams. Plus, with Apple Pay, Google Pay, and instant ACH, members and visitors could complete a donation in literally seconds.
The ease of setting up the campaign, tracking progress in real-time, and communicating directly with donors allowed the Ethiopian Evangelical Church to surpass their fundraising goal faster than anyone expected.
“That campaign put us over the top of what we wanted to do,” Melaku said. “And beyond just the financial giving part of it, we saw the congregations’ heart for it, and it brought everybody together in unity. A building is a building; it’s not the point, but it gathers people together to worship the Creator, who owns everything. And with the Lord on our side, anything is possible. That’s the point.”
Today, nearly 70% of EECMN’s tithes and offerings are given through Subsplash. On top of that, 35% of the congregation has since set up recurring giving through Subsplash’s Giving features. That high percentage of recurring giving was a significant contributor for EECMN to secure a loan from the bank for the new church building.
Melaku and his coworkers have big plans for their church’s future, including their children’s ministry: “As we get into the new church, it’s a bigger building,” Melaku explained, “and so I was recently experimenting with the child check-in system for the first time. We have used a church management system (ChMS) in the past, but the Subsplash app is just so much better with its usability and simplicity.”
In fact, Melaku consistently attributes “simplicity” and “ease of use” as the top two factors for his love of the Subsplash Platform. And soon, once they get their new chairs in the new building, Melaku is excited to use Subsplash Tap, as well as its linktree capabilities to improve engagement even further.
As Melaku reflected on how Subsplash has impacted his church’s ministry over the last few years, he expressed profound gratitude for Subsplash, highlighting how much it has significantly eased his responsibilities as the Digital Ministry Leader: “I’m not sure how I stumbled upon Subsplash several years ago, but ever since then, it has really been a game-changer for our church. The Subsplash platform has been a blessing for us. I don’t know why any church wouldn’t use it, honestly. We may not have accomplished what we did without it.”
As they move into their new church building this fall, we can’t wait to see how God continues to bless the Ethiopian Evangelical Church, continuing their legacy for the next generation and beyond!
Like the EECMN, you can empower your congregation to reach important fundraising goals with simple, flexible giving tools. [.blog-contact-cta]See how Subsplash Giving [.blog-contact-cta] can fuel your mission, inspire generosity, and help your church thrive!
Editor’s note: Subsplash would like to thank Melaku Bartolomeos and the leadership of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church in Minnesota for kindly volunteering to share their inspirational story.
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