Increase Your Impact with a CDC

By Raul Rivera

Pastor Carlos always wanted to reach his community. His church was doing great things. They had recently started a food pantry that was able to help over 1,000 families per month in their community. But pastor Carlos felt that was not enough. 

He knew the calling God had for his life was to help more people. He did not know how to explain it, but he kept feeling like he was getting pushback and felt like the church was not reaching places he knew it should. 

How exactly was his church going to reach more people? 

Can you relate to pastor Carlos? What if there were a way to increase your reach in the community by increasing your budget? What if the best approach is a bilateral approach?

A different approach

As mentioned before, it seemed that whenever pastor Carlos wanted to reach a new frontier, he was met with resistance. Luckily for pastor Carlos, he sought out counsel and started a non-religious, nonprofit community development corporation (CDC). 

Because grant money is more readily available to non-religious organizations, it was the best way to cross the barriers while continuing the mission of the church to reach the community. All the planning, speaking, and most of the fundraising can be done through this kind of organization that pastor Carlos had established. 

Pastor Carlos and his church continued to be the primary faith-based organization to partner with the CDC by offering prayer and counseling. The church’s plan was to partner with the entire community to solve ongoing problems that had not been addressed. This brought the opportunity to bring in partners, including individuals, corporations, entrepreneurs, local education agencies, elected officials, government agencies, and other local churches. 

While pastor Carlos’s CDC provided the bulk of services, the church continued to provide prayer, counseling, food, and clothing. The church went on to distribute literature to those who received services through the CDC. The majority of volunteers came from the church, and at every event, individuals made decisions for Christ that bore fruit.

The harvest is plentiful

Through outreach work, pastor Carlos realized that there were two fields to harvest from. Not only did he have the opportunity to pray with countless individuals for salvation and healing, but he also saw an opportunity to reach the hearts of volunteers. 

Pastor Carlos and his church experienced growth at an unexpected rate, so they decided to allow non-Christians to serve as volunteers. In order to volunteer, workers were encouraged to come to the church for planning meetings, which gave them the opportunity to see the work on a daily basis. Volunteers were able to experience being part of the community and could see firsthand how the community became a support system in their lives.

Why two organizations?

Pastor Carlos’s church was already incorporated and had 501(c)(3) status when the outreach program was started, and it too was required to apply for 501(c)(3) status. 

Pastor Carlos was about to serve as both the senior pastor and president of the church and also president and founder of the CDC. The church and the CDC had their own unique board of directors. Given that the CDC was a secular organization, it was easy for pastor Carlos to have access to individuals and corporations that would not normally donate to churches. He was able to come to them as pastor Carlos, but on behalf of the CDC.

Managing two organizations 

Managing two organizations was the easy part for pastor Carlos; he just had to remember what hat to be wearing.

The most difficult part was explaining why we had a "non-religious" organization. Some pastors could not understand why it was necessary to start a new organization, while a small handful thought that he was compromising. Pastor Carlos had big dreams, and he wanted to reach everyone in the community with the message of the gospel.

For years prior to establishing this outreach, he tried accomplishing the dreams that the Lord placed in his heart. Unfortunately, he had little success. His ideas were not working, and funding was scarce. People were reluctant to come on board simply because they were a church. It was not until he got counsel and reworked his thought process. After he learned about starting a CDC, he began to see his dreams become a reality. 

For many, the difference between dreams and reality is looking at your ideas from a different perspective. Remember: "The biggest part of receiving a blessing is being ready when it comes!"

Get ready to impact your community

If you are one of the many people who feel the Lord's pull to engage in community outreach that is meaningful and bears much fruit, we are here to help you. We have years of experience in setting up CDCs that have reflected the dreams and visions of pastors and ministry leaders. 

From the incorporation process all the way through helping you get 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, we can strategize a plan that will open doors for you and your church to reach out like never before!

I encourage you to call our church planting specialists today at 877-494-4655, or simply click the button below to have one of them call you. It is our honor to serve you.

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