FAQ re: Church Project Leadership

What is unique about Lavoro providing project leadership?

If there is anyone out there that is better equipped than Dan Eernissee for helping a Christian organization build a building, we have yet to meet him! Dan's education (Business BA from UW, MDiv from Regent College), his Puget Sound roots (Dan, all of his grandparents, and both of his parents were raised in the Puget Sound area), his job experience (over $300MM in projects and counting, eight years as and Associate Pastor, and one in a non-profit), and most importantly, his mission (balancing the works of world-keeping, community-building, and worshiping) make Dan & his company Lavoro pretty unique.

Why pay a project leader like Lavoro for something we can get volunteers to do for free?

Two reasons: time and expertise. The reality is most volunteers don't have the time necessary to lead a multi-million dollar project even if they have the expertise. Such a project requires daily oversight. Finding no willing or able volunteers (face it -- those kind of people are already up to their ears in volunteerism!), churches end up paying architects and/or contractors to manage the process, but neither can represent the congregation as effectively as can an independent party. A multi-million dollar building project is a complicated, unwieldy thing; spending money on capable leadership is both wise and fiscally responsible.

Our pastor is our leader; shouldn't he/she be the project leader, too?

No. Unless, of course, he/she has experience leading large scale real estate development AND the congregation is willing to "lose" that person for a significant portion of each and every week for about three years. Last time we checked, most pastors don't have a ton of free time.

On the other hand, most churches would love to be able to have someone on staff take on such a process (as long as his/her other duties didn't suffer!), make sure that the money was spent responsibly, look out for the congregation's interests, and be able to provide appropriate two-way communication to the body/organization. And -- dream of dreams -- wouldn't it also be great that once the building is built, we could see him (along with his salary!) move on to help others? Hiring Lavoro achieves that dream.

What problems can we expect to encounter in this process?

The classic response is, "Nothing that a lot of money can't fix!" But for those of us without a lot of money, we need ingenuity and wisdom to respond to the problems without breaking the bank. Truthfully, though, the three areas that provide the most headaches are: 1) securing entitlements with the city/county/state/DOT/utilities/neighbors/etc. (it helps to have some experience, patience, and a lot of persistence!), 2) limiting design fees (you need to know how to tell designers how to help you!), and 3) miscommunication with builders (describing what a congregation wants to a contractor is cross-cultural communication).

How much will it cost to hire Lavoro?

In our opinion, the real answer is "nothing." The savings experienced and the value gained will more than offset the cost. However, that's not very helpful at the business meeting, is it? The first stage of the process, Investigation, will cost the typical congregation a small amount and will last approximately three months. At the end of the initial process, the congregation will have a good sense of the scope of the project, what can and cannot be done, and how long it will take. The other two stages will be wildly different, and will be determined during the Investigation stage where the scope of the project is fleshed out.

What should I NOT do?

I'll be honest -- that's probably not a FAQ -- it's a QIWPWA (a Question I Wish People Would Ask). Here's my answers all the same:

1) DON'T hire an architect too soon! I've seen far too many elaborate architectural drawings and models of facilities that never came to pass. The story invariably goes that someone got all excited about the project, hired an architect to "see what it might look like," and $30,000 later, they had a bunch of worthless drawings that hadn't even begun to define the scope of the project as described above. On the other hand, a capable architect is (typically) inspired by the challenge of creating a functional and beautiful space given clear constraints, and his/her drawings will be close on the first go-around. The old computer saying applies: "Garbage in, garbage out!"

2) DON'T underestimate how much (and how quickly!) money can be wasted if a project is neglected or mishandled. At the same time, don't underestimate how much value can be created by a skilled team on a tight budget if given outstanding leadership and information!