I’m going to start a new series focusing each Friday on an idea to implement that will help increase giving and revenue for your church.
Disclaimer: God trumps all. Nothing will substitute a congregation of people that acknowledge that everything is God’s and we are just stewards. Pastor, be true to the word and preach giving without apology. Ok, that being said, let’s work on some ideas to help people realize God’s call to give.
[quote]People will give where they see results.[/quote]
It is human nature to be driven by results. Our culture is also driven by instant gratification. We want it NOW! How then, can we as church leaders tap into that mindset and use it for kingdom purposes?
People invest where they see a return on investment. In general, people are not real interested in just giving money blindly. We’ve all been scammed, lied to and taken advantage of. There is no shortage of fraudulent requests for money in our society. I firmly believe that a partial reason people are hesitant to give is from those reasons. “Hey, I gave money to X and they didn’t use it for what they told me they would use it for.”
Let’s face it, this would make someone gunshy to give again.
Ok Josh, what’s the point?
Here’s this Friday’s idea
For the 4th quarter, put together a letter to be sent to each of your giving units, heck, send it to your entire mailing list. In the letter, detail 4-5 tangible things that the faithful gifts given to the church were able to produce.
“Because of your faithful gifts, we were able to ……………”
Next, detail 2-3 projects that are pressing in the near future. What we are creating is a means to an end scenario where people see a tangible result of their giving.
Bonus Idea – have a family in your church provide a testimony about why they have chosen to give.
Giving is a touchy subject and tough to be dealt with in single blog posts. Your situation may have other circumstances that make it more difficult for people to give. I want to encourage you to be faithful and make every effort to encourage faithful giving.
Check back next week for another idea on how to encourage giving for your congregation.
