Make Generosity Part of Your Church’s DNA

Posted on October 1, 2019 Written by
  1. People are naturally generous but too many people today are constricted from giving by other financial obligations: mortgage, college debt, cars, credit cards, etc. Having enough money to pay for utilities, food, and clothing stretches some families to the limit.
  2. Modern advertising tells people to spend money as fast as they can. Very few voices are telling people to spend responsibly, save at least 10%, set aside another 10% for retirement, and give away 10% to non-profits. The church can help with that void.
  3. Financial Peace University and Crown Ministries both teach people how to manage their money, get out of debt, and give away money. Churches should encourage people to go through the classes. While these programs have a biblical basis, their principles are good for anyone whether or not they attend church. FPU/CM will help people get their financial house in order so that they have more financial leverage in their lives and thus more disposable income to be generous with.
  4. Another resource is providing books for people to read on their own. A couple of good ones are The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn and Fields of Gold by Andy Stanley. Ask classes to read the books together and talk about them AND act on the principles listed in each book. Two good children’s books are Miss Fannie’s Hat by Jan Karon and The Quiltmaker’s Gift by Jeff Brumbeau; each of these beautifully illustrated books teaches lessons about the joy of giving.
  5. Having natural conversations about FPU/CM and these books will, over time, make generosity part of your church’s DNA. Intentionally talk about this in small groups, Sunday morning sermons, Wednesday nights programs, etc. Make that word part of your culture AND your expectations of your members.

Lead On!

Steve

www.churchbestpractices.org – all kinds of FREE church manuals and sample documents
www.financeforchurches.org – 400 plus blogs on every church administration topic you can think of

Filed Under: church finances, communications, faith, future, generosity, leadership, planning, strategy, wisdom, young adults Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Develop 20-25 Relationships

Posted on September 24, 2019 Written by
  1. A study of several churches showed that approximately 50% of attenders don’t give any money to their church (for a variety of reasons), 25% make gifts of 3% to 5% of their income, and 25% are generous (give more than 5%). Another study showed that about 5% of donors gave about 50% of a church’s income.
  2. Too often the generous donors are ignored by pastors who try to ensure there is no favoritism and that is understandable. However, ignoring them altogether is not acceptable.
  3. Every pastor should have a list of the top 20-25 donors to the church. Ask the finance office to provide an alphabetical list of donors (this ensures the pastor doesn’t know how they rank). Most pastors will already know that list but there may be some surprises.
  4. Once or twice a year the pastor should have coffee or a meal with each person on this list. The donors will be pleasantly surprised to get personal time with the pastor. It is critical that the visit be entirely pastoral, not a solicitation for money. Pastors need to be pastors at the meeting; just be a friend and pastor.
  5. After a few meetings, the donor may ask the pastor about giving opportunities to the church. This happens because the member and pastor got to know each other as individuals, not as donor and recipient. These donors already believe and support the church and when they know the direction of the church better, they may seek to be more generous.
  6. At a minimum, it helps the member to get some pastoral time and it helps the pastor to be more in touch with members. There is no downside to developing these relationships.

Lead On!

Steve

www.churchbestpractices.org – all kinds of FREE church manuals and sample documents
www.financeforchurches.org – 400 plus blogs on every church administration topic you can think of

Filed Under: church administration, church finances, communications, future, generosity, leadership, strategy Tagged: , , , , , ,

Community Invitation Campaign (Marketing)

Posted on August 27, 2019 Written by

Marketing works – the proof is that so many companies “Just Do It” (Nike) and “Think Different” (Apple). Churches used to do marketing when they advertised the annual revival or other special services. Today, most churches have forgotten the need to advertise to their own community. Publicity about the church on special occasions gets results. Here are some fairly inexpensive ways let your neighbors know you’re there and invite them to attend.

  1. In a one or two mile radius around the church, place door hangers on homes. Pairs of people can walk prescribed routes the weeks before Easter and Christmas.
  2. Ask members to distribute postcards to work colleagues and neighbors. The postcards must have a message and info about the church.
  3. Find the election polling locations near your church. Then distribute postcards and cool water or hot chocolate; put labels with info about the church on the water or cups. Distribute the materials by setting up a table attended by volunteers during election day. The table with your material must be at the legal distance from the actual voting site. Remember that everyone who votes at each location lives within a couple of miles and is thus a neighbor of the church.
  4. Hand out $5 Starbucks cards to people at various local events. Include a card inviting people to your church. Giving away $250 reaches 50 people directly and probably 250 with the ripple effect.
  5. Give away boxes of Girl Scout cookies. Put a label on them with a greeting and info about the church. No one turns down cookies.
  6. At local sporting events for children, set up a tent and provide snacks and drinks to the kids and parents. Give everyone a postcard or flyer, too.
  7. Print church info on magnets and distribute those at some of the above functions. People tend to not throw away fridge magnets. You can create your own fridge magnets pretty cheaply or have them made professionally.
  8. Have pens made and spread those around nearby businesses and restaurants. They are always looking for extra pens. Good pens are great marketing material.

Think of your own ways to advertise that are appropriate for your own community.

Lead On!

Steve


www.churchbestpractices.org – all kinds of FREE church manuals and sample documents
www.financeforchurches.org – 400 plus blogs on every church administration topic you can think of

Filed Under: church administration, communications, future, leadership, planning, strategy, young adults Tagged: , , , , , ,

Guerrilla Marketing

Posted on December 19, 2017 Written by

Churches must do more marketing to become visible to their neighbors. While people see church buildings, they may not have a personal contact with that church. Here are some cheap ways for church members to interact with their neighbors and hopefully draw them in.

  1. Post Cards:create attractive post cards which members can hand out at work and to neighbors
  2. Elections: set up a table at the polling places at or around the church. Have a volunteer staff the table giving out post cards and drinks of water or hot chocolate, depending on the weather. On the water bottle or cup, put labels with info about the church. If there is a line to vote, the volunteers can interact with the voters. By definition, polling places are where your neighbors are – leverage that!
  3. Free coffee: hand out $5 Starbucks cards to people at various local events or at Starbucks itself. $250 will get you 50 cards which is 50 families. Include a card inviting people to your church.
  4. Free cookies: give away boxes of Girl Scout cookies with a label on them about the church
  5. Kids’ Events: give post cards and water and snacks at sporting events for kids. Set up a tent and distribute sports drinks and/or water to kids and post cards to their parents.
  6. Magnets: put church info on magnets and distribute those at some of the above functions. People tend to not throw away fridge magnets. You can create your own fridge magnets pretty cheaply or have them made professionally.
  7. Pens: get pens with your church info and distribute them to nearby restaurants. Waitstaff always need pens.
  8. Windows: give volunteers rolls of paper towels and window cleaner. Then, descend on a shopping center in your neighborhood (not a mall) and ask if you can clean the windows of the local businesses. Tell them you just want to be a good neighbor and you appreciate them being in the neighborhood.

​A negative experience is re-told a dozen times; positive experiences are re-told five times. By giving things away ​you’ll be creating positive stories about your church which will have a ripple effect.

These are cheap ways to get your church’s name in front of people in the community in a positive, wholesome way. There are no downsides to these strategies (well, except #4 if you eat too many). And the super-duper secret is to do them in waves, not continuously. Use the church and social seasons as to when to be active: November & December for Christmas; February and March for Easter; July and August for back to school.

Lead On!

Steve

 

Filed Under: leadership, planning, strategy Tagged: , ,

Questions re Accepting Credit Cards (part 5 of 5)

Posted on November 14, 2017 Written by

Churches which do not have online giving often have several questions which hinder them from proceeding. Here are some of the concerns I’ve run into over the past few years:

  • Commercialism
    • Some fear that by accepting credit cards, the church is becoming too commercial. It isn’t. It is using the mechanisms created by this world in order to do the work of the Kingdom. Jesus encouraged his followers to be as shrewd as the people of the world (Luke 16:8) and this is one way of doing just that.

 Online giving doesn’t solve all of a church’s financial woes. It does eliminate (or minimize) hurdles and excuses for people to give to their church. They can no longer claim they forgot their checkbook or don’t have cash in their wallet. I know they have their credit card in their wallet because they’re going to eat at a restaurant after church and that restaurant accepts credit cards. They can use that credit or debit card to be generous with their church – hopefully even more generous than what they’ll spend on lunch.

Make it easy for people to give to your church – give them the option of online giving.

Lead On!

Steve

Filed Under: accounting, budget, church finances, generosity, leadership, strategy Tagged: , , , ,

Questions re Accepting Credit Cards (part 4 of 5)

Posted on November 7, 2017 Written by

Churches which do not have online giving often have several questions which hinder them from proceeding. Here are some of the concerns I’ve run into over the past few years:

  • Promotion
    • To be successful, there must be a promotion/awareness/visibility campaign to let members know they can now giving online. The best way to do this is as a teaching opportunity rather than crass marketing. Just as we let members know about different Bible study times and other events, we need to inform people about the different ways they can support their church. They want to give their money to their church – we’re simply providing information and ways for them to do that.
    • There are a variety of methods to get the word out using bulletins, pulpit announcements, website, giving cards in the pews, etc. All of these must be used to make this a success.
    • If we do not give easy ways to support their church, we’re putting hurdles in front of our donors. That is simply not wise or good.
  • Accounting and Reporting
    • The finance office will need to be diligent in ensuring that all online financial transactions are posted to the General Ledger so that the monthly bank reconciliation is accurate and the end of month financial reports are correct. That office also needs to ensure that any reporting provided to the church during the month contains the online gifts. This will require the staff to adopt new patterns and checklists.

 

Lead On!

Steve

 

Filed Under: accounting, budget, church finances, generosity, leadership, strategy Tagged: , , , , ,

Questions re Accepting Credit Cards (part 3 of 5)

Posted on October 31, 2017 Written by

Churches which do not have online giving often have several questions which hinder them from proceeding. Here are some of the concerns I’ve run into over the past few years:

  • We’ll Get That Money Anyway
    • Some people feel that money given by members via credit cards would have come to the church via cash or check if the church didn’t have online giving. Personally, I’ve put things back on the shelf when I realized the shop didn’t take a credit card and I didn’t have cash to pay for it.
    • I don’t believe all of that money would. Some would come in but not all. The convenience of credit cards eliminates hurdles to giving and allows for giving more.
  • Back office administration
    • The finance staff in the church has to get the donations posted to members giving records and to the church’s financial records. The worst way to do that is manually and the best way is to do it electronically with few or no human touches.
    • Digital donation providers are continually working to ensure their systems can seamlessly “talk” with church financial records systems. Also, the online giving platforms have a way for members to access their giving history and even download a document suitable for their tax purposes (which means less contact with the church’s finance office).

 Lead On!

Steve

 

Filed Under: accounting, budget, church finances, generosity, leadership, strategy Tagged: , , , , ,

Questions re Accepting Credit Cards (part 2 of 5)

Posted on October 24, 2017 Written by

Churches which do not have online giving often have several questions which hinder them from proceeding. Here are some of the concerns I’ve run into over the past few years:

  • Portal Fees
    • Digital donation providers themselves have a fee which usually depends on the size of the church (number of Sunday morning worshippers).
    • This is the fee paid to the provider their services
      • A portal that makes is easy and friendly to give
      • Back office assistance to post contributions
      • Help in creating categories for gifts
      • Continuing training to existing and new staff at the church
      • Ideas for successful marketing and implementation
    • This fee is to the digital donations provider just as we’d pay the plumber for their labor (that is, the portal fee) and we also pay for parts (that is, the credit card fees) – two different expenses paid to two different companies.
  • Debt by members
    • Some churches are concerned that members will get deeper in debt by using their credit cards to pay their tithe. There are two ways to address this within the church:
      • Encourage people to use a debit card or an ACH transfer (bank to bank). These are cheaper for the church and don’t create credit card debt.
      • Have a class teaching members wise money management using materials from Financial Peace University and/or from Crown Ministries. These classes can really help people get their financial house in order AND tithe.
    • But some people want to use their credit card to earn rewards points and they will pay off their credit card balance each month.

 Lead On!

Steve

 

Filed Under: accounting, budget, church finances, generosity, leadership, strategy Tagged: , , , , ,
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