If your giving in the last quarter was a bit lackluster, you might be thinking about simply asking your church to give more. After all, you have always been able to raise sufficient ministry funding in the past, so why would that not continue?
The reality is that your givers are not behaving the way they did even five or six years ago. Church leaders and pastors must recognize that the nature of church giving has and will continue to change.
Let's examine nine signs that indicate you need help with stewardship and ministry funding.
1. No Year-Round Generosity Plan
First, you need a plan to increase your church's giving and maximize your generosity efforts. So, if you don't have a comprehensive generosity plan, now is the time to get started. What's a year-round generosity plan? A generosity plan is a strategy for cultivating generosity throughout the year. The plan includes strategies for teaching biblical stewardship principles and inviting donors to express their generosity through your church in various ways — including annual giving, capital giving, special offerings, and planned giving. The generosity plan is designed to foster a culture of generosity and provide a year-round strategy.
2. No Giver Analytics
The reality is that every number tells a story about the effectiveness of your ministry funding strategies. Technology plays a significant role and can help you gain deeper insights into giving behaviors as well as entice tech-savvy donors to contribute to your ministry. Online giving, text-to-give, QR codes, and the acceptance of cryptocurrencies are not futuristic. They are already here. These days, Christian crowdfunding platforms exist to raise money in a way that aligns with members' giving preferences in the modern era. It's vital to measure donor activity using technology that predicts behavior.
3. No Gratitude Strategy
Donor stewardship begins with sincere expressions of gratitude. When the pastor and church leadership express gratitude to those who provide volunteer and financial support, donors feel that their giving is making a difference. First-time donors are more likely to make future contributions if they receive a thank-you note. Therefore, a comprehensive and structured strategy for saying 'thank you' is essential. Therefore, fostering a culture of gratitude will make donors feel appreciated and encourage them to express gratitude for God’s blessings in their lives.
4. Not Communicating Impact
Many church leaders believe that members should already be aware of the impact their church is having in the community. However, that's often not the reality. In truth, most donors are unaware of the breadth and depth of your ministry and need to hear how their money is being used to create impact. People who are not deeply engaged or who attend worship sporadically may not fully grasp the impact you are making in your community and beyond. When sharing your impact stories, whether through Offering Talks, giving statements, or church-wide newsletters, be sure to affirm the generosity of your members and how they are making a difference in the world in the name of Christ.
5.No New Financial Leaders
As a church leader, you want all of your members to support your ministries. However, in the vast majority of churches, there are individuals and families who provide a larger proportion of the resources available for ministry. These Financial Leaders are essential to your ongoing ministry. Every church needs a pipeline of new Financial Leaders to replace those who are lost through moving or death. If you have recently lost some larger contributors, now is the time to begin cultivating new members to take their place. Creating a plan to grow the investment of current donors will ensure your ministries will be fully funded in the future.
6. No New Givers or No Giver Retention Strategy
Another indicator that you may need to step up your donor stewardship efforts is if your donor pool is not growing. If you are losing donors at a higher rate than you are gaining donors, you will be unable to sustain your current ministries. Unfortunately, you will lose people every year to moves and death; however, you must also be engaging new people. Retaining existing donors requires prioritizing donor stewardship. As the giving landscape evolves, the church must adapt to continue cultivating meaningful and deep donor relationships.
7. Generosity is Not Part of Your Discipleship Pathway
Generosity is an indicator of spiritual maturity and an integral part of the discipleship journey. Encouraging people to move along a discipleship pathway, including growing in giving, will help them deepen their relationship with the church and with God. With everything going on in the world today, people are hungrier than ever for a sense of community and generosity. By committing to a discipleship pathway, you will encourage individuals to deepen their commitment to the church and their faith. When you share the impact of your members’ generosity, it inspires them to grow in giving.
8. Not Regularly Teaching About Generosity
To grow funding to support your ministry, you may need to lead a stewardship revolution in your church. Church leaders and clergy must bravely preach and teach the biblical principles of generosity, inviting people to grow in their giving. Your vision for ministry is worthy of support, and when people feel a part of it, they are willing to help fund it. Teaching about stewardship and generosity should occur more frequently than once a year, ideally during an annual giving campaign. In fact, teaching on or demonstrating the impact of generosity should be shared each week in an offering talk and frequently woven into sermons. Church leaders must model generosity principles for them to take hold in the church.
9. Your Ministry Plan is not Fully Funded
Your ministry is vital to serving your community locally and globally, and it should receive the generous support of your membership. To receive sufficient funding, givers must understand the impact they are making. You are competing for philanthropic dollars and need to be clear about why giving to your church matters. Tell your supporters what you are doing and whose life is better because of the vital work you are doing. Tell your story often and in every creative way you can imagine. By doing so, your donors will rise to the occasion and partner with you to fully fund your ministry plan.