If your first quarter giving was a bit lackluster, you might be thinking about simply asking your congregation 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 latest data suggests there is something new happening and donors are changing their behaviors in significant ways that may change your ministry funding. For example, according to a recent Horizons survey, giving declined in 44 percent of respondent churches in the first 10 months of 2021 versus the same timeframe in 2020. At the same time, church attendance also decreased in 65 percent of the churches responding to the survey. So, if giving to your church was less in Q1 2022 than in Q1 2021, it may be time to more closely examine the giving behaviors of your givers.
The reality is that your congregation isn't behaving the way it did before we entered the information age. Historically, American families routinely attended church with their families as part of the weekend ritual. However, even prior to the pandemic, attendance patterns were changing. Over two years into the pandemic, worship attendance has still not returned to pre-pandemic levels with many members choosing to watch online or skip worship altogether. There are many reasons for the shift in attendance patterns such as the distractions of social media, 24-hour newsfeeds, and increasing demands on modern families including weekend extracurricular activities.
Church leaders and pastors must recognize that the nature of church giving has, and will continue to change. To address the change, many stewardship ministry leaders have begun making a stronger connection between generosity and spiritual formation. Some church leaders have clearly articulated discipleship pathways that include financial giving. Connecting spiritual growth with generosity creates innovative opportunities to grow giving in the churches. Ultimately, church leadership needs to recognize how changes in donor behaviors are impacting the total funding of your ministry, especially annual giving.
Let's look at nine signs you need help with stewardship and ministry funding.
1. You Don't Have A Comprehensive Generosity Plan
First, you need a plan to increase your church giving and maximize your donor stewardship efforts. So, if you don't have a comprehensive generosity plan, now is the time to get started. What's a generosity plan? A generosity plan is a strategy for nurturing generosity in your entire membership regardless of current giving behaviors. The plan includes multi-faceted strategies for teaching biblical stewardship principles and inviting donors to express generosity through your church in a variety of ways — annual giving, capital giving, special offerings, and planned giving. The generosity plan is designed to deepen the generosity culture and provide a year-round strategy.
2. You Don't Measure Donor Activity
The reality is that every number tells a story about the effectiveness of your ministry funding strategies. Technology plays a big 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 the way members want to give in the modern era. It's vital to measure donor activity using technology that predicts behavior.
3. You Don't Have a Structured Thank You Strategy
Donor stewardship begins with sincere expressions of gratitude. When the pastor and church leadership say thank you to those who provide volunteer and financial support, donors feel 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, encouraging a culture of gratitude will make donors feel appreciated and open their hearts to expressing gratitude for God’s blessings in their lives.
4. You Don't Communicate Impact
Many church leaders believe members should already know the impact their church is making 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 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. You Don't Have a Growing Number of 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 lost some larger contributors recently, now is the time to begin to cultivate 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. You Don't Have New Donors & Aren't Retaining Existing Donors
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, it is vital that you are also engaging new people. Being able to retain existing donors requires prioritizing donor stewardship. As the world of philanthropy changes, the church must adapt in order to continue to cultivate meaningful and deep donor relationships.
7. You Haven't Made Generosity 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 people to grow in 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. You Don't Teach Enough 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 and invite 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 on stewardship and generosity should happen more frequently than once per year during pledging season. The importance of generosity from Jesus’ perspective should be taught year-round. Generosity principles should be modeled by church leaders, preached often from the pulpit, and made an integral part of your important ministries.
9. You Aren't Fully Funding Your Ministry Plan
Your ministry is vital to serving your community locally and around the world and should receive your membership’s generous support. To receive sufficient funding, it is imperative that donors understand the impact you 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 important 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.
Donor stewardship is an activity that centers around generosity and discipleship. With a fully-funded ministry plan, you will truly be fulfilling God’s vision for your church.