If you lead development or communications at a faith-based nonprofit, this five-minute playbook shows you how to turn strong digital engagement into joyful, recurring generosity—rooted in discipleship, not pressure. You’ll get copy-and-paste moves you can deploy this month to form generous disciples, remove giving friction, and grow long-term partners.
Every faith-based nonprofit leader faces a pivotal question: Is our mission to form disciples, or are we simply using disciples as a means to fund our mission?
The answer to this question shapes your entire ministry with stakeholders and donors—how you communicate your vision, invite participation, and steward the resources entrusted to your care. It determines whether your organization is cultivating spiritual growth that naturally leads to generosity or simply running campaigns that meet financial goals, missing opportunities to form faithful givers.
This tension is often most visible in the digital space, where your nonprofit connects with donors and stakeholders. You may have noticed it too—strong digital engagement, but stagnant giving. At Horizons Stewardship, we call it the generosity gap—the space between connection and financial support. If you’re experiencing this gap, let’s close it.
Every nonprofit knows how to communicate need and impact. We tell stories that move hearts, share outcomes that prove effectiveness, and make the case for why support matters. But communicating need is only half the story. The other half is far more personal—and spiritual.
All donors have a God-given desire to participate in something larger than themselves. Research from the Lake Institute indicates that the majority of individual giving is spiritually motivated, in some studies 78% of people said their faith inspired their giving, so we can’t ignore it. Generosity isn’t simply how we fund ministry; it’s one of the ways God forms people who follow Jesus. When we invite people to give, we’re not asking them to fill a gap in our budget—we’re inviting them into a deeper experience of discipleship, where faith becomes action and gratitude takes tangible form.
When nonprofits recognize and nurture this spiritual dimension, the conversation shifts. Donors stop being seen as financial resources and start being treated as partners in the mission. Giving becomes a reflection of growth, not guilt; a response to grace, not pressure. The hearts of those who give to your mission and ministry become another area of impact for your organization.
Let’s talk about discipleship moments, those small, sacred interactions that nurture faith and deepen connection.
In a digital context, try these three simple rhythms:
These moments remind people of who God is, why your ministry exists, and how they can join the story. Integrating discipleship moments into digital content cultivates connection. And connection is the soil where generosity grows.
Words matter. Instead of “Donate now,” try:
Does each message contain one or more of the following?
When people see giving as part of their spiritual growth, they give more and do so with joy.
Choose platforms that support both engagement and giving. Look for:
Make giving intuitive and emotionally resonant. Use warm language, clear calls to action that call for a response, and visuals that reflect your mission. Avoid clutter. Focus on connection. When telling a story, focus on a single person’s experience (putting a face on your story) and then add facts and figures to support how many more stories like the one you shared are happening or can happen with their support. Avoid vague language and instead use measurable descriptors that connect cause (generosity) and effect (the impact of a changed life). Where possible, express the unit cost of impact so that someone can know exactly the impact their gift will make—for $50 per month, you can eliminate weekend food insecurity for one child.
At Horizons, we believe generosity isn’t just about funding ministry, it’s about forming disciples. We understand the unique challenges faith-based nonprofits face in today’s digital landscape, where engagement is high but giving often lags behind. That’s why our work starts with helping leaders see generosity not as a transaction to be managed, but as a spiritual practice to be nurtured.
We partner with you to design digital discipleship connections that cultivate both spiritual and financial growth. Together, we’ll create ministry moments that move hearts, deepen connection, and build a culture of generosity that sustains your mission for the long haul.
The digital frontier is an opportunity to shape generous disciples. And generosity isn’t merely a goal; it’s our shared response to grace.
Are you ready to integrate giving into the spiritual journey? To experiment and lead with love? Partner with Horizons Nonprofit today, and let’s turn tomorrow’s challenges into opportunities for impact.