What? Increase giving during a poor economy? Some claim giving’s off 20 percent while others say its 10 percent. Mostly we have no clue how giving has been affected. Isolating a few examples here and there does not make a scientific study.
As with the rest of this economy, my feel is that a few years from now we will realize while there was a decline, it was not as bad as we thought. We tend to have short-term historical memories. We survived other tough times, we will survive this one. I am not naive enough to say that it is not a challenge and that some ministries are not suffering. I am simply saying that not everyone is seeing such a decline in giving………and I believe there are some strategies the church can use to help:
Compelling vision. People give to a compelling vision. My own church, through the leadership of the senior pastor, has a vision of reaching the lost and unchurched of their area. They have a vision to help connect people more closely to Christ. They are about doing exciting things and it is exciting to be a part of that vision. Good vision trumps bad economy.
Kingdom accomplishment. People give where they believe their money is accomplishing something for the Kingdom. My church tells its story of reaching people. In turn, celebrating those Kingdom “wins” produces stewardship funding.
Have you ever wondered why the top colleges in football regularly get the best athletes to sign with them? If you have a chance of playing for a national championship or playing at a small school, where would you go? Winning teams draw winning players. Show people you are a winner and they will want to join your team.
Pastoral involvement. My church’s senior pastor does not relegate stewardship responsibility to another staff member or lay person. He keeps his pulse on what is happening with giving in his church. In my experience churches that do better in the stewardship arena are churches where the senior pastor is engaged. Good stewardship takes good leadership.
A stewardship plan. Churches have mission plans, evangelism plans and discipleship plans. Why do so few have a stewardship plan? Every church should have that kind of plan and work it regularly. The success will be obvious.
Stewardship plans must be multifaceted. It begins from the pulpit with positive preaching. It is carried out through stewardship education and even direct mail. What works for one church might not work for yours but you need to develop a working plan of action for success. Without a plan you are planning to fail.
Positive atmosphere. We tend to think of stewardship as tiresome and negative. If you approach it with chagrin don’t be surprised if your members don’t view it the same way. This past fall I visited a church the Sunday they kicked off their annual campaign. I felt like I was at a funeral. The lay leader giving the stewardship sermon talked about how bad the economy was. The staff member assigned to preach that day talked about how they dreaded approaching the subject. In the end I dreaded I had attended.
At my church the leadership does not shy away from talking about the responsibility of stewardship. They have simply found a way to make the message positive instead of negative. It helps that the health of the church is positive, giving them a base to communicate from. Be positive in your approach and you will produce cheerful givers. Cheerful givers become repeat givers.
Consistency. To maintain and even increase giving during a poor economy takes hard consistent work. You can not make this a one-time sermon or a one-time letter. You have to regularly stay in tune with what is happening in your ministry. Too many leaders put stewardship on the back burner until they realize they are in a crisis.
Study after study has shown that donors are willing to continue giving despite these current times. The willingness is there. They are just looking for a reason to give. Develop your vision, create a plan to communicate that vision and work your plan.
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