“That is the first sermon on giving I have heard in twelve years!” Those were the words of a deacon at a church where I was asked to preach. After twelve years of ministry, their pastor had just left to start a mission. Apparently, the last pastor, although greatly loved,...
Why do so many pastors and church leaders struggle with stewardship? We deal with that subject in this edition of the Stewardship Coach. Our lead post, Why Do Pastors So Often Neglect Stewardship? helps set the stage. Are you guilty of any of these reasons? More importantly, will you do...
“Effective fund-raising churches refuse to treat all people as equals – and people truly are not when it comes to giving. Most of these churches develop some kind of segmentation strategy in which they categorize the congregation into types of donors.” (George Barna, How to Increase Giving to Your Church) My...
“Over 6 million children in the U.S. go hungry. Your gift now will help us eradicate hunger!” Which picture would you attach to the above appeal? Would it matter? A new study by Infinity Concepts | Grey Matter Research entitled RACE & GENDER IN FUNDRAISING: EXPLORING POTENTIAL BIAS AMONG EVANGELICALS gives...
Are Evangelicals Biased? What impact does race and gender in fundraising have? Does it matter whether a donor-supported organization shows a picture of a boy or a girl in their appeal? Do donors favor helping children of their own racial or ethnic background? Does the impact of an image depend on...
When it comes to raising funds are evangelicals biased? That is the question we probe in this week's edition of the Stewardship Journal. As I mentioned last week, we are expanding our reach in terms of audience and widening our list of contributors. Our first post comes from Ron Sellers,...
The following post was written for my sponsor, OnlineGiving.org and can be found at https://www.onlinegiving.org/blog. A few Sundays after I resigned as a Senior Pastor and began working full-time in the stewardship ministry, I found myself daydreaming during my pastor’s sermon. I was shocked to realize that all those...
Remember when our Christian leadership was telling us that we cannot “go back” to our pre-COVID world because it no longer exists? In this issue we will examine how The Way Forward is Back. During the height of Covid, it seemed that was all we heard. We were told to prepare...
Pastor! Do you know what is your lowest attended weekends? I recently read a Thom Rainer article that helped me think through low-attended weekends and what strategically you need to do to avoid a lag in your momentum. I wrote the following blog post that I wanted to share with...
Welcome to another Stewardship Journal. Do you remember that old line, “I have good news and bad news?” That is how I felt when I read the Lifeway Research report1. showing increases in attendance and baptisms in the SBC. Yet, at the same time, our membership has dipped to the...
