What Questions You Should Be Asking

What questions about giving should you be asking? If I were a pastor heading into another quarter of the year here is what I would be asking…

• How is giving doing as we move into this next quarter? Are we ahead or behind budget? How does current giving compare with last year? What were the results of last year’s second quarter giving?
• How is our cash flow? Can we fund the various initiatives we have scheduled? How much cash on hand do we need to fund each initiative?
• How best can we communicate what we are doing this summer in missions and ministry in such a way that our people want to give to support that work?
• What special appeals, like emails, snail mail, etc., should we schedule and send out? What is the message behind each?
• Basically, you want to ask if all the tools are in place so giving will not miss a beat.

Those are a few questions I would be asking. Hopefully, this will create even more questions for you. The point of the questions is to cause us to think strategically through your message, how we will get that message, and anything else.

It is not too early to begin asking questions as you head into summer. Remember, the value is in the questions!

Practical Suggestions – I want to challenge you to think about this…

• What will be the focus of each offering? You have about sixty seconds to make an impact. Each offering of the summer should have some focus on missions and ministry. You are connecting the dots for people to understand where their money goes and the impact it makes.
• Who will be assigned to take up each week’s offering? Don’t make this an afterthought but a planned-out, worshipful experience. The offering is not an interruption of worship, it IS worship. Make sure whoever takes up the offering understands this and the message behind that offering.
• How can you creatively set up the offering? Some weekends you might use video, and at other times you might interview someone about some various missions or ministry activity. Changing the format keeps people focused and paying attention.
• What other ways can the offering be enhanced for more effective results? Social Media posts, bulletin statements, etc. Be creative! Also, consider using May as a time to push signing up for automated giving.