In Moses' last recorded speech to the Israelites, he re-emphasizes that they should love God with all of their heart, soul, and strength. He then tells God's chosen people to pass this on to the next generation - to "impress" this lesson on their children. Moses understood the importance of...
The following is an email interview with Ron Sellers of Grey Matter Research & Consulting about their newly released study, The Generosity Factor: Evangelicals and Giving. I asked Ron a few questions about the study. Mark: My initial reaction reading this report was that this doesn't paint a pretty picture of...
19% of evangelicals give zero to church or charities. That was the shocking revelation in a new Infinity Concepts|Grey Matter Research study entitled, The Generosity Factor: Evangelicals and Giving. Here is their sobering conclusion, “The common thread we have discovered when it comes to generosity is that, as a group,...
Seniors With Money to Spend Buoy Consumer Activity. That was a recent Wall Street Journal headline to an article that shared the positive power of spending for people over 65. The WSJ article stated, “In August, 17.7% of the population was 65 or older, according to the Census Bureau, the...
50% of U.S. Protestant pastors say the current economy is negatively impacting their churches.1. “Most churches are not seeing growth in offerings that keep pace with inflation (currently at 3.7% annually according to the Consumer Price Index,)” says Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “The good news is the...
The following is a brief overview for your consideration and for future discussion. Social Media Push - Across all platforms of communication, we want to focus on the crisis you are trying to meet and the need to heighten awareness of that need. A picture is worth a thousand words. Let’s...
Last weekend, football teams across America, from the Peewee ranks to the NFL, had players at the start of the fourth quarter raise their hands extending four fingers. Why? It’s a reminder to their team that games are won and lost during the fourth quarter. It’s a symbol asking everyone...
To prepare for your best end-of-year offering, we must understand and realize the power of online giving. Millions of dollars are raised on the last day of the year, with almost all of it coming through some type of digital format. Here is a post I recently wrote about the...
As we continue to focus on end-of-year giving, we have found that getting your giving leaders on board early in the process is key to any offering's success. I advise an advance letter about end-of-year giving to be sent out early in November. Here is a sample from my end-of-year...
When it comes to future planning for your church, how far out do you think/dream? That question came to me last week as I sat outside on my patio. It was a Friday, and I had some downtime to think. It had been a busy week, and I need to...
