How will the current economic climate impact your budget for 2023? That is the question I will explore in this edition of the Coach, entitled Recession Proofing Your Offerings. I appropriated the title from my first book seen here on the left. Let’s start by asking, are we headed towards a...
Are you having a good summer? Has anyone already been on vacation? How many of you wish you were on vacation? Do you remember when you were a kid and had the whole summer off from school? Now that is a vacation! Alas, we now must work so that our...
What is your plan? The best message and tools, while essential, are worthless without a plan of action. Let me lay out my overall strategy for plans for special offerings. The following action plan uses Labor Day weekend as the target giving date. However, the principles here can be adapted...
Are you too late? Waiting too late is perhaps the biggest mistake pastors, and church leaders make when it comes to giving. By the time a pastor gets around to emailing or calling me, they are typically experiencing a huge giving-to-budget gap. At that point, they are being reactionary rather...
How many of you have already been on vacation? We love vacations. According to a recent study, we love it so much that we are willing to give up other things we love to make sure our vacation happens. According to a study done by Travelport: 71 percent of respondents would...
The following letter shows how to link vision to giving as well as how to encourage leaders to give more! Dear _____________, I'm Fired Up because we went back on offense in 2022, and your generosity helped make that happen. On behalf of countless lives changed, let me say thank you! Because of...
Imagine you are a football coach whose team is behind at halftime. When you are behind in a game, do you put in the second or third team to pull ahead? Of course not. You put in your go-to players, your first team, and you give them a pep talk...
I'm not sure anyone cares, but this week is the National Baseball League's All-Star game. Will anyone watch? The All-Star game is always intriguing, seeing the best of the best. Did you know we have All-Stars here at CHURCH NAME? Our volunteers are All-Stars. They come week after week, volunteering their...
How do you recover lost offerings? For one thing, you can't merely sit around wringing your hands about the decline in giving. You must act. However, your actions can’t come off as looking desperate. Ultimately, that will not make a difference. To see an increase in giving you need to...
It’s July, halfway through the year, and it is time to ask, “how is giving going?” Very few pastors will respond by saying great! Most are feeling the summer slump in giving by now, with many struggling. Some churches are living offering to offering at a time when most of...
