How to Introduce Stewardship Planning to Your Staff Meetings
The Basic Elements of Stewardship Planning – I wrote a basic outline a few years back that shows how to approach stewardship awareness and planning in staff or Finance team meetings. First, review. Start by reviewing the results of current giving compared to past giving. I recommend that you share a weekly update on the […]
A Sample End-of-Year Giving Statement
Churches are required to send out end-of-year giving statements. In upcoming issues, I will share with you how to use Direct Appeals effectively. Many churches in our team are now beginning to send out their yearly giving statements. Here is a sample of how I would position my end-of-year statement. The following, though designed as […]
Three Reasons to Increase Recurring Giving
I always advise churches hold a January campaign to encourage signing up for recurring giving. Here are three reasons why you should consider this for your church. A recently released study by the Christian think tank, Grey Matter Research, found that1. Below are the three reasons why you should increase the percentage of donors using […]
Six Weeks to Giving Success Overview
January is the second worst giving month of the year! I put together a playbook, entitled Six Weeks to Giving Success, which provides a detailed plan of action to help get you off to a great start to the New Year. You can find a copy at https://acts17generosity.com/shop/six-weeks-to-giving-success/. Here is an overview of the weeks […]
December 31st Email and Text Blast
A well-written email and text message can generate hundreds and thousands of dollars if it is done well. Here are two samples for your consideration. I recommend keeping the message short and providing multiple links to your giving portal. Subject line: What does 83% mean for Our Church? Dear ______________, 83%. According to a study […]
End-of-Year Email Samples
Non-profits will collect as much as 25% of their annual budget in the last few days of the year. Use the following emails to reap a giving harvest for your church. Pre-Christmas Email Blast to be sent out on December 19. Subject line: $886 versus $200; which is it? Dear Friend of Community Church, How […]
Four December Tips to Make Your End-of-Year Giving a Success
Tip #1 – Have a plan and work your plan! If you are not planning, you are planning on failure so let’s devise a plan. Your plan in a nutshell… That’s the basics. You can flesh it out for your culture and context. But first, follow this tip… Tip #2 – Don’t make it about […]
How to Make January Recurring Giving Month
January is a good month to push recurring giving. While dated, the sample here gives you an idea of how to put recurring giving in the mind of your donors. This sample was in a yearly statement from North Point in Atlanta. How important is recurring giving for your stewardship platform? Here are my top […]
Why Pastors Fear Talking Too Much About Money
Why are so many pastors reticent to preach or teach stewardship? Here is my list of reasons: Does any of the above hinder you? To combat all the above, we must develop the right attitude. A few years ago, I came up with this statement about the right attitude. The Right Attitude – My mission, […]
How to Make Your Appeal About People
In my main column, I wrote about the message behind your appeals needing to be about people and life change. The following is from my 2022 #GivingTuesday Playbook. While this appeal fits best with a #GivingTuesday strategy, it shows how to position your appeal as compelling. #GivingTuesday suggested email copy. Subject Line: Help us feed […]