Bonus Material

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...


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....


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. 74% of evangelicals gave money to an individual local church in...


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...


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...


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… Social Media posts from now through December 31st should work to tell your story and how donors make this happen. Each post...


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?...


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: Many pastors are uncomfortable with anything money related. Too many, I fear, misinterpret the Scriptures, and think that money is evil. The Bible says, "The love of money is evil." It does not say...


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:...