How to Use Labor Day Weekend to Increase Giving

Are you running behind budget? I have had great success using come-from-behind strategies that use Labor Day to bring additional dollars to the plate. The following is taken from my seasonal playbook, Recovering Your Lost Offerings. Here is a brief plan of action for a Labor Day offering:

• Finalize the offering messages used for the special offering and who will deliver them. Focus on what the church is accomplishing and, most of all plans to accomplish in the fall.
• Prepare any bulletin inserts, newsletter comments, webpage, etc. You want the message of your special offering to be trumpeted across all your platforms.
• Set up through your online giving pull-down menu a line that designates the special offering you will hold. This allows you to track your results better.
• Monday, August 15^th, send out a letter to all your giving and ministry leaders. See the sample letter later in this playbook. Also, consider inserting a postage-paid, self-addressed envelope with every direct USPS appeal you send. See the sample at the end of this playbook. One goal for any and every appeal is to make it easy for people to give.
• Monday, August 22nd, two weeks out from a Labor Day appeal, use social media accounts to highlight the special offering. Show donors what giving to your special offering will accomplish. I recommend at least one to two posts a day. Make sure each post contains a link to give online. For help, contact https://www.onlinegiving.org/
• Monday, August 29^th, send out a snail mail appeal about the special offering. Remember to include a self-addressed, postage-paid envelope.
• Thursday afternoon, September 1^st, send an email blast for a Labor Day appeal with an embedded link to your giving page asking people to give right then! See the sample.
• Sunday, September 4^th, send a text appeal asking for a gift.
• Monday morning, September 5^th, send out one final email blast encouraging participation in the special offering.
• Write notes and emails thanking those that gave with a special focus on first-time givers on Tuesday, September 6^th.
• Sunday, September 11^th, announce from the platform the results of the special offering focusing on what the offering will allow you to accomplish for missions and ministry in the weeks to follow.
• Monday, September 12^th, across all platforms, celebrate the results of the special offering for the next few days. Provide a link to your giving portal so that people can still give.