The Key Lanes for Building a Culture of Generosity

If you ever played football, you probably had a coach yell at you at one point or another, “Stay in your lane!” Football players are taught to guard and protect their assigned lanes from blocking schemes to kick-off coverage. The theory is that the play will succeed if everyone stays in their lane and does their job.

When it comes to creating a culture of generosity based upon biblical stewardship, I think in lanes. In this edition of the Coach, I want to share with you The Key Lanes for Building a Culture of Generosity. I want to give you an overview of the various “lanes” I will focus on in the coming weeks.

Through the years of helping churches, I have developed strategies around the key lanes of focus that are required to build a culture of generosity and sustain that culture. Here are the key lanes I focus on:

• The Pastoral Lane – Helping senior leadership advance stewardship.
• The Platform Lane – What do those in attendance or online hear and see from your platform that will enhance or detract from their desire to give their money to you?
• The Campus Lane – From the moment people walk into your door, they should be positively impacted and motivated to want to give to your church. In the 21st century, your campus is both virtual and physical.
• The Direct Appeal Lane – This lane combines both snail mail and email strategies.
• The Digital Lane – From your website to online giving to social media, we now live in a digital age. If you want your message to be heard, you must be where people are, and today, they are online and on social media.
• The Gratitude Lane – The easiest way to motivate future gifts is learning how to thank existing gifts.
• The Legacy Lane – As we enter into the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of the world, it is imperative that you know how to tap into those who can and should leave a legacy behind with their gifts. I will also talk about how best to raise capital in the coming years based on this lane.

Here are a few things to keep in mind. First, I advocate principles, not necessarily process. Principles endure while processes and programs change continually based on your culture and context. Then, finally, your systems support the lanes through which your story travels and is communicated. See the Bonus Section. We’ll work first on helping you understand the basics of each lane and then move toward fleshing out strategies for each lane.

So, let’s get your team lined up to cover each lane for the 2024 Year of Generosity Kickoff.

Mark Brooks – The Stewardship Coach
mark@acts17generosity.com

OnlineGiving.org, the leading online giving processor in America, sponsors my writing. OG is owned and operated by committed Christians active in their local church. Find out more about their services at https://www.onlinegiving.org/. You can also read the blog post I wrote for them at https://www.onlinegiving.org/blog.