3 Things Churches Need To Focus On For Giving Growth in 2019

3 Things Churches Need To Focus On For Giving Growth in 2019

If you ask any pastor, if they would like to see growth in giving by their congregation in 2019, I doubt many would disagree or shy away from that outcome.

If you ask most pastors what is the status of their giving with respect to their budget and actual needs, again, most would answer that their dreams for ministry are greater than the offerings and times collected via the offering plate.

Church finances

A good portion of churches “need” more funding, not just “want” more funding.

This next year, somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 churches will have to close their doors.

Lack of strategy or intent regarding finances is one of the major reasons churches are struggling.

Here are 3 THINGS TO FOCUS ON IN 2019 TO CULTIVATE A CULTURE OF GIVING

1. Your church needs to adopt a cause.

One of the big things many churches have lost his their outward focus. Many churches do have outreach activities and support missionaries, but don’t have clarity around it and positioning it all as a core part of its identity. Every church needs to hang this shingle so it’s people can identify with this behavior or outward generosity.

2. You need to plan on sharing of stories of impact regularly.

Where did the money go? How did it help? You need to ensure there is a FLOW of stories being shared with your congregation so they connect their giving behavior with the outcomes.

3. The pastor needs to see all giving activity.

The leadership needs be fully involved with the church’s financial activity. This is because financial stewardship is a discipleship issue and without knowing and supporting financial health, a church isn’t doing its job of helping its people to fully worship through daily living.

Also, no church can maximize its impact without understanding when it can invest in ministry opportunities and when there is less or no margin available.

Those of the first three things every church needs to reconsider at the beginning of the year. Without these three fundamental approaches, it will be difficult to install a culture of generosity in the community.

WHAT WOULD YOU ADD AS #4 TO THIS LIST?

Top 7 Things Pastors Can Do To Ensure Millennials Give To The Church

Top 7 Things Pastors Can Do To Ensure Millennials Give To The Church

Q: What’s a millennial?

A: Anyone under 35 at work you don’t like

Why is there so much so much snarkiness when it comes to an entire generation?

Did you know that they are actually the largest segment of the workforce today?

That Heisman move isn’t helping things in the workplace. The church is no different.

The big issue is, unless church leaders begin to understand how to relate to this (and the next generations coming up right behind it), the tithes & offerings received will continue to dwindle.

In the spirit of the snarkiness that exists, here is a list of things pastors should do to ensure they are convincing millennials to contribute financially to the ministry.

7 Ways Churches Can Get Millennials To Give Financially

  1. Use guilt and obligation.
  2. Tell them the ideal is 10%.
  3. Take only checks or cash.
  4. Tell them it’s for the church, not some other cause.
  5. Tell them the overall budget is none of their business.
  6. Don’t talk about money or financial health or the connection between money and spiritual health. Ever. Not in small groups. Not in personal interactions. And definitely never from the pulpit.
  7. Never disclose that Jesus would talked about money in the Bible.

What am I missing?