Once again we have been greeted in our news to another tragedy of an earthquake. While Chili is not as backward as Haiti none the less they will need help. Will Americans rally in support? My guess is that they will if given the opportunity. What will the church do? After all we have tons of mission projects in Chili through most denominations or other non-profits.

Imagine if the following might happen in response to this crisis.

During the weekend services at your church you rise to ask for special prayer for the people of Chili. You might mention the ongoing work of missions in that country and other needs. After you pray for the people you then say, “As we learned with the crisis in Haiti, funds are going to be needed to help the people of Chili. Let’s just not be supportive in word and prayer let’s take up a collection for those in need. You can give in a variety of ways this morning. Some of you may want to write a check and drop it in the offering or collection box. You will find a special envelope in the seat rack for that purpose. If you did not come prepared to give today you can go to our website and hit the button that says, “Aid for Chili” and give electronically. For others who have an iPhone or other cells like that you can download our giving app and give that way. You will find printed instructions in the bulletin on how to do that. One other way in which you can give is at our giving kiosks that are throughout the building. Each kiosk has a special prompt that will allow you to designate a gift to Chili. Whatever way you choose to give we do ask you to help us put feet to our prayers for this country.”

None of the above is impossible. Every thing that I mentioned is technologically possible. However most churches never think to have a strategy in place ahead of time for such crisis like we have seen this weekend. Most of the churches I have talked to that have had services canceled by snow have no strategy to get people stranded at home to give electronically. If they did they could just as easily asked their members to give electronically either through a giving App on their phone or on their website. Few did that. As a result due to this lack of foresight and planning we lose millions of dollars collectively that could be used for Kingdom work.

This past week I read “The Chronicle of Philanthropy” that contained a section on using technology for raising funds. One article that captured my attention was how some charities are designing and utilizing App’s to increase donors and donations. I have been in contact with a programmer about how this might be accomplished for churches. Why should we let others raise funds with technology and not utilize the resources too?

One of my clients, Christ Church, leases a giving kiosk for $250 a month. They are seeing $3,000 a month in donations through the kiosk! That is a pretty good return on investment. This same church saw their overall giving in 2009 INCREASE by 15%! In part that is due to creative thinking and a good stewardship plan. While it might cost some money to pay for the App design would it not be worth it if you could see additional donors and dollars raised using the tool?

Think about this when the offering time comes around in the church you are at this weekend.

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

This week I was sharing at The McKnight Group’s i3 conference outside of Philadelphia on the impact of this recession upon giving and capital campaigns. One issue that I mentioned was the tight credit market. If you have followed the news lately you know that small businesses, and churches fall into that category, are finding it difficult to get loans for expansion. Banks are pairing down their lending if they are lending at all. Even those that are lending money are much much more cautious than ever before. Look for this trend to continue on even after credit thaws.

Basically I told those in attendance that they should count on banks being more cautious as they approached church lending. Churches can anticipate that it will take longer to acquire a loan and that they will have to prove more to those banks they approach. Banks are in business to make money not give money away. So they want to minimize the risk factor. Your challenge is to show that you are a good risk. Improving your risk status with banks will give you a greater ability to acquire that financing for the new building you are dreaming about.

Here are some things to consider…

Start sooner in your financing search. Even if your project time line is twelve to eighteen months out it is not too soon to begin talking to lending institutions. You need to know what you might qualify for, what the terms are you will face and other factors. Count on this process taking longer than you want so start now.

Put together a proposal for their consideration showing why you are a good risk. You should never approach the bank with hat in hand begging for consideration. Approach them from a position of strength showing why you are a good risk. A well put together proposal will mean all the difference in the world between you getting consideration or shown the door. We regularly help churches put together the pieces of a proposal that puts them in a much better light with the bank. If you don’t know how to do this find someone who does.

Avoid single source lending. The vast majority of churches simply go to whatever bank they are doing business with now and stop there. When you are talking several millions of dollars it is good stewardship to shop your loan around getting the best rates possible. Though credit is still tight you are the customer so shop around for the best deal possible.

Start raising funds now! One thing that really gets banks attention is a pile of cash! How much have you already raised for that new building? We are finding that banks are asking for churches to have much more money in reserve than ever before. So, while your project might be twelve to twenty four months out it is in your best interest to start your campaign as soon as possible. If you are already in a campaign you have a leg up with the banks. Now most banks will not even talk loans with you unless you are ALREADY in a capital campaign.

Look, I know the above sounds self serving. You are right. I want your business. I like to eat. However I also want you to be prepared for what is out there. Even if you don’t use The Charis Group I want you to begin your campaign soon so that you will put yourself in the best possible position for attaining financing. Failing to act now will only delay further the potential building you so desperately need.

If you think this is a bad time to raise funds you are wrong. We have several clients who despite this recession are raising considerable amounts of money for their projects. Many are in areas that have been ravished by this recession. They are proving that good vision trumps bad economy!

Now is the time to act. What are you waiting for?

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

Yesterday I made a follow up visit to Christ Church in Fairview Heights, IL. This growing church last year experienced a 45% increase in giving to their budget AND raised over $700K to their building fund. This year their numbers were down from last year. They only increased giving to their budget by 15%! They did manage to eclipse last year’s building fund total raising an additional $800K. They also showed a gain in giving units by 13%. All in all a good report. How do they do it? Making disciples.

This past year I have read a lot about the changing face of the donor in America. How we had better get hip and get up with the times. We had better utilize Social Networking as the means of raising funds. After all the Obama administration raised their money over the internet why should not the church? Never mind that the facts, that 26% of his supporters came from online, only 2% better than Bush four years earlier, online is the wave of the future.

Not only that but I have had running conversations with many that contend that the future of donations will lie in smaller donations not large donations. Again the Obama campaign is listed as evidence of this. While I do agree that the Obama campaign was brilliantly run when you look at the facts you will find that 80% of their money came the old fashioned way. Without large donations he would not have amassed the funds he raised.

The future of raising funds for the church lies not in technology or small gifts multiplied many times, but in an old fashioned concept, making disciples!

Shane Bishop, whose Twitter name is @RevShane, is the pastor of Christ Church that I referenced to begin this post. I asked him what he felt was making a difference in giving at his church. He told me that they never apologize for the fact that they ask members to give. He said, “I tell those in our Orientation and New Member classes that I assume they did not come to sit but to serve. We tell them we expect them to give. To me giving is part of making disciples.” He further stated that he was not shy about talking about giving on a regular basis not simply once a year or in a sermon series. The results are showing up. They have continued to grow numerically and financially each year.

If I could add what I think is a key part of their success I would say that it is in the fact that they work hard at stewardship. They do not just assume that people will get it and give. They give them a reason to give with a compelling vision but they also ask people to give.

I have another church client in a very recession impacted city that saw giving increase last year. We were talking the other day about those that have seen their giving decline. His remark to me was that churches should not simply assume that the recession is to blame for their decline in dollars. That is sound advice.

Could it be in our rush to make church more appealing to the masses we have watered down what being a disciple means? While I love new technological means of giving, Christ Church has online giving and a giving kiosk, it is still discipleship that raises funds. This year make your focus be on that which really matters, making disciples. True disciples generously give to their church. Those that don’t give to their church are merely fooling themselves that they are disciples.

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

I was all set to make a presentation to a church in a few weeks about how our services could help them raise thousands of dollars. Then our Director of Marketing, Tom Holloway, got an email that said, “Tom, we need to cancel the appointment we previously set up. We have decided to go a different direction.” Tom is pretty persistent so he called the pastor back to see what the new direction was. Sheepishly the pastor admitted that his leaders simply did not want to spend money on a stewardship partner.

Frankly we have heard that a lot lately. As many churches are facing cut backs one of the last things they think they can afford is to spend money on a consultant. I understand how when you have had to cut staff, ministry or other areas spending money on a consultant might be a tough sell. Yet I know that a decision to delay bringing on a stewardship consultant will ultimately end up costing you far more than you will spend on his services.

Consider this…

Stewardship firms have been proven to help churches raise as much as double what they would have raised on their own. From Barna to my friend Casey Graham to countless others that study this they know that this is a fact. I have a host of pastors that I can hook you up with that did it on their own only to find that they raised far less. There are a ton of reasons why but one of the main ones is simply that we hold you accountable to do the things that need to be done. Left to your own raising funds typically gets put on the back burner and never gets the focus that it needs. I promise you that a stewardship consultant will more than cover his expense to your church in funds raised.

Putting off a campaign because we are in a recession only means you have lost dollars. I have had so many pastors tell me they were waiting until the recession was over before they started raising funds. Again, its a money issue. However do you think that your members are saving up for the building fund? No, they are spending that money on movies, food and other stuff. Even though pledging might be down due to the recession you still can raise thousands of dollars now. We have clients in areas that are hugely impacted by the recession raising thousands of dollars each year for their project. The money you don’t ask for this year is money you will never get the next year. It is simply lost to you. You many think you are saving money but you are actually costing your ministry thousands of dollars.

Prices drop during a recession. Building costs which typically go UP 10% to 20% a year have actually dropped by that amount in the last year. Guess what? The same is true for stewardship firms. We have dropped our prices significantly. I told a pastor the other day to make me an offer. I would rather work for him than sit at the office staring at the computer screen. You have nothing to lose by asking if we will reduce our price. I told a pastor yesterday that I did not want the price of the contract to get between us partnering with his church. I believe I can always design an engagement that is a win/win for everyone. Make me an offer! The price you negotiate now will be far lower than what it will be in six months. Putting off engaging a stewardship partner now to save money will cost you more later.

My recommendation to a pastor

Yesterday I met with a pastor that needed our help yet was experiencing sticker shock at the fee that I had already dropped by 30%. Price was the obstacle to getting the help he needed. So I told him…

Determine if you need help. Since the bank is breathing down his neck this was easy. What he had been doing was not working so he knew he needed a new approach.

Determine if I can help you. Here is the crux of the matter. If you believe the guy sitting across the table from you needs to continually be at the table helping you then don’t let anything come between having him there.

Find a way to make it happen. A good stewardship firm will not let price get in the way of helping a church. While we do have to eat and do need to get paid for our services I believe you will find we will work with you. There is no shame is asking how we might lower our fee. You might be surprised at our willingness to work with you.

Look, I wholeheartedly believe in what my industry does for churches. I don’t think we can help you save money I KNOW we can help you. Every day you put off a decision to partner with a firm ends up costing you thousands in the end. Get the help you need for a price you can afford.

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

On February 17, 2009 I wrote the following in my personal journal as I was flying to speak at a conference of church leaders. I wrote, “The climate in the church is one of uncertainty. No one wants to move until they see how this recession will all play out. Never in my lifetime have I seen such a lack of confidence!” The last 365 days have not shown any signs of improvement in the attitude and confidence of the vast majority Christian leaders.

My friend Ben Stroup who now works for a competitor wrote a blog today about this very subject. He wrote, “I’m tired of hearing about the “failing economy.”

* I wait at restaurants for a table.
* The symphony performance I went to recently was sold out.
* I can’t find a parking space at the local grocery store.

Has the economy been stronger in the past? Sure. Will it be stronger again in the future? Absolutely.

I’m amazed how people, who profess to be believers in the Word of God, completely lose their mind when it comes to practical, every day living. The Bible tells us to “Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you.” Remember that? Then why do we use the economic scales of this world as reason and justification to DECREASE the vision God has given to your church?”

All I can say is Amen to that! As I look back upon this past year of blogging I have repeatedly written on this subject. I have tired to show that things are not as bad as many make them out to be. I have tried to show that planning for the future never stops even during times of recession. I have spoke out against the fear mongering of both sides of the political aisle and even the “experts” of our faith who seem to never see any good news out there. I am sick of polls and opinion studies that are incomplete and near shoddy in their research. Where are the leaders who can rise up and give us a proper sense of faith and action? We are in danger of losing one of the best times for evangelism due to our own fear.

So, once again, my leader friend, here is some advice. First I want to list some things you need to stop.

Stop looking to Washington to bail you out.

Stop responding by sight not walking by faith.

Here are some things to start doing.

Start each day asking God what His opinion is.

Decide to focus on the one church you can make a difference in, yours!

We often will jokingly tell one another that we just need to Man Up! Well, it seems to me that now is the time for Christian leaders to, Man Up! Eternity hangs in the balance. What will your response be?

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

You can read Ben’s blog post here:

Everyone anticipates giving to be off in 2009. Our clients have proven the experts wrong! As we continue to evaluate the giving of our clients, something we do twice a year, we have found that their 2009 giving has increased from 2008. All this during what has been portrayed as our worst recession since The Great Depression. What makes these churches any different from others that are struggling? In part it is due to the fact that they adhere to the Three C’s of Raising Funds. Here they are…

Confidence. Donors have confidence in the institutions and thus are not afraid to give to it. These churches have a history of handling finances well. Their pastors have avoided conflict and conflicting lifestyles. The churches have a track record of doing what they said they would do with funds the entrusted to them. As a result their donors have confidence in the institution and reward that confidence with further contributions. In a time where we are all skeptical of institutions deep down we want to know that we can trust and confidence in them. The church shines forth as a great example of confidence. Whatever you do maintain your donors confidence in your handling of their donations.

Clarity. The churches that are raising funds during this recession are the ones that have a clear message that is understandable. It is not about cute slogans, logo’s or vision statements. Frankly even your staff struggles to remember your cute little statements. It is rather about how clear your vision is. How understandable is it? Can a member explain what you are about to another person in one minute or less? Too often we over communicate and under clarify. As a result donors get confused. Make what you are about simple and clear and donors will respond. Any question left unanswered in the mind of a donor becomes a potential hurdle between you and their donation. Communicate with clarity!

Compelling. While the other C’s are foundational this one is the key. People will give their hard earned dollars, even during a recession, to that which matters. Look at how much is being raised for Haiti. Your task is to make what you are about so compelling that I would gladly give to support the cause. Know what you are about and why it matters. Communicate your vision with passion. If you are not compelled by what you are doing how do you think your donors will give to support that which does not burn first in your heart? The churches that raise funds are the churches where the vision burns in the heart of the leaders. They then cast the vision compellingly. Ask yourself the question if you were not the leader would I give to the vision? Make your vision compelling.

While everyone is running around trying to predict how much giving is off during this recession the real issue is not that. The real issue is your church or ministry. I have a client church in the middle of recession racked Michigan that is increasing giving one year after the next. They adhere to and practice these three C’s. Despite what the experts are saying you too can be a church or ministry that weathers this storm. Start today to implement the three C’s to raising funds!

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

I have watched with both amusement and frustration as the current weather crisis unfolds throughout much of our nation. It appears that many sections of the country are again getting dumped on by massive amounts of snow. Churches are once again facing the prospect of a snow bound flock that will either cancel their services all together or seriously curtail attendance.

Either way my stewardship mind kicks in and I know that millions of dollars will be lost for Kingdom work. This at at time when many churches have experienced off years in terms of giving. A missed Sunday means a missed offering. A missed offering could mean all the difference in making that budget or missing it. How you prepare for a crisis like these past snows could mean all the difference in whether ministry gets done or not.

Here are some practical steps to take to be ready for missing a Sunday’s offering.

Set up E-giving. If you have not done so already it might be too late before this Sunday. Yet your church web site should have a standard way in which your members can E-give. The E-give button should not be difficult to find but prominent. When people miss or weather cancels your service with E-Giving you have a tool in place that can make up the difference in that lost offering.

Set up a segmented data base of your donors. If you miss a Sunday you need to make up that offering somehow. I advise going to the group that already supports you, your leaders. I would include not only ministry leaders but your giving leaders. You need to have the ability to segment them from the rest of the pack. While I believe you should directly appeal to everyone that calls your church home I do believe the appeals should be written differently to each segment. You need to have the ability to know who supports your ministry and who does not. In a time of crisis, like losing thousands in offering dollars, go to those that have proven they will help you.

Pre-print materials for a crisis. I strongly encourage you to use not just online approaches to bridge the offering loss but direct mail as well. The US Mail gets there despite the weather. Snail mail still works in terms of raising dollars. I advise our clients as a standard practice to have envelopes pre-printed with their address on it and have a postage paid stamp. Don’t use a First Class stamp as you will lose money that way when many don’t mail it back. Use the postage paid so that you only pay for those that are mailed back. You have to have this ahead of time to have it in a time of crisis.

Additionally, if I lived in an area where weather has in the past canceled my services I would have on the shelf a letter ready to be mailed. This past Friday one of my clients sent out letters on Friday because they knew snow was coming. Don’t wait for the crisis. Be prepared before hand.

Make sure your Web Master is ready to put not only cancellation news on your site but giving news. I have visited several church websites that did a good job of informing people of cancellations only to drop the ball when it came to donations. Your web site should prominently ask members to consider E-giving if they can not attend due to weather.

This morning I decided not to run outside but ran at the gym. While doing so I watched various morning shows show the weather in Washington. One commentator asked, “Why is it that when we saw shots of Chicago they are handling this weather much better than Washington D.C.?” His co-host pointed out that Chicago is used to the crisis and prepares for it. Washington D.C. is simply not prepared for a crisis like this. My question is are you?

Take steps now to capture the lost offerings due to snow.

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

PS. Our clients got snow bound advice on how to make up the loss of offering. This included writing letters, emails and giving strategic advice. Did your stewardship firm even call you?

This weekend millions of dollars to churches will be lost because of poor planning. The lack of planning in the area of stewardship sometimes amazes me! With just a little forethought and planning churches could raise the level of their offerings despite the recent bad weather.

What has set me off on this rant is a post that I read this morning at Church Marketing Sucks. It was a guest post by Ryan Spilhaus the associate director of McLean Bible Church’s Internet Campus. McLean Bible is one of the leading churches in the DC area. Ryan’s article is very good and timely. It talks about their plan for alerting members about service cancellations and about their Internet Services. All in all its a very cool approach, except for one thing, the lack of a stewardship plan!

So, I decided to volunteer and pull one together for McLean Bible. My recommendations just might help you as well. So, if I were McLean Bible here is what I would do:

1. Realize that unless you do something you will lose thousands of dollars in offerings. The sad reality is that people often spend the offering between Sundays. While your leaders might not be prone to this you can count on the Core of your attenders to not make up a lost chance at giving. So, my first recommendation is to see this as a priority in the first place. As I looked over MBC’s website I could tell that their only emphasis at this point is getting the word out about services being canceled. The offerings they lose in February could make all the difference in whether ministry gets accomplished in September!

2. Immediately revamp my website to more prominently feature my online giving. I give MBC kudos for setting up online giving. If you dont’ have that you need it on your churches website. The problem is that I had to hunt for the button. While it should not be the first thing people coming to your site see they should not have to hunt for it. When you are faced with losing thousands of offering dollars you need that button much more prominent.

3. Appeal to the group that will help you the most, your leaders. Many might shy away from an overt appeal for giving due to their particular DNA. I won’t fight that battle here. Still even if you down play offerings you need a plan to make up the shortfall. Appealing to your leader base is one way to do this. Frankly they give about 90% of what you receive anyway so play to your strength. Leaders respond when churches are frank about their needs. Remember how much Rick Warren raised at the end of 2009 with his appeal letter?

I would if I were MBC first of all craft an email to all my leaders asking for them to go online and E-give their offering. I would follow that up with a well written direct mail letter that included a postage paid envelope for them to mail in their offering. Amazingly while we can not get out and about the US postal service is still true to their motto, “Neither rain, sleet or snow will stop the US mail!”

4. Craft another appeal process using email, snail mail and your website for the rest of the congregation. I am not sure how MBC’s handles offerings and giving. Wise churches know how to segment their donor base. In this case the appeal might be much less direct than to your leaders. While I would soften the appeal I would still ask those that call MBC their church home to accountability. Even though this group typically might give 10% or less of MBC’s total giving it could represent thousands of dollars.

5. Thank everyone that gives in some tangible way! Churches are terrible about saying thank you. For large gifts I would personally write a thank you note. For others I would either email a personalize response or send a letter through the mail. Find a way to acknowledge what a difference their extra effort meant for your ministry. Appreciating your donors now will sow seeds for future donations!

6. Platform communication when the snow melts. Finally, when global warming does kick in and the snow melts I would not hesitate to mention your need for the next few weeks. I would begin by thanking those that gave and telling how much it mattered. I would then use a very soft appeal for others to make up where they might have left off.

Many churches often use catch up Sundays as a means of closing the gap. In my mind this is a last resort. If you have to resort to this approach it is typically a one time deal. You have to approach it with great care and thought. Still it might be better to take the hit for making an overt ask than to lose thousands of ministry dollars.

Two years ago one of my client churches in Dayton, OH lost a couple of Sundays due to snow. On a Monday immediately following one of their snow Sundays we put a direct mail letter out to their members. The response was over $60K in additional funds for the church. One letter made the difference in the loss of offering. Now they have a plan in place for the next snow Sunday. Do you have a plan?

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

I think I have every book George Barna has ever written and I have been to his conferences and heard him speak. I quote him a ton. I started following Ed Stetzer in the last year through Twitter and I try to read everything he writes as well. However I wonder if recent polls and surveys they have taken and written about could be wrong? Perhaps a better way to state it would be that the data they have amassed is being incorrectly interpreted and used.

The last time I questioned these two giants I immediately got a response from Ed Stetzer questioning my post. I had written on Jan. 19th following a Barna poll the following, “While I hate to go against two giants in Christian research I think we should not make wild assumptions just yet.” Ed responded by posting the following, “Thanks for the reminder not to make those “wild assumptions.” Of course, we could just poll over 1000 pastors and report the results. So, that is what we did. Crazy, I know. We figured they might know. Seems better than guesses or wild assumptions.”

My response back was that in the “we” I meant those who read their data. I further wrote that, “I do however stand by the fact that we ultimately will not know where giving landed for 2009 until months from now. Surveys, even as good as yours, still do not tell the full story. In this day of easy panic my point is that we need to respond wisely.”

Ed and I ended our back and forth agreeable. You can see that in the Jan. 19th post here. However I continued to think on this subject. Then the final edition of the Barna Update on the impact of the economy came out on February 8th. While it focused on donor’s attitudes and actions in the future it did cause me to go back and review the first post which reported that giving to churches would be off by 7% in 2009. I also re-read Stetzer’s study done by LifeWay Research and the articles mentioning it. As a result I have some questions.

Barna and Stetzer’s studies

Barna’s study was based upon surveying 1,114 pastors or church administrators. Ed Stetzer’s data was based upon just over 1,000 responses. Both were done professionally and across the board in terms of size, geography, denominations etc. So, how could they be wrong? Well, here is what is bothering me.

The timing of the poll seems premature. Barna.org states that for their study, “The interviews were conducted in October through December, 2009.” Would it not be safe to assume that most of those contacted by Barna were contacted before December? LifeWay’s study was conducted in early November of 2009.

The importance of this is that December for churches is typically the best month of donations out of the entire year. For many churches those last two to three weeks are the make or break in terms of meeting or exceeding budget. Holding a survey in the midst of the key quarter for giving is like declaring the winner of the Super Bowl after only half of the last quarter.

Since December is such a key month you would think that pollsters would want to include that data in their research. The reports by the two agencies give every appearance of being thorough and complete. Yet eliminating these key weeks could significantly change the out come of the study.

LifeWay Research reaches a different number than Barna. LifeWay Research asked, “Approximately what percentage are your calendar year 2009 offerings above/below 2008’s offerings? The answer they found was that through November 2009 giving was flat with a slight increase of (+0.2%)! This is vastly different from Barna’s prediction that giving will decline by 7%. It is also much different from the slant that most print publications gave to LifeWay’s data. Rather than reporting this as a positive it was reported as giving being flat. Again, this is without December’s data which is typically a huge month in terms of donations.

Even without the last few weeks of ‘09 giving reported the two reports have reached vastly different conclusions. We are left to wonder which one is accurate. Are we to do like politicians and take the aggregate of the two? To me this again reinforces my belief that studies like this are premature and potentially harmful.

Historically giving to religion has weathered recessions better than other charities. Frankly a 7% decline would be unprecedented. The Lake Institute on Faith & Giving filed a report on religious giving during recessions. They reported that:

• Even in times of recession, religious congregations remain the number one recipient of all household dollars given to charity. Over 50% of all household charitable giving goes to religion, mainly congregations.
• In times of recession the decline in giving to religion when adjusted for inflation has been -0.1% compared to an average growth in non-recession years of 2.8%.
• Giving to religion fell in 6 of the 12 recession years and did not fall in any year that was not a recession year.
• In the 4 recessions that lasted 8 months or more giving to religion fell by 1.4% when adjusted for inflation.

Projections by others are showing less of a decline. The Association of Professional Fund Raisers reported last week that “Researchers at Boston College’s Center on Wealth and Philanthropy have developed the first model designed to estimate future charitable giving by households on a quarterly basis and have put it to a successful test run. According to the researchers, their data estimates U.S. household charitable giving for calendar year 2009 will total between $216-218 billion (current dollars), representing a decline of between 4.8 percent and 5.7 percent from the 2008 total of $229 billion.” Since giving to religion historically does better than other charities EVEN during years of decline could we not postulate that giving to churches while off will be better than Barna’s 7% decline?

Giving to the SBC’s Cooperative Program declined slightly. The SBC’s Cooperative Program is the way they fund the work of their denomination and is based upon what churches send to them. Typically churches give a percentage of their undesignated donations to the denomination. Thus CP giving is a good indication of this particular denominations increase or decrease in their churches. While this is only one denomination it is significant that the decline they see is less than what has been anticipated. Baptist Press reported on Feb. 1, 2010 that, “Year-to-date contributions through the Southern Baptist Convention’s Cooperative Program are .63 percent below the same time frame last year.” The same release reported that, “During the last fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2008 — Sept. 30, 2009), Cooperative Program receipts for the year declined 2.23 percent and combined CP and designated giving for the year declined 3.65 percent.” Could the SBC set the precedent for what might be the over all percent of decline?

So why the fuss? What does it matter? Here is why…

The prediction of huge declines in giving will continue to cause churches to be overly cautious in plans and actions. As a result many churches will miss an opportunity for growth. Many will delay ministries only to find out in hind site that they could have indeed moved forward. We will move from being people of faith to being people of the poll. All such planning based upon man’s theories will lead to failure. In the times we live in we can not afford to fail.

Let me end by quoting what I wrote back on January 19th on this same subject. I said then, “Here is my counsel. Weigh what is happening around you. I am not saying to ignore this recession and its lingering impact. However don’t let surveys and polls keep you from moving forward out of fear for what others are experiencing. We have clients in the middle of Michigan that are growing numerically and financially AND building new buildings. Don’t be overly swayed by the crisis of another church and assume that you will experience what they experience. In the end it is not what the survey or poll says, but the final tally. The real question is whether or not your vision is compelling enough that your members will find ways to support it. Good vision always trumps bad economy!

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

A few years ago I was at a huge church conference where there were lots of vendors like me trying to get church leaders like you to hire us or buy our product. During a down time I walked around looking at all the other booths. Of course I had to check out my competitors also. Most of the time we exist on friendly terms. It is always fun to see what they are offering or saying.

I came across a company that I had never heard of before. They were based up in Minnesota or somewhere like that. If you Google search stewardship firms you will find there are many. Yet for some reason this company had escaped my attention. In the course of my conversation with their representative we began talking process. She told me that one of their major functions was helping churches put teams together. She asked me if we did the same. My reply was, “Not really.” Her eyes grew wide and the next question told me everything. She said, “Then what do you do for them?”

Ah, now that is the question firms like mine should be asking themselves. What indeed are we doing for you? At times I want to say, “What are we doing TO you?” Nearly every stewardship firm that exists does programming for a campaign as their major offering. We can do that too. It is just my belief that you really can do that yourself. Why pay me for doing something you already know how to do? You are not lazy or incompetent so why waste your money?

Yesterday I looked at every stewardship firms web site in my data base. I do that on a weekly basis. I want to see what they are offering, where they are going and what they are saying. Frankly it left me depressed and a bit appalled. What most are selling is a program packaged a bit differently from the next guy. Or they are offering some bobble that you could put together yourself with half the effort and for next to nothing. My opinion is that many companies are simply ripping you the church off with gimmicks and slick sales promotions.

So, what should firms be offering you?

First and foremost their expertise. A monkey can be trained to put together teams. Rick Warren sells a manual for campaigns and we give one away free! The value of a consultant is not the program he unfolds but the counsel he gives you that makes you better. What the best firms sell is strategic consultanting. As you interview potential companies make sure you are talking to the consultant you will be working with. Find out what he knows that you don’t. Make sure he has the time to give you and will be with you for the entire engagement. Ask for references. Talk to others who have used stewardship firms. Don’t just buy into the sales talk of a company. Find out if they truly can help you. Then and only then is it worth your ministries money.

Years ago Jim Sheppard, the president of Generis and I met for breakfast. As we talked about consulting he pointed to a blank sheet of paper and said, “This is the future of consulting.” His point was that we can not come in and try to shove our programs down your throat. We have to probe, think, and truly consult. I remember that he also told me few companies could or would do that. My challenge to my peers in this industry is to become that kind of company. Let’s stop taking the churches money for things they know how to do.

Several years ago a pastor came to me and told me he wanted to come to work for us. As I met with him I told him that the issue was not whether or not he could deliver programming. He had proven that at his church. The issue was could he think critically and strategically? That is the kind of consultant we hire and as a church that is the kind you should engage also. Don’t pay for what you already know!

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group