“Do you do five year campaigns?” the caller asked of our Director of Marketing, Tom Holloway.  Tom replied, “We are open to try anything if that is what the church needs.”  That answer won us a spot at the table to be considered by the church.  This particular church had used another stewardship firm in the past and was quite pleased with them.  Yet when they asked their firm the same question the response was, “We don’t do five year campaigns.”  Of the four companies that will be interviewed that company will not be at the table.

This exchange and the opportunity to share with this church has started my thinking about this whole question.  Just how long should your campaign go?  Most capital stewardship campaigns run for three years.  Why is that?  Could five be a better number or detrimental to the church?  In this post I want to examine this question in more detail.

Why do firms only do three year campaigns? The truthful answer is that we have always done them that way.  We are too often captured by the seven deadly words.  We’ve never done it that way before!  Tragically I find that most firms are still doing things the way they did them back in the 1980′s.  We need to realize that the paradigm has shifted and doing things the way you have always done them might not be the best practice.

The Pros and Cons of a five year campaign. Here is my take on a five year campaign both from what I see as its cons and its pros.  First let’s look at…

The Cons…

Five years is a long time in a church. To be fair to those firms that only do three year campaigns five years is a bit long.  A lot can change in five years including the pastor!  Even when a pastor stays five years there still are major changes that can and will occur.  The vision you cast to get people to give for five years might not be the vision you have four years into the campaign.  For that reason three years or fewer is more appealing to most churches.

Five years is a long time to keep passions high. To keep people giving you have to keep them passionate about the vision you asked them to give to.  The typical church struggles with this.  As a result of poor follow up and failing to continually focus on the vision giving drops off.  A shorter campaign forces churches to recast the vision and thus keep the passion high.

Five years of growth means more new people. Hopefully in five years you are adding additional members. While this is good the fact is that it is hard to get someone new to make a commitment to your campaign after the intensive period has transpired.  New campaigns, either one, two or three years in length, give you a better opportunity to capture those new people.  Asking new people to commit to your existing campaign is simply more difficult even with good follow up.

Those at the lower end of the giving segment don’t do well in long term campaigns. The reason this is true is that often this group is comprised of those that are less committed to the church and its vision.  This is the group that tends to move their attendance from one church to the next almost on a whim.  Of all the giving segments that we track this one is the least reliable in terms of fulfilling any commitment they make no matter what the length of the campaign.

The Pros…

Your pledge total will be higher. The main reason we do three year campaigns is that what I can give over three years is greater than what I can give in one.  The same holds true for five years.  Having a higher total could make you much more attractive to a lending institution.  Since the vast majority of churches borrow to build this could be very significant.

High Capacity donors could be attracted to this time frame. I have had a couple of times where the lead gift to a campaign was tied up in huge property bequests that were contingent upon their sale.  Once that sale took five years to happen.  In reality few if any churches accomplish raising enough funds in one campaign any way.  Often at the high end of the donor segment they need more time to donate the maximum amount they can.  Often their gift comes from stock options, land deals or other business related ventures.  Giving them more time to donate may result in larger donations.

The higher end of your donor segment is more stable. Those at the top end of your donor segment typically are more mature spiritually and usually more mature in age.  They typically have a higher buy in to your vision than any other group in the church.  This means they are less prone to hop from one church to the next.  As long as the church remains stable and steadfast to the vision this segment can be counted on to fulfill their commitment whatever length of time.  You should never take them for granted but our extensive financial analysis has always shown this group as the most likely to fulfill their pledge.

Summing It Up

So, is three years or five years the best length for this church or for that matter any church?  The answer is, it depends.  There are so many factors that go into a decision like this.  What is right for one church might be completely off for another.  The reason we did not say we don’t do five year campaigns is that at this point we don’t know enough to comment.  A five year campaign might make all the sense in the world given their setting, circumstances and the makeup of the congregation.  My first question will be, “Tell me why you want to hold a five year campaign?”  In the end I might agree with them that five years is the best option for their church.  While that might be true for them it might be completely the wrong thing for you.  The key to understanding this is that there is no one shoe fits all approach to campaigns.  This is why we at The Charis Group shy away from pushing a particular program.  What works in California or Chicago might not work in Tupelo, MS.

My final thought is this.  No matter what length of time you run your campaign you must understand that the campaign does not end with the commitment card collection.  That is only the end of the intensive part of the campaign.  The real campaign, collecting the dollars, starts the day after the commitment cards come in.  Keeping the vision front and center throughout the length of the campaign, whether three, five or even one year, is the key.  Remember, it is a vision thing.  Keep the vision clear, concise and compelling and people will give week after week, month after month, year after year.  Even for five years.

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

Geeks and technophiles get all excited about the supposed impact of Social Media. I confess that as a techie I love Social Media.  While I find I still pick up the phone to order a pizza there are a lot of things I do online.  I am a huge fan of Facebook if for nothing else I get to see great pictures of my grandkids.  My 82 year old mom loves Facebook for the same reason.  I seriously doubt the founders of Facebook had my mom in mind when they created their site.  Yet she not only gets a thrill at seeing her great grandchildren but also looking up her former classmates.  So, I am on the band wagon of agreeing that Social Media has and will make a huge impact on our society and in the church.  I differ in my view of its impact on the future of giving.

In the church world those that embrace this movement see it as the new frontier in giving.  They seem to believe in two things with regards to this relatively new medium.  First, they believe that very soon we will do everything online.  This would extend into how people give to church and charity.  So, if you want to increase your giving you need to be up to speed with the latest Social Media.  Failing to implement a Social Media giving strategy will ultimately leave you out in the cold and without funds to drive your ministry.  I would not disagree that the time may come when we do virtually everything online.  With the explosion of technology who knows what we will be doing in ten years?  There could indeed be a day where virtually all giving is done electronically.  I regularly encourage our clients to increase their online and electronic giving potential.

The second premise that seems to be popular among those that espouse the Social Media Giving Tool is that if you want to get the youth of America’s donations you need to impact them through Social Media.  They give you examples of amounts raised at charity concerts as an example of how the church should use texting and other online means towards attracting the next generation of stewards.  The problem with this premise is that it is without factual support.  While it is true that some money is given through Social Media it is a fraction of what is given over all.  The overwhelming majority of those gifts are incredibly small.  It is true that small donations can add up but the reality is that giving through Social Media amounts to only a fraction of any charitable giving.

If you question my views read a recent report by the Russ Reid group entitled, “Heart of the Donor,” found the following about Social Media…

Fifty-seven percent of all donors use social media in at least one of four forms: MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, or reading online blogs. Use of social media varies dramatically by age, from a high of 96% among the youngest donors to a low of 20% among the oldest donors.  There is also substantial variation by education level.

In total, 18% of all Americans have been impacted by social media related to nonprofits, but just 6% have actually given through or directly because of social media. Social media is impacting a signifi cant number of people related to nonprofi ts (although still not quite reaching one out of five Americans), but it still is having relatively limited impact on actual fundraising. While it stands to reason that social media will become more pervasive in the future, it’s essential to align current investments with projected returns.

What was perhaps surprising to some about the Russ Reid report is that the top two ways in which Americans give to charity is through collection boxes, 64% and direct mail, 61%.  One reason churches continue to see strong giving even during recessions is that we pass the plate weekly in some form or fashion.  Online giving was used by 34% of those that responded to the poll.  Shockingly, at least for some, is the fact that online giving is more popular among the least generous donors.

This is one of the major problems I have with online giving.  It may indeed create more opportunities for the younger generation to give.  Yet those gifts are typically very small and sometimes are less than $10.  It is about the same kind of thing as someone dropping a five dollar bill when the offering plate is passed.  They may think they have done well when in fact their small gift was miserly compared to what they could have given.  Giving small is a good indicator that one has not truly embraced being a disciple of Christ.  I fear that in making it easy to give the small gift we are communicating that is all one has to do to be a good steward of that which God has entrusted us with.

So what are we to make of this push towards dependence upon Social Media for giving?  Here are some thoughts on giving to churches…

Giving will always be driven by how well we make disciples not how large of a crowd we attract or how attractive our offering portal.

New avenues should always be explored but cautiously implemented.

We should never put all our eggs in one basket as donors use multiple means towards contributing.

Giving never has come easy and never will come easy.  Develop a plan and work your plan!

Is Social Media or electronic giving the future for the church?  Maybe.  Still giving to God’s work will always be accomplished as it has been in the past.  Dedicated disciples generously contributing to Kingdom work.  If you want to assure your future funding, make disciples.  Then whether they text in their offering or drop it in the plate you can be assured of funds to fuel your ministry.

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

A few years back I had an opportunity to purchase another stewardship firm.  The founders wife over dinner asked me, “Who puts your manuals together?”  My replied dropped their jaw.  I said, “We don’t use manuals.”  You would have thought I had denied the Virgin Birth!  Actually we do have a manual.  We give it away for free.  Other firms charge you thousands of dollars for their manual which is simply a prepackage program that you could train a monkey to deliver.  Ok, maybe not a monkey but you get my drift.  My response and their reaction to my answer pretty much revealed that neither firm was a fit for the other.  They do a tremendous job in certain contexts.  Their model simply does not work in the environments that I am in.  In fact the number of churches where their model fits is grower fewer and fewer by the year.  Times have changed and so must stewardship firms.

The real question should be asked, “Do you need a manual?”  The only reason you need a manual is if you have various teams doing busy work on the campaign.  Typically we don’t have a lot of teams.  We only have teams if the situation warrants it.  In most of the churches we work in the campaign is more platform driven than team driven.  This set up more accurately reflects the day we live in and how churches work best.  Yet far too many stewardship firms are still doing campaigns the way they have always done them.  The model was devised in the 1970′s and has changed little since.

In my opinion there are two reasons why stewardship firms still stress manuals and teams.  The first is a financial one.  Team driven campaigns that follow a set manual are easier and less time consuming for the companies consultant.  They thus can work more campaigns, be on site at their churches less making their firm a boat load of money.  The typical stewardship firm over promises and under delivers.  The mark up on the cost of delivering the campaign is huge.  The guys at the top of the stewardship firms made themselves rich on the backs of the workers and at the expense of the church.  In the desire to make a profit many forgot they were suppose to exist as a ministry to churches.  I do find that a new generation of owners are now in charge of the major companies which hopefully will change this alarming trend.

The second reason many firms stress teams and manuals is that they are mostly former pastors and staff members.  The response of most pastors when they have a problem or need in their church is to go to the Christian bookstore and buy a program that will meet that need or problem.  We are all too often program driven in churches.  So, stewardship consultants do what they have always done, reach for a program.  As a result for years the stewardship industry cranked out program after program.  Some got creative and put it all online, others put new wording and print on their materials.  At the end of the day however it still looks pretty much like what it looked like in 1980.

To their credit they believe that the more people you involve in the campaign the more money you will raise.  Thus they create all kinds of teams with all kinds of tasks so that more people are involved in the process.  They will tell you that this is the key to raising more funds.  There is no documented proof that the more people you involve in a campaign the more money is given. Those that would argue with me about this cannot prove their position one way or the other in part because they are still doing things the way it was done in 1980!  If you look critically at the make up of most of the teams suggested those teams exist for a model that was prevalent in the last century but is out of touch with the society we live in.

Today there are two commodities that matter to people, money and time.  When the average family is out of the house nearly every night of the week attending various functions the last thing they need or want is another meeting.  A pastor recently told me that his dad who attends his church said to him after serving on the campaigns publicity team, “Son, please don’t waste my time by ever putting me on another committee like that!”  Our teamless approach to raising funds won us the contract.  Think about it, do you have any time for more meetings?  Do your members?”

If teams do not help you raise funds what does?  Vision!  A vision cast clearly and compellingly is the key to raising maximum funds. I am not opposed to teams and manuals.  I am opposed to doing what you have always done thinking you will get what you always got.  That might not be the case.  Times have changed and so must our efforts at raising funds.  There are times it makes sense to have a team driven campaign.  In those times and situations do what works.  The issue is not teams, a manual or a program but what will impact the heart of the donor the most.  Find the best way for your church and ministry and you will raise maximum funds.  At the end of the day no matter how you do it you have to convince the donor of the importance of your cause.  That takes vision.

We don’t use teams to raise money.  We use a compelling vision to raise money.  It works every time!

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

Our telephone is starting to ring with potential clients wanting to talk to us about spring capital stewardship campaigns.  The one thing that I want to say is that now is the time to begin work on the campaign not evaluate who if anyone you want to help you.  So, if you are thinking about a potential partner you need to be in the final days of that decision to give you the best chance of a campaign that is without hassles and pressure.

The number one mistake that churches make is not starting soon enough! I could line up church after church that will tell you this.  Too often we think we have more than enough time to do what needs to be done.  We forget that our calendars are already crowded and now we have to add in planning and implementation dates for a campaign.  In my experience what gets pushed back is the campaign.  This tendency then puts the campaign further behind.  The result are then endangered as we don’t give the process the time needed.

Several years ago I worked with a church that was one of the largest in their denomination.  Their pastor was busy not only with church stuff but speaking across the country and many other distractions.  One particular strategy called for him to attend a series of meetings with key donors.  These meetings were deemed the key in raising maximum dollars for the church.  At the end of the day, due to his calendar, we had to combine those meetings into two large meetings and the results were telling.  By not starting sooner, the campaign was crowded out by other events and the church raised far less than they hoped for.

It will take you longer to put together an effective campaign than you think so start now!

How long does it take? There is no easy answer to this question.  The answer depends upon a variety of issues.  Typically a good campaign runs from planning to commitment day, around six months.  Some can take longer and some can go shorter.  Anything faster than that leaves a church open to potential failure.  While there are circumstances that allow for a shorter process and still be effective they are few in number.

Count on at least six months of planning and preparation.  It can be done in five if you are willing to work at it and can clear your calender.  Four months is a rush and will add hours of work to you and your staff’s lives.  Three months and count on your wife thinking you are over worked and in need of a career change.  I have never had a three month campaign raise as much as could have been raised if we had done a better more thoughtful job.  The only time I can think of a church holding a three month campaign and succeeding was when the state basically gave them a few months to relocate due to highway expansion.  Need always trumps timing but make sure the need is truly out of your control in terms of timing.

When should we begin? First, let’s talk about the various campaign season times.  There are two, fall and spring.  In the fall you want to be done before Thanksgiving.  In the spring you have two windows of opportunity, before Easter and before school gets out.  So, let’s say that you want a spring campaign to culminate before Easter this year.  Easter in 2011 is on the last Sunday of April the 24th.  That is six months from this coming Sunday!  So, we are in the process now of working with churches that want to hold their campaign before Easter.  While there is still time to begin working on your campaign in order to hit the Easter deadline time is running short.  Every day you delay will make the process that much more cramped and constricted.  Starting now gives you more options and a better ability to be successful.

So why do churches take so long? Here are some reasons…

• Most simply don’t realize all the work that goes into an effective campaign.  They think only of the public phase of a campaign which is only about four weeks in length.  There are weeks of work behind the scenes before you ever get to that point.
• Many churches have a tiered process of approval that takes a long time for decisions to be made.  If they have a committee of even six then there are six schedules to consider and it could take weeks to interview all the companies, check references etc.  Then by the time a decision has been made weeks and months have been lost towards campaign planning.
• Holidays interfere.  I love this time of year but soon Thanksgiving will be upon us.  With most churches, apart from their holiday schedules, little else can be done.
• The staff and churches calenders interfere.  Sometimes I have to wait for weeks for everyone to get back from trips, meetings, etc.  In the mean time valuable time is lost.
• Too many churches simply do not do long range planning well.  For too many churches spring 2011 is still a long ways off.  You need to realize that it is on top of you.

It’s much later than you think!  You can still pull that spring campaign off but you need to get moving.  Don’t let the tyranny of the urgent cause you to miss putting together the best campaign possible.  As always, give us a call, we can help.

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

I confess that I am frustrated!  I have just started my thirteenth year in the stewardship ministry and you would think by now I would be accustomed to how little thought is given to stewardship in America.  Not long ago a major church leadership think tank asked pastors about their time management.  There was not one question about stewardship.  In the questions that asked them to rank the time they spent on various issues they did not even list stewardship planning as an option!  Here is a leading leadership group that did not even have that on their radar.  Without funds churches would not be able to accomplish the amazing things they do.  Ministry takes money.  Why is it then that so few realize this and thus spend so little time giving stewardship any time or thought?  Stewardship, a key fuel that drives the church engine, takes a back seat for most pastors and churches.  Why?  Here are some of what I feel are the major reasons.

Lack of training. From college to seminary virtually nothing is ever taught to up and coming ministers about stewardship.  A never ending cycle occurs year after year.  Their professors know little about stewardship because they were taught little.  So they pass along what little they know, which is next to nothing.  As a result few if any ministers have an awareness of how important stewardship is.  With no emphasis on the subject we crank out generation after generation of ministers who likewise seldom focus upon stewardship.  As a result of being improperly trained they feel inadequate for the task.  The stark reality is that whatever we do not feel comfortable with we often ignore.  This is why so many ministers simply don’t focus on stewardship at all.  No one stressed it’s importance to them and no one trained them.

The view that money is unspiritual. Too many pastors think that talking about money, even being involved in the finances of the church is somehow not a spiritual pursuit.  As a result they leave anything that deals with the finances of the church to others while they focus on what in their minds is more spiritual.  Jesus did not take that view.  He preached more on money and possessions than any other subject.  I submit to you that how your members spend what God has entrusted to them is of the utmost importance in developing disciples.  Talk about giving might be unpopular but it certainly is not unspiritual.

Mystically optimistic – Some leaders think that if they simply teach on the deeper life of Christ their constituents will put two and two together and give.  I am all for the deeper life but your members too often can not add two plus two in terms of stewardship.

For years as a pastor I was in this camp.  I prided myself on how few sermons I preached on giving.  No one would ever say that all I ever talked about was money!  Then one day I realized that I was not preaching the full counsel of God.  I found out that Jesus talked about money issue more than he talked about faith or prayer.  If Jesus did not leave it for people to figure out on their own why should you and I?

Talking about money is unpopular. No one wants to be “that preacher.”  The one that always talks about money.  We know that members cringe when the subject is money.  Last Sunday was the start of my churches annual stewardship campaign.  There were fewer cars in the parking lot and few people in the pews.  It is easy to figure out why.  So, being human, preachers tend to shy away from topics that might cause them to be unpopular.  While we would never admit to watering down the Gospel we have in fact done just that with our contemporary apologetic approach to offerings and giving.

The reason talk about money and giving is unpopular is that it is the idol of our age.  If attendees are uncomfortable when you preach the whole counsel of God and mention giving what does that tell you?  The tragedy is that too many pastors want to be liked and they thus shy away from this crucial topic.  The result has been a loss of billions of dollars for Kingdom work.

The view that it is not the pastors job. Some reading this might think I am being unfair to pastors.  I was a pastor for twenty years.  It is my experience that too many think that stewardship is not their job but that of someone else.  They as a result give little to no attention to the matter.  Pastors that are disengaged from the stewardship process seldom if ever grow vibrant churches.  As the lead shepherd of your church it most certainly is your job to make sure that stewardship has its proper place.

What about you and your church?  Does stewardship get its rightly place in your prayers and planning?  As you ponder why giving is perhaps not what you wanted it to be don’t miss that the fault might not lie with the economy but from the fact that for you stewardship takes a back seat.  It is time to move stewardship planning to the front seat.  Doing so now might just save you from a budget shortfall and ministry cut backs.

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

“We’ve never done it that way before.”  Those words kill more momentum in churches than any other words I can think of.  It is not that you might actually hear church leaders say those words exactly.  Their actions say it all.  I once told someone that the only place in the world where time travel happens is the church.  You walk in the door of many churches and you are transported back into time to the 1970′s or the 1980′s.  They continue to do things the way they have always done things.  What amazes me is that even contemporary churches and mega churches, the very ones that are suppose to be innovative, fall prey to the seven deadliest words.  This is especially true when it comes to stewardship.

Another saying closely akin to the seven deadliest words is, “If you always do what you have always done you will always get what you always got.”  When it comes to stewardship that is no longer true.  Doing what you have always done will not get you what you always got.  Times have changed.  Have you?  If your offerings are off, or you are struggling to make budget, it might not be the result of the economy.  The fault could lie in not understanding the times we live in and knowing what to do.  Let me share with you a couple of factors that are challenging giving to the church today.

A new paradigm. We live in an age of uncertainty and angst.  This reality is impacting your offerings week after week.  Two factors in the last decade have brought this about and is impacting your giving.  The first was the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.  From that moment until now we have lived with an angst that our country while still the strongest is not immune to calamity.  Even during good economic times I was being asked how the economy would impact a churches capital campaign.  It was as if we could not believe the facts as a result of being emotionally scarred from watching those planes crash.  From that moment on, pledging in capital campaigns become much more conservative.  Our confidence was shaken and we were never quite as bold and aggressive about the future as we once were.

The second factor that has led to a feeling of uncertainty is this last recession, The Great Panic of 2008.  Recessions come and go on a steady basis.  Yet this past one became so politicized and overly hyped by the media that the result is a long term fear that will not soon go away.  You hear the words never used a lot.  Such as we will never know the kind of economy we once had.  Our children will never have it as good as we did.  Statements like that and others that are regularly fed us through the press and the internet have created an uncertain future in the minds of Americans.  As a result many are almost quite literally hiding money under their mattresses.  Once again this feeling of uncertainty is impacting giving to church after church in America.  Sadly I find few churches that are combating successfully this feeling of angst and uncertainty.  As a result giving is being challenged.

New Competition. Like never before churches have competition for their members charitable giving.  This competition comes in many forms.  On the positive side there are scores of ministries and non-profits competing for your members dollars.  They are more often than not using means that are much more refined and effective than the church.  These ministries and non-profits employ the latest technology and best marketing to get their message out.  As a result people in your church are weighing whether a gift to you has more impact than a ministries or non-profit that is feeding hungry children in a third world country.  If your giving has gone down it might be that another ministry got that dollar.

Another competition we face is an old one, consumerism.  We have always had to convince members and attendees that it is better to give than to receive.  Now with the impact of the past recession still upon us that competition is more fierce than ever.  I find it interesting that though we have just been through one of the worst recessions spending on pet products actually increased.  Apple releases an updated iPhone and the lines to get it are not only out the door they are down the block.  A video game comes out and millions are sold on the first day.  We talk about how tight money is but we seem to find enough to visit McDonald’s helping them actually make a profit each year of the recession.  I am not negating the impact of the past recession.  I am simply pointing out that we find money for what we really want.  The church for the most part has done a poor job of helping people want to support it.

So what do we do? For one thing recognize the shift of paradigms we are now facing.  It is no longer 1970.  For another thing critically examine what you are doing and evaluate whether it is effective or not.  Doing what you have always done will now more often than not get you less than you always got.  You don’t have to sit back and take a hit in giving.  However if you don’t do anything you can be assured that your offerings will be challenged.  One day you might find yourself explaining to your staff why they cannot do a certain ministry as a result of a lack of funding.  Make sure that day does not happen by acting now.  There is no room in the church for the seven deadly words.  Make sure that your church isn’t guilty of saying and doing those seven words.  The actions you take today could save your ministries tomorrow.

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

For any task to get done someone must own it.  If it isn’t owned by someone it will get left undone.  I don’t care whatever discipline or job you talk about it is always true.  Owning something means you accept responsibility for it.  Owning something means that if it is your task then you are the one responsible.  When no one takes responsibility then it is left to chance whether or not something happens.

One of the major reasons so many churches are struggling in the area of stewardship is that no one really owns the process.  There might have been a time when that was not important.  However we are seeing the percentage of gifts to churches decline each decade and if someone does not own correcting that slide in your church you too will feel the loss of dollars.  Losing dollars means you lose ministry opportunity.  All this could be avoided if someone simply owned the process.  Yet too many churches are leaving their fate up to chance simply because no one owns stewardship.

Who owns stewardship at your church?  I have been shocked and dismayed at how many churches when I press them have to admit that no one owns stewardship.  It is a back burner issue.  How often do you in staff meetings talk about a stewardship plan?  While you moan about the lack of funding are you doing anything at all to correct that?  Do you have a plan to address stewardship in your church?  If you have a plan does someone own making sure it gets accomplished?  Have you simply given this to a committee that might or might not see it to completion?  Do you even think about stewardship?

I have just written an extensive one year stewardship plan for a church.  I spent considerable time drawing up a workable strategy and an extensive time line of implementation.  Yet I wonder if that paper will ever be further discussed much less implemented.  Why?  No one seems to own it.  The pastor is pressed by sermons, funerals, denominational concerns, directing the staff, etc.  The staff is consumed by all their duties.  So in the end while they have a plan of action unless someone champions that plan it will not get done.  My fear is that after talking about it for a few hours the plan will collect dust.  Maybe as a part of my services I need to require my presence at least once a month to help implement the plan.  Would that help?  I wonder.

My question for you today is who owns your stewardship plan?  If the answer is not apparent you could already be heading for trouble.  If you thought, plan?  You are in trouble!  Here is a thought, get a plan and then find someone to own it.  Really own it.  Not just a line on a job description that no one pays attention to.  Find a person that will champion your stewardship by owning it.  Do this and you will buck the trend many are experiencing in seeing their donations decline.  Don’t sit back and let this recession smack you around.  Take action.  Own it before it owns you!

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

PS.  Yes for a small fee we do craft yearly stewardship plans for churches.  Contact me today to find out how we can help you.

One of the most overlooked and easiest ways to increase your offerings is through the power of the pulpit.  For those that have jettisoned the pulpit just think the power of the platform.  Whether you have an old fashioned pulpit or a contemporary platform there is no better way than to use its power to built your offerings and thus fuel your ministries.  Yet the tragedy is that few think about it and those that do think about it give it little thought.  As a result churches lose thousands of dollars a year in potential income.  That loss of dollars impacts the amount of ministry you can do.  Are you using the power of the pulpit to raise funds in your church?  Here are three simple yet effective ways you can use your pulpit or platform to increase your offerings.

Preach It! Too many pastors shy away from preaching about money for fear that it will drive people away.  It is not that churches talk too much about money it is that they do not talk about it enough.  The problem is often when they do talk about money they do so in a way that does not enhance their giving but at times actually hurts giving.  There is no greater resource that you have than the power of preaching on stewardship.  George Barna discovered years ago the following…

• Single messages about giving raise more money than do churches in which no stewardship takes place.
• Two or more nonconsecutive messages do not have any advantage over churches that only preach on stewardship once a year.
• Two or more consecutive messages about stewardship raise more money than do those churches that only hear one message a year.
• Churches in which pastors preach two or more consecutive messages about stewardship matters raise significantly more money than churches that hear two or more nonconsecutive stewardship messages.
• A series on giving is nearly two and a half times more likely to experience an increase in giving than preachers who only talk about stewardship once a year or on two non consecutive times in a year.

So my question is what are your preaching plans for the next year with regards to stewardship?  If you don’t have any plans make some today.  It could result in thousands of dollars to your budget.

Elevator Pitch Your Offerings! An old story goes that a young writer enters an elevator with the producer of a big movie house.  The writer has thirty seconds to sell his idea of why the producer should consider his work.  There are whole schools of thought that teach people how to make their pitch in thirty seconds.  It recognizes that we often have only seconds to make an impression.  Can you in thirty seconds tell members why they should give to your church?  Every offering time should be used as an elevator pitch to convince members to donate.

I find that few if any leaders give a thought to how to take up the offering.  It has become simply an automatic thing in churches.  The result of this inattention to detail is showing up in a decline in offerings across the nation.  As we still battle the effects of the past recession, now more than ever we have to state our case of why our ministries deserve financial support.  What are you saying before your offerings that would convince anyone of the importance to give?  Start this week giving some thought to the offering.  It could result in more money in the plate or basket than ever.

Use your bulletin. Nearly every church hands out a bulletin for their services.  For some it contains the order of service for others it simply is an announcement sheet.  Whatever your strategy with the bulletin why not use it for helping increase your offerings?  It would be easy to ad an insert containing positive information about giving.  There are various companies that produce professional quality inserts that can enhance your positive message about giving.  Each month have an insert that highlights some aspect of giving.  The reality is that our members read stuff while we preach.  So, if they are going to do that anyway give them something about stewardship to read.

There are many other ways to use your existing service times to help you raise funds.  It does not take a lot of money simply the time and creativity to pull it off.  Taking that time might just be the thing to help you make your budget next year.  Don’t lose thousands of dollars by doing nothing.  Begin now to plan for success by using the power of the pulpit to raise the funds your ministry needs!

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

As I write this I am in New York City, New York meeting with Pastor James Washington of Phillips Temple in Dayton, OH.  Every year for the last three years we have come to New York to work on plans for Pastor Washington’s church.  New York is a great place to visit but I personally would not want to live here.  It does however gives us a great place to meet and discuss plans for the church.

The point of this post is to ask you the question, do you plan for the future?  Most of you will answer yes, and some might even make an annual pilgrimage to someplace to do so.  You don’t have to come to New York and in fact you don’t have to get away to make plans.  You do however, if you want to stay successful have to plan.  So, when do you hold your annual planning?

I always say that to fail to plan is to plan on failing. I am often amazed at how many churches, both large and small fail at this point.  I think that often for pastors long range planning is thinking not about this Sundays message but the next Sundays.  You should be regularly spending time planning and reflecting far in advance of next Sunday.

Of course I would encourage you in the midst of your planning not to forget about the importance of stewardship planning.  Most churches if they do plan forget to implement a stewardship plan.  This week in New York we are reviewing the annual stewardship plan that I have put together for Phillips Temple.  It will give the church a track to run on as they attempt to have offerings that will enable them to do the ministry they have planned for.  Without funds even the best of plans will fail.  So, what is your plan for increasing your offerings next year?

If you don’t have a plan we can help.  You don’t even have to fly me to New York City to get our help.  However if you happen to be near a ski slope, or a beach then I can be bought!

Whether New York, Aspen, Miami or Tulsa, Oklahoma what is your plan for the future?  How are you planning on paying for that?  I can help you with that plan!

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

Double dip recession talk is all but dead.  Only the fringe fear mongers talk and write about it.  Many are now seeing the past economic crisis as the Panic of 2008 rather than The Great Recession.  Despite high unemployment we are seeing positive signs of recovery.  The only problem with the recovery is that it is a slow one.  Americans don’t like anything slow and that is especially true when it comes to the economy.  We want it all and we want it now!  Unfortunately when it comes to this recovery that is simply not going to happen.  However that should not cause us to miss out on what is happening, our economy is on the upward swing.  There are several factors that will soon make this more recognizable to everyone.

This election will bring the possibility of change. Unless the winds of the nations mood drastically changes in the next forty days or so many of our elected officials will be shown the door.  The mood in the country is one of anger at both parties for their inability to govern us out of this mess.  While both parties get low marks, Democrats are the ones scoring the worst.  Republicans are going to be given a chance as a result.  It is not that the electorate is all that enamored with the Republican party it is just that is the only viable options to the Democratic party.  The pendulum is swinging back.  Beginning in 2006 Democrats benefited from the unpopularity of George Bush that lasted through the 2008 election.  Now we have another unpopular president who has misread the mood of the people and his party will suffer for it.  What appears now to be set to happen is a sweeping change in Washington.

If Republicans win at least the House then Big Business will swing into action. Whether it is fair or not Wall Street, Big Business and Main Street Business does not care for the present direction the Democrats have taken the country.  It is unprecedented how much money Big Business has in reserve waiting for a friendlier climate in Washington.  Why forge ahead and make money if it is only going to be taken in massive tax hikes?  So, business leaders large and small have been waiting on expansion for a healthier climate.  You can expect with a Republican win that the economy will suddenly take off.  Watch as unemployment then drops.  The mood of the country will recover.  What is interesting is that this might be the only thing that could grant our President a second term.  The same thing happened to Bill Clinton.  Recently a small businessman told me that his best days in business were when Bill Clinton was president and the House and Senate were Republican.  He is hoping for a second recurrence of that this time around.

Time is the great healer and we have had plenty of time to recover. Even if this election does not bring sweeping change I do see that the recovery will pick up steam.  If for no other reason than you cannot wait forever it seems to me businesses will have to move forward even if they fear the tax consequences.  The recovery might be slower but it will none the less be a recovery.

So, what does this mean for you as a Christian leader? Here are some thoughts…

1. Be aware of what is happening around you. Here is a thought, read something other than the sports page.  Read the Wall Street Journal, read your local paper’s business section, subscribe to an economists blog site or other sources of information.  Don’t just tune into Fox News or CNN.  Be aware of the trends and climate we live in.
2. Prepare now for the growth that is coming. What plans do you have for growth that you have been delaying as a result of this present economy?  Get them out, blow the dust off of them and start moving forward!  Get a plan and start working your plan.
3. Get your leadership ready for forward movement. The press and the politicians are still going to be negative.  It is in their nature to be so.  Armed with facts it is your job as a leader to get your leaders ready.  Teach them the facts of what is happening.  Help them see that now is a great opportunity for the church.  Start today laying the groundwork for your future growth.
4. Go! Do something!  Dream big and act upon your dreams.  As the old saying goes, “Don’t just sit there do something!”
5. Preach it! Start reflecting optimism and hope from the pulpit.  Base what you say on facts not just fantasy.  Give your people something to believe in and you will be surprised at the results.

For the last two years we have seen the church retreat to the sidelines scared off by the recession.  We have missed months of work towards moving forward.  Every day that we delay we lose more of this generation.  We cannot afford to wait any longer.  As prosperity is poised for a modest return will you not now at least begin thinking boldly?  Don’t lose any more momentum.  Act now!

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group