How does a church decide what stewardship firm to use once they have made the decision to use a firm?  While I love what I do, helping churches raise funds for their visions, I hate the selling side of it.  Admittedly I am a terrible salesman.  I am much more comfortable consulting than I am selling.  I would rather show you what we can do for you rather than tell you what we can do.  I was once told that I would struggle winning contracts because I was too honest.  Once when asked a question by a staff member I replied back, “Do you want the truth or a sales answer?”  He indignantly said the truth.  So I told him the truth and lost the contract.  I bet now in hind site he wishes he would have listened to reality even if it was not what he wanted to hear.

Once again with this piece I might be telling you what you don’t want to hear.  Who wants to be told that the process you thought up in terms of finding a campaign partner is wrong?  Churches take pride in their processes and questions.  Yet what I find is that most of the time churches are going about finding the right partner in all the wrong ways.  The questions they ask are typically the wrong questions giving them inconclusive or inaccurate pictures of what the partnership will look like.  What all too often results is a frustration over the results of that partnership.  As with all things, unrealistic expectations will lead to very real disappointment.

So, if I were you what would I do to find the right partner?  I mean aside from simply calling me and engaging us since my mom will tell you we are the number one stewardship firm in America.  Here are my recommendations.

1.  Work at it.  Expect finding the right partner to take work on your part.  Emailing twenty five questions to ten firms might be easy but it will tell you virtually nothing about what you will truly get in a consultant.  Every firm simply uses cut and paste boiler plate answers to your boiler plate RFP’s.  If you have decided that you need a firms help and have accepted that it will cost your church money why would you not invest the time to get it right?

2.  Talk to other churches.  Yours is not the first church to hold capital stewardship campaigns.  Talk to churches in your denomination or region that you know have built recently.  Ask them what they did to raise funds and what companies they used.  Ask them about their overall experiences.  Ask them what they would do over again.  Gain knowledge from their experience.

3.  Call on the firm’s references.  References are key.  I know each firm sends you their best references.  Even though that is true you can still learn valuable things from these churches.  So what if they are cherry picked by the firm?  Ask probing questions of the church.  Don’t just talk to one person at the church ask the person the stewardship firm gave you to talk to who else at the church you could talk to.  After you talk thoroughly with that church then ask the firm for more references.

4.  Read everything about the firm.  Every firm has a website.  Using that as a starting point you can tell a lot about the company.  Go beyond the fluff and look for their strategies and concepts.  Do they have blogs such as this one that tells a story not only about what they do but how they think.  If their website ads value to your understanding then the chances are greater that the same will be true if they are your partner.

5.  Decide what you are looking for in a firm.  Are you more interested in a program or a partner?  Do you want a standard campaign or something creative?  What in your mind best fits the needs of your congregation?  What are your expectations?  Deciding ahead of time what you are looking for will help not only you but the potential firms you might engage.

6.  Talk to your potential consultant.  After working through the first five steps you are now ready to ask questions.  It is not until you have done the first five that you will even know what to ask.  A few other things to consider.  Never talk to a salesman.  Salesmen give you sales answers in hopes of winning a contract.  Consultants tell you what you need to know not what you might want to hear.  Always ask who your consultant for the entire length of the campaign would be.  Refuse to talk to anyone but that person.  Always remember that you are hiring the consultant not the company.

7.  Meet with them in person.  I know we have the technology to do all kinds of things.  Yet I often wonder if Washington, Jefferson or Lincoln could get elected in our sound bite driven world.  You cannot tell over the telephone or online if the consultant you are interviewing is a fit for you.  All companies pick up the cost of traveling to your site to make presentations.  The only way to truly know if the person in question is a right fit for you is by meeting them in person.

8.  Pray!  I am amazed at how often we revert to worldly standards to make decisions in a church.  While all of the above are important steps without the spiritual dynamic can you really make a good decision?  Good information gives us better clarity to pray.  The church is a spiritual entity so make the process of choosing a partner a spiritual process.

I believe these steps can better help you choose the right partner for your church.  I readily admit that we are not the right fit for all churches.  Perhaps we are not the fit for yours.  However with careful thought and continual pray I do believe God will lead you to the right person.  I just pray it is us!

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

My number one competitor is Do It Yourself.  Countless churches believe that they do not need any help in raising funds.  How hard can it be?  Just tell the folks what the need is and then pass the plate.  The money will come.  Think of all the money you save by not engaging a firm like ours.  I mean, why do you need to spend money in order to raise money?  It doesn’t make sense does it?  Let’s save some money and do it ourselves.

My question for all you do it yourself folks out there is, “Can you afford to lose 25% to 50% of the potential dollars you need to raise?”  Because on average that is what saving money by not engaging with a quality stewardship firm will cost you.  I once talked to a layman who told me that his church saved $50K on their last capital stewardship campaign by not hiring a stewardship firm.  Then he told me they raised one million dollars less doing it themselves.  Can you afford those kinds of savings?

Why is it that do it yourself approaches do not work?  Here are some things for you to consider.

It is not as easy as it looks.  Recently I worked with a church that was attempting to pay down their debt AND raise money for another site.  In the planning stages we used the word campus to describe opening a new location for worship.  In my interviews with leaders there was tremendous push back for another campus.  One leader said, “If we try to raise money for another campus before we wipe out this debt we will raise $500K less than we could.”  That got our attention.  What we realized was that we were using the wrong word.  When we asked about using a small portion of the funds to start a new campus, members had in mind a church structure that might cost millions of dollars.  What the staff was thinking about was a site whereby they rented a movie theater or school.  When we changed the wording from campus to site members responded positively.  One word made the difference.  Without a partner the church would have never discovered a potential land mine.  Campaigns are more complex than you think.

Who will own the process?  If no one owns the process nothing will get done.  Will your already busy staff keep the campaign going for all of the two or three years it runs?  The reality is that the tyranny of the urgent always presses the campaign to the back burner.  As a result thousands of dollars are left uncollected.  As one pastor told me recently during a follow up call, “One thing you do for us is hold us accountable keeping the campaign in front of us.”  Who will own the process for you?

You will raise less money.  The facts are that churches that do a campaign themselves always raise less money than churches who use a quality stewardship firm.  I could line up pastors to testify that one of the biggest mistakes they made was thinking they could save money and do it themselves only to find that it cost them money.  The simple truth is that committing a few thousands dollars up front can and will pay huge dividends for your church.

I could go on and on but hopefully you get the point.  So, why is it that so many churches attempt to do it themselves?  Money!  It is simply hard for churches to see the value of a campaign partner up front if they have never used one.  So what happens is they attempt to save money when in fact they lose money.

Look, we like to eat.  Thus we are not free.   We know we are not cheap.  It takes a lot of time, effort and know how to do what we do.  We believe as the Scripture says “the labourer is worthy of his hire.”   However we also realize that cost is an issue for many churches.  So, we offer you a multitude of options.  You can get all of what we offer and pay it out on terms that will not break your bank account.  Or you can get exactly the help you need for a price you can afford.  We break out the elements of a campaign for each church.  Some churches know how to do the program side of a campaign and only need our help in various areas.  The price point reflects that.

My goal is to make a partnership with The Charis Group a win/win for everyone.  We do like to eat.  However I don’t like to see churches launch out on there own.  That is why we give our campaign manual away to those that want to go it alone.  I must warn you, no matter how good the campaign manual is, you will raise less money doing it yourself.  If you just must do it yourself, let us at least send you some free help.

Can you afford to lose 25% to 50%?  If not call us today.

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

This week I am at Christ Church in Fairview Heights, IL just across the river from Saint Louis.  Christ Church is one of the fastest growing UMC churches in the country.  It is an amazing church with a great pastor, a great staff and tremendous people.  Not only have they grown significantly in numbers over the last few years they have also grown their giving.  One key to seeing an increase in giving is the increase in online giving.  35% of all their income comes through online giving.

I believe there will be a day when 35% of their giving will come through the traditional offering plate and the rest will come from online giving.  I would have never written that sentence a few years ago.  The way in which we do commerce today is quickly changing.  While the church always lags behind in technology we will ultimately get there.

We are fast moving towards being a cashless society.  Should not the way in which we collect donations reflect that change?  What are you doing right now to prepare for this wave that is already upon us?  Here is what Christ Church does.

Giving Kiosk  If you come to church at Christ Church and forget to write the tithe check and you don’t have that kind of cash in your pocket you can still give.  Out in their lobby is a giving kiosk that allows you to swipe your debit card and designate how much you want to give.  Christ Church weekly takes in between $2K to $3K through this means of electronic giving.

Web Based Giving  Take a visit to the Christ Church website and you can give online.  What is most important about their online giving is that you can set this up to be recurring.

Electronic Funds Transfer  Several of the churches that I work with have set up EFT’s for their members.  The beauty of this concept is that it assures you receive regular donations from your members even if they are not at church.  Used effectively it could solve that summer giving shortage that most churches experience.  Smart churches are moving towards recurring donations through EFT’s.

Online giving is on the rise that much is certain.  I never recommend to our clients that they put all their eggs in one basket.  However I do recommend that they stay on the cutting edge particularly when it comes to receiving donations.  Online giving is here to stay.  What are you doing to position your church to take advantage of the rising tide?  You could be missing out on 35% of your dollars.

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

I have heard several sermons lately on giving.  Each of them has attempted to communicate to the listeners that they ought to give.  Telling church members that they ought to give is like telling me I ought to eat more vegetables.  I know I should I just don’t do it.  Pass the cheeseburger please.  Why waste your sermon telling members what they already know, that they should give to their church?  Few of those that listen to your sermon on Sunday morning don’t know they should give.  Unless you are a pastor of a fast growing church comprised of new believers I doubt seriously that you need to devote an entire sermon to convincing your members that they ought to give.  What your members need to hear from you is why they should give and even how.

A few weeks back I was interviewing donors at a church in preparation for their next capital stewardship campaign.  The next campaign will raise dollars to pay down their current debt.  One lady when I asked her if she felt it was important to pay the debt down replied by saying, “I agree that we need to do this but tell me why?  What will my additional money go for?  Tell me that and I will prayerfully consider giving more money.”  This woman has ought down.  She wants to know why.

Sadly most pastors never preach on giving at all.  When they do I fear that what they often revert to is ought giving.  All too often preaching that we ought to give uses guilt as the underlying tool.  Making your members feel guiltier about what they already know they should be doing will not change their giving.  My wife has been telling me for years that I needed to eat better.  Finding out my cholesterol count was high finally moved me to eat more green stuff.  I knew I ought to eat better I needed to know why.  The same is true when it comes to giving.

So here are some thoughts for your next stewardship sermon.

1.  Show members what their gifts to your church has accomplished for the Kingdom.  People want to know that their gift is making a difference.  Show them how it has.

2.  Show members what future gifts will do for the Kingdom. Cast a compelling vision for your budget.  Make it about reaching people not hitting the budget numbers.

3.  Show them God’s promises to those that do give.  He has promised to open up the windows of heaven to those that give.  While we don’t give so that we will get it none the less helps me know that when I give God will give back to me.  Talk about a return on investment.

4.  Make giving exciting and meaningful!  Your members don’t mind paying to the alter of Apple, Disney or McDonald’s.  If we teach stewardship right our members will never begrudge giving to the church.

In other words tell them why giving matters.  At the end of the day I believe that it is not that we talk too much about giving it is that when we do talk about it we do so in an incorrect way.  Evaluate your preaching on stewardship.  It might be time to change your tact and start telling people why giving to your church is valuable instead of simply telling them they ought to give.

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

Between 1968 and 2009, Americans total contributions to churches declined from 3.11% to 2.38% as a portion of  their income.  That is the recent report by empty tomb, inc. in their “The State of Church Giving through 2009″ which was just released.  While we can all shake our heads about that or wring our hands the real question is why is this happening?  While there are many reasons such as a decline in membership, an aging of the giving base and others I feel there is at least one major reason for the decline in most churches.  The reason I find that most churches see a decline in their giving is that they really never think about giving.

Apart from the weekend offering giving rarely if ever crosses the minds of most pastors and staff.  Think about it, how much time will you spend this week thinking about and planning for stewardship?  Most pastors will spend hours this week preparing for the weekend sermon without ever giving a moments thought about the offering.  During staff meeting this week there might be a few minutes discussion about what was taken in last weekend.  Will there be a discussion of how to improve upon last weekend’s results?  It is doubtful for the vast majority of churches.  So why is giving to churches declining?  Because…

• Most pastors never take ownership of the stewardship process of their church.
• As a result they hardly ever focus on stewardship much less preach upon the topic.
• When pastors do preach on stewardship they typically rely on guilt laden sermons which ultimately do more harm than good.
• Few churches make teaching stewardship a priority.
• As a result few churches have a consistent plan for stewardship they work throughout the year.
• Without a plan of action and a compelling reason for members to give donations decline year after year.

Pastor, if your churches giving is in decline you should perhaps look in the mirror.  You could find that the major reason for that decline is that you have been disinterested in stewardship.  Times have changed and so have giving patterns.  Are you doing all you can to assure that your vision and your ministry is properly funded?

Lest you think I am being too harsh upon pastors I want to readily submit that few if any of our educational institutions that train our preachers ever give them the tools they need for stewardship.  What pastors learn about stewardship they learn on their own.  I know because as a Senior Pastor for over twenty years I had to learn stewardship all by myself.  Yet, even with that handicap a pastor can get the help he needs.  The help is out there pastor.  What are you waiting for?

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

PS.  I have multiple ways in which we can help you.  Most of them are priced so that even the smallest church can afford them.  Contact me today.  Let me help you!

If you are blaming the past recession for the decline in your giving it might surprise you to know that the recession is not the reason.  While it is true that the recession has made giving more of a challenge the truth is that giving has been on a decline without any help from recessions.

Most preachers and church leaders read commentaries, leadership books and church growth books.  I read books on giving.  I always have and will continue until Jesus takes me home.  That is why I was so excited yesterday when I got in the mail “The State of Church Giving Through 2009.”  For those of you who do not pay attention to things like this it is the definitive work on church giving in America.  It is put out by a group called empty tomb Inc. out of Champaign, IL.  The authors are John and Sylvia Ronsvalle.  It is riveting reading for a guy like me.  I read it the first time in just a few hours.  What it tells us is startling and troubling.  Here are some key findings from the report…

• Per member giving increased overall from 1968 through 2009 in dollars, but shrank as a portion of income.
• Per member giving to Total Contributions as a percent of income decreased from 3.11% in 1968 to 2.38% in 2009, a decline of 23% in the portion of income donated to the church.
• Between 1968 and 2009, seven recessions occurred.  In four of the seven recessions, church member giving to Total Contributions declined, while in three they did not.
• If church members had given the same portion of income in 2009 as was given in 1968, an additional $3.1 billion would have been available for the church to spend.
• If church members tithed there would have been an additional $174 billion available for the work of the church in 2009.
• Two cents of every dollar given goes to international missions.

The Ronsvalle’s don’t spend much time in their work on the why’s of the decline.  They do point out that church membership has also declined and this is one factor.  Their work is more about stating the facts rather than assessing blame or even pointing out reasons for the decline.  So, let me weigh in on what I think are some of the reasons for the decline in giving.

We have separated giving from discipleship.  Show me your checkbook and I will show you if you are truly a disciple.  While giving does not make you a Christian, giving is reflective of a Christian.  We need to unapologetically preach and teach that being a disciple means you are a good steward of all that God has entrusted of His to you.  All we have is God’s.

We have watered down the Gospel preaching cheap grace in the hopes of attracting lost people.  All we have attracted is a crowd curious about what type of show we will produce for their pleasure this weekend.  They give little to the Church and when times get tough are the first to leave.  The major reason is we have not made disciples out of them.  Jesus watched the crowd leave him.  Are you willing to do the same?

We have failed to provide a compelling reason for people to give.  My church is in the midst of our annual campaign.  Not once have I heard about all the positive things we do with the money members give.  Guilt has been the means to compel people to pledge.  We should always cast a compelling vision causing people to WANT to give.  Good vision trumps bad economy!

We lack a plan of action.  I continually shake my head at how few churches have any stewardship plan in place to enhance the giving to their church.  How in the world without a well thought out and well executed plan do you expect to meet your budget needs?  Failing to plan is planning to fail!

We assume that giving will always be there.  Do what you have always done and you will NOT get what you have always gotten.  As the recent “The State of Church Giving through 2009″ has shown giving is continually declining.  We cannot simply rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic in hopes that all will be well.  Times have changed has your strategy?

I must admit that at times my ministry to churches is frustrating.  I am frustrated that so few see the importance of stewardship until they are so desperately behind in their giving.  I am tired of church leaders turning us away because they assume that the recession kills any chance of their raising funds.  There are holes in our ship and it is time that we recognize that and attempt to do something about it.  Wake up pastor!  Without a plan of action you are captaining your ship towards disaster!  Don’t let that happen on your watch.  While you cannot change the decline in giving in America you can do something about it in your church.  Now is the time for action.

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

Americans love to play the blame game.  I find the Occupy Wall Street folks particularly guilty of this in their protest.  How convenient to blame something we don’t understand for our economic woes.  It’s the banks fault and Wall Street.  Or to put it another way it is the rich who are to blame.  It is the top 1% that is getting rich off the backs of all the poor people.  So, off with their heads, er, we mean increase their taxes!  That will cure our economic woes and get us all back to work and back to eating out and maxing out our credit cards.  Right?

Wrong!  We have fallen prey to media hype and our tendency to look for blame anywhere and everywhere except to blame ourselves.  Consider…

• The top 1% had an average income of $380K and paid about 40% of the money collected by the IRS.
• The top 5% had an average income of about $160K and paid 59% of all tax collected federal money.
• The top 10% had an average income of about $113K and paid 70% of all tax collected federal money.
• The top 25% had an average income of about $67K and paid 86% of all tax collected federal money.
• Almost 50% of Americans paid no federal income tax at all!

While I am at it, good for you Warren Buffett that you think you should pay more taxes, why don’t you?  Talk is cheap.  If he really feels bad about his tax bill he could donate more.  Slate reported, “The IRS recommends that you send your donation to the Treasury’s Bureau of the Public Debt. Your money will go into a special account to redeem outstanding government notes, bills, and bonds. Since 1996, Americans have donated about $26 million to reducing federal indebtedness, which represents 0.00018 percent of the current national debt.”  So all you Hollywood elites can stop your whining get out your check books and help us out.  Don’t any of you hold your breath for that to happen.

Aren’t the banks to blame for forcing people into buying homes they could not afford thus ultimately collapsing our economy?  Right!  Banks and their Wall Street minions forced millions of Americans against their wills to sign loan agreements.  While I will grant it that there were some predator lenders the vast majority were simply following the rules and regulations set by our government.  If you bought a house you cannot afford you are the one truly at fault.  No one forced anyone to sign a loan they did not want.  What is also lost in all this is that 90% of Americans are current on their loan payments.  Are we going to punish the majority for the greed or poor planning of a few?

Hey Occupy Wall Street protesters if you really want to save money, go home!  The Police Commissioner of New York City Ray Kelly said last Thursday that it has cost the NYPD $2 million in overtime to police the events, which began on Sept. 17 and have included numerous marches, rallies and other large gatherings where hundreds have been arrested.  Other cities are reporting similar costs from the various protest that have been held.  To top it all off apparently unlike the Tea Party protests, these kids never learned to clean up for themselves.  They are leaving tons of trash behind that city workers have to clean up at the tax payers expense.  Thanks a lot!

If you want to look for the Bogey man in all this look no further than the greed of man.  Sure their is greed on Wall Street.  However I don’t have time to stop working on the work I do have and working to find more work, to march upon my local bank or broker.  While others might make my life more difficult I am ultimately the one responsible for my life.  No one in America is promised riches or wealth or even a free meal.  We already have more than the vast majority of the world.  Even though this past recession has been difficult we are a long ways from the days of The Great Depression.  It is time we all stopped looking for who to blame.  Let’s roll up our sleeves and get about the one thing we can control, ourselves!

Just saying…

I believe that it is not that churches talk too much about money, they actually talk too little on the subject.  What has happened is that all too often when a church does talk about money it does so in a way that turns people off.  Churches tend to utilize guilt as a motivator to get people to give.  If guilt ever worked it certainly no longer works today.  All you do when you preach a guilt sermon on giving is make people feel guilty or angry.  Seldom if ever do you truly motivate anyone to give.  Rarely do you help them make a life change towards being a consistent giver.  What you might indeed do is drive them from the church assuming that all we ever do is talk about money.

When it comes to giving most Christians know they are suppose to give.  Most sermons I hear on giving the preacher acts like his listeners have never heard the concept of giving before in their lives.  Either that or they talk to the congregation like they are children who have somehow not grown up.  While it might be that some have not read or heard that they should give I find that most Christians know they should give.  Knowing is not their problem.  It is a matter of doing what they know they should be doing.  The question is how do we motivate people to do what they know they should be doing?  So, how do we do that?  Here are some thoughts…

Focus on the positive not the negative.  It is the old stick or carrot principle.  I believe the carrot is a better way to build life long stewards than beating them over the head with the Bible.  Focus on the benefits of giving.  There are many versus in Scripture that teach this.  It is not name it and claim it theology to teach that God blesses those that give.  Preach the positive and I think you will find that more of your members will respond by starting to give.  Show your members how giving will benefit their lives!

Tell them why giving to your church makes a difference.  Recently I listened to a sermon on giving that focused almost exclusively upon the responsibility of a Christian to give.  Never once was it mentioned what giving to the church accomplishes.  Who do you think gave all the money to build all the hospitals and schools that churches have established across our land?  Christians giving accomplished that!  What does your denomination do with the money your members give?  Show them how their gift matters.  What has your church accomplished for the Kingdom?  Show members how their gift has made a difference and they will continue to give.  People want to know that their gift matters and that it makes a difference.  Show them that it does and they will give to your ministry.

I find that too many are blaming the economy on why giving in their church has declined.  While that has indeed put stress upon many churches it might also be that we have gone about addressing giving in the wrong way.  We may be reaping the bad practices that we have sown for years.  I believe Christians should give and give generously.  I just think we as leaders need to look at how we are communicating the need to give.  The fault in our declining gifts might not be totally blamed on the economy.  How are you approaching preaching on giving?  Are you focusing on guilt or using a compelling vision?  Remember, good vision trumps bad economy.  In fact good vision trumps everything!

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

I was visiting a church once with some friends on the Sunday when that church was launching their annual campaign for giving to their operating budget.  The chairman of the Finance Team got up and talked about how bad the economy was but that the church still had needs.  The pastor preached a sermon on everyone’s responsibility to give.  At the end of his sermon everyone was asked to take a commitment card and write down what they pledged to give the church the next year and turn it in when the offering plate was passed.  Everyone was also informed that if the church did not get their pledge card on that day they would receive a letter in the mail for the next five weeks until they did make a pledge!

One thing that I have learned about giving is that it is a process.  The results of each “ask” depends upon the need and how much time is put into the process.  Ignoring or blowing by the process of giving will always lead to fewer dollars raised.  Here are some thoughts about the giving process.

A small “ask” requires little time for a donor to think about their gift.  If another hurricane devastates another island Americans will open up their wallets and give money to support those impacted.  You can get up in your church without any advanced notice and ask for gifts.  That special offering might even be large though it is mostly made up of smaller sized gifts.  People will quickly give a few dollars to support a need that arises.

The larger the “ask” the more time a donor needs.  Giving to my churches annual budget or to a capital stewardship campaign is not something I decide on the spur of the moment.  Donors need two things when it comes to making a large gift or commitment to your ministry, information and inspiration.  Tell me where my gifts go and tell my why the ministries they fund are important.  Then give me time to process what you have told me.  Think about it, do you buy a car on the spur of the moment?  Buying a car is different than buying a candy bar.  If we realize this in our personal life why do we ignore it when it comes to church?

Make it spiritual!  The most successful annual campaigns and capital stewardship campaigns understand the importance of the spiritual dynamic in giving.  My money is not my money.  It is God’s.  Every campaign is a teachable moment.  If you spring a large “ask” upon your congregation at the spur of the moment you are simply asking them to give what they feel they can afford to give.  Don’t be surprised if it is far less than what you had hoped for.  Challenge people to pray about what God might want them to give and you will find that their gift is much larger.  You will also find that they feel better about the gift.

Giving is a process not a one time event.  There are scores of studies that show that churches that focus on stewardship throughout the year will always raise more funds than those that only preach on it once a year.  If you run an annual campaign and then never talk about giving at any other time of the year don’t be surprised if you fail to meet your budget.

What processes are you implementing to increase giving to your church?  Do you have a stewardship plan?  Without a plan you will ultimately fail.

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

My church will be starting their annual campaign this month to garner pledges to the budget for the next year.  Many churches still utilize this process as a means to not only encourage giving to the church but as a gauge of setting the annual budget of a church.  I work with several churches across the country that hold annual campaigns.  Typically the annual campaign kicks off with a stewardship sermon or a stewardship series.  That sermon or series is key and sets the stage for success or failure.  Whether you hold an annual campaign or not here are some thoughts on how to approach asking for money.

Never apologize!  Ever!  I once heard a staff member remark at the beginning of the sermon, “I was excited to given the chance to preach and until I realized I was going to be preaching during our annual campaign drive.”  What a great way to start a sermon.  If you lose me at the first sentence how do you think you will keep my focus throughout.  Ministers commit this error over and over, again and again.  They begin their sermon by apologizing for preaching on money.  Never apologize for preaching on something that Jesus talked so much about.  The money given to your church fuels ministry to the world.  Why would you apologize about asking people to support the Kingdom of God?

Make it positive.  It is not that churches talk too much about money.  When they do talk about it they tend to be negative.  Giving is a responsibility for a disciple of Christ.  Yet if your preaching is laden with guilt or condemnation you will not increase your donors.  Try talking about all the positive benefits that giving provides not only for the church but for individuals.

Make giving meaningful.  People give to vision and that which matters.  Talk about what your church accomplishes with their funds.  Tell stories of success.  Trumpet your victories.  Remember, good vision trumps bad economy!

Say thank you.  Churches do a terrible job of saying thank you to their donors.  Sure, your members should give.  However, going out of your way to thank those that give will make it easier to gain their gift in the future.

Make the “ask!”  Jesus said, “You have not because you ask not.”  The same is true for churches.  Too often we simply are afraid to make the “ask.”  You can be sure that other ministries are not bashful about asking your members for donations.  If you truly believe in the mission of your church is it not worth people giving to support it?  Then why be shy about expressing what you need, funds.

Follow the above points and I think you will find that making the “ask” is much easier.  Not only will it be easier it will be more impactful.

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group