generosity

Maybe you’ve heard someone say, “People don’t give to need. They give to vision.” Well, that’s not entirely true. The truth is, people give for a variety of reasons. Just like people have different personality types, they have different motivators for being generous. Everybody in your congregations isn’t motivated by the same thing. Let’s talk about the five reasons why people make a donation to your church:

You’d think by now, it would’ve gotten easier. I’ve been going to church for my entire life. I’ve been giving to the church for most of my adult life. For goodness sakes, I’ve been working in church generosity for three years now. And I still don’t know how to talk about money. Because, let’s face it, people get weird when it comes to their wallets. Because of this, many pastors and churches simply don’t talk about it.

It’s Valentine’s Week, and that means a couple of things. First off, it means it’s cold--at least where I am. It means your social media feeds are likely cluttered with declarations of love, and/or diatribes about how V-Day is entirely arbitrary and unnecessary. And it means every blog post or “how to” article posted this week is required (by federal law) to include motifs of “love,” “affection,” and “romance.” Furthermore, since I’m the one doing the writing, you know we’ve got to talk about giving, generosity, and stewardship as well.

In a recent post for ChurchTechToday, I discussed four of the primary financial benefits that effective recurring giving programs can provide for churches. Increased giving, stabilized revenue, and automated workflows were all discussed at length. Today, I want to focus on another demographic that will benefit greatly from a fast and flexible recurring giving option: your givers! It’s no surprise that a giving tool that will benefit your church’s staff will benefit your givers as well. (How’s that old proverb go? “What’s good for the goose is good for the giver as well?” Yes, I think that’s it. Intuitive though it may be, let’s dig a bit deeper and look at four specific things recurring giving can do for the givers in your congregation.

When summer comes, traditionally it brings with it the not-so-fun slump in summer giving.  Summer brings a lot of things but often it means a...

Introducing new technology into your church should always be done thoughtfully--especially when it comes to giving, which is a particularly sensitive area. One new technology...

There are an estimated 10 million tithers in America that donate more than $50 billion annually to religious and charitable causes. A new 5-year...

Technology can be a great tool in order to make charitable giving a greater priority this year. Between your laptop, your tablet, and your smartphone, there’s no reason you and your church members can’t be completely on top of your financial situation in order to make more room for additional giving.