As I write about why you should get ready for summer now I have no interest in your vacation plans. My interest is in helping you reverse any decline in giving you have experienced due to the unsettling weather this winter. If you are the average church you are already behind in your budget needs. We are not yet finished with the first quarter and most churches I know are struggling to stay on target for fully funding their 2014 budgets.
One of the great mistakes that churches make is hoping things will get better. Hope is not a strategy! While I am certainly a proponent of the power of prayer and the need for praying dollars in, without any plans you are simply delusional. You will face a budget decline. Most of the time that decline begins to show up right around the time where we have the most missions and ministry scheduled, the summer. If you are behind now what is your plan to reverse that decline?
Almost every church in the world sees a decline in giving during the summer months. That is a fact. When people go on vacation they take their gift to your church with them. Either Mickey, the beach or the ball game gets God’s dollar. You know this is true so what are you doing about it?
The Cross Church example. For several years I have worked with Cross Church of Northwest Arkansas one of the top 100 churches by size according to OutReach Magazine. EVERY summer Pastor Ronnie Floyd implements a program to boost summer giving. One reason why is that he knows every summer will be a giving challenge. By focusing upon the problem Cross Church is able to fully fund all their missions and ministry initiatives. They have a plan and they work their plan.
Do you have a plan? Probably not. You might not even be thinking of summer. However you had better be thinking about how to keep your budget fully funded. Who has the time for that kind of thing? I do
Wednesday April 2nd at 2 PM EST I will be hosting a free webinar talking about the importance of a summer giving plan AND giving you a plan that you can follow! Sign up now at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/261123529
I have done all the work for you. If you follow my advice your summer giving will improve over the current plan that you have in place! Get ready now to see your summer giving be fully funded!
Mark Brooks The Stewardship Coach
Founder and President The Charis Group and Charis Giving Solutions
Register now at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/261123529