There are two simple ways to increase giving at your church this summer. Summer has long been a challenge for churches to make budget. Members are gone a lot and attendance is off. When attendance is low the offering is typically low as well. There are two basic strategies that I employ to reverse this with the client churches I work with.
To increase giving you have to make it easy and fun. Those might seem counter intuitive but it is true. The easier you make it for people to give the more likely they will give. The more fun they have in giving the more they will give.
The question becomes how do you accomplish this? Let’s break each element down so that you too can implement these two simple strategies.
The easiest way to make giving easy is to have an online platform and an online plan. You need both. The mistake many churches make is that they stop at having an online platform without ever thinking about a plan of action that will drive people to use online giving. Thursday May 1st at 2 PM EST I will be hosting a webinar that will teach the importance of an online plan. Go here to register http://thestewardshipcoach.org/online-giving/
As I always say, I have a great lawn mower but I had to get it out of the shed this past week to mow my lawn. Tools are great but you have to let people know they are available and you have to remind them to use them.
42% of churches in our study of online giving bring in less than 10% of all their revenue through this new tool. Churches with an aggressive plan that continually focuses upon building online gifts see an average more in the range of 30% to 50% of their total gifts coming by digital means.
On May 1st you can have an opportunity to learn how to increase your online percentages just in time to beat the summer slump. To register go here http://thestewardshipcoach.org/online-giving/
Ok, easy is easy to explain, but how do you make giving fun? People spend money all the time for nothing but fun. This past weekend Hollywood raked in millions providing people with movie entertainment. The goal was to have fun. The more fun a movie looks like the more people want to be a part of it and thus will spend their money to see it.
Make giving to your church impactful and meaningful and people will give because it is fun to give to what matters! So, your goal should always be to show people what your church does with the money that is given to it. You need to make the link between what the giving and ministry. When you make that link people are much more apt to give and give generously.
Use your Social Media tools to show what you are doing. One way our clients focus upon missions and ministry is by using their Social Media posts to talk about the impact of missions and ministry. Tell your story and people are more apt to give to support that story.
The picture I used on the left is an actual Facebook post by a church focusing upon how their student camp changed lives. It then makes a direct appeal for support. By utilizing similar posts throughout all your platforms you are helping people see that their gift will make an impact and thus it is more fun to give!
Using these two simple ways to increase giving will not in and of itself negate the challenge of meeting budget but it will help. The key thing is that you don’t just sit there hoping giving will get better. You have to work for those dollars today. What are you doing to increase giving?
Mark Brooks – The Stewardship Coach
Founder and President
The Charis Group and Charis Giving Solutions
Don’t miss Thursday May 1st webinar that will teach you how to use the tools of online giving. You can register here http://thestewardshipcoach.org/online-giving/