GIVING COMMUNICATION

                                               THANKING YOUR GIVERS

 

            Last week we started talking about effective giving communication, which started with revisiting the mission of the church. When our focus is on money, we (and our hearers) are uncomfortable. I get giving is money, but generosity is more.

Talking about what your church is doing and how givers can help is far more effective than just asking for enough money to pay the bills.

But we can’t take people for granted. Thank people. We’re asking them to be generous; we need to be grateful as well. Go out of your way to make them feel appreciated.

I think givers are often lucky if there’s a brief paragraph from the finance chair in the bulletin or the newsletter thanking “everyone that gave.” Even the giving statements are essentially receipts and not thankful. Most giving statement shave lots of space. You know that white space on the piece of paper? The statement contains the dates and amounts of gifts; it gives the giver the total. But what if we also talked about how their generosity made a difference. What happened because they gave to the church? What lives were changed? What was the impact? Tell the stories. It’s not going to cost any extra postage to write a few lines telling the story and another line or two thanking people.

Do you remember the last thank you note you received? Was it handwritten? Were you happy to receive it? I don’t know about you but when I receive a thank you note, it means a lot. I probably didn’t give to get it; but it’s wonderful to receive. This could be a task for pastors, or for Finance team members or other leaders in the church. It doesn’t mean telling everyone how much the person gave. We’re thanking them for their gift. It’s that gift, coupled with other gifts, that is making the difference.

·         Thank them

·         Tell them what has been accomplished because of their generosity

·         Sign your name

 

It continues to be a lot of work, but the benefits will continue to pay off! For the next couple of weeks, I will continue to spend time on how some of this could work and things that we could be doing to change our stewardship focus and our discipleship focus.

 

 

 

            If you wish more information on anything you’ve been reading about, please feel free to contact me at (315) 427-3668 or sranousacctg@twcny.rr.com. I’d be happy to help.