UNDERSTAND WHY AND HOW PEOPLE GIVE

 

            In continuing my reading of the booklet put out by VANCO, titled The Complete Guide to Church Stewardship, I read about the sixth of eight rules for effective church leadership: Understand Why and How People Give

            We often group everyone together with we talk about giving. We approach everyone the same way. And we make assumptions that if get new people in the pews, that giving will increase. I don’t believe any of these ideas or these assumptions are appropriate.

            There are giving trends that we need to be aware of: (a) some people give lump sums; (b) some budget their giving and give accordingly; and (c) some only give when they’re at church. So where do your givers fall? More in attendees, more in regular consistent giving or? Online giving can help flatten some of this out.

            New people usually give less than current people. How you approach new people who don’t have the habit of giving generously should be far different from how you approach people who are generous and regular givers. A campaign can have different approaches for different givers, such as different letters. Tailor your wording to your givers.

If some people are already regular givers, asking them to give a larger amount makes sense. They’re already invested in your church and are more likely to react positively to this ask.

If there are others who have previously pledged but aren’t pledging currently, you might want to approach them to invite them back in. They may only give sporadically; encouraging them to pledge will help increase that group’s level of giving.

            For those who haven’t given before, a different approach may make more sense. Encouraging giving by having a matching gift, up to a certain amount could motivate them. Telling them what giving can accomplish may also be new to them.

            Look at how giving is currently structured and plan accordingly.        

 

            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 or susanranous@unyumc.org.  I’d be happy to help or answer any questions.