MORE STEPS IMPORTANT TO YOUR COMMITMENT CAMPAIGN

          I’m continuing the blog series I started last week based on the “Ten   Commandments for Commitment Campaigns” found on the United Methodist Stewardship Foundation of Michigan website.

          Last week, we talked about three recommendations, which included not waiting until Labor Day to start; be clear about what the outcome of the campaign should be; and the third is recruiting people to assist with the campaign.

          The fourth recommendation is to make the campaign about commitment rather than budgets.  Too often, and I’ve been guilty of this, is starting on the budget work first, before even really considering the campaign itself. The budget comes after the campaign, when people have provided their commitments. The budget isn’t the goal. The goal is the commitment.

          The fifth recommendation is to be personal as much as possible. When you’ve received a request for a donation, how much further do you read than “Dear Friend” or something of that nature? Probably not far. If the asker couldn’t even take the time to personalize the letter, why should I personalize my gift—by making one? Mass mailings aren’t always terribly effective. Talking to people personally, or even writing a personal note on a form letter goes a long way.

          The sixth recommendation is to focus on the campaign only.  When you are planning the campaign, pick your dates early and get them on the calendar. There are always conflicts on the church calendar, but there shouldn’t be any other fundraisers at the same time. Move the concert or the fundraiser or the bazaar, or change the dates of your campaign. If you’re asking your folks to focus on the needs of giving and why it is important; don’t pull their focus elsewhere.

          So there are three more steps that will help you focus on the campaign, and to have the focus of others be the campaign. Keep these steps in mind as your campaign work continues!  

 

             IMPORTANT STEPS TO YOUR COMMITMENT CAMPAIGN #1

          It is mid-summer; new pastors are in place in a new appointment year; and meetings generally aren’t occurring like they will in the fall. Nothing we have to worry about relative to those fall campaigns, is there? 

          Sorry, yes, there is. I found “Ten Commandments for Commitment Campaigns” on the United Methodist Stewardship Foundation of Michigan website, and it makes some very good points about things that are vital to a successful commitment campaign, or pledge drive, or pledge campaign, or stewardship campaign, or fall campaign, or whatever we call them.

          I’m going to take the next couple of weeks to go over these steps. I encourage you to take these “commandments” or “recommendations” to heart as you ready yourselves for financial work in the fall.

          The first recommendation is to not wait until Labor Day to plan the campaign. I know, I know; I’ve been there. Summer goes by really quickly and suddenly it’s Labor Day, and it’s time to start planning the fall campaign that is going to start very soon. Don’t wait. Start the planning now, so that the planning can be done and done well before the actual campaign work starts. If you start now, you can do the planning properly and get the materials that you need.

          The second recommendation is to be clear about what the outcome of the campaign needs to be. What is your goal? Getting enough money to pay the budget isn’t it. Are you trying to increase the dollar amounts pledged? OR are you trying to increase the number of pledges? Those two goals are very different, and may lead to different outcomes.

          The third recommendation is to recruit/invite people to assist with the campaign. But be careful; simply having a willing body isn’t the way to go. Just finding people to say yes shouldn’t be your goal. If we wait to the fall to start planning, that’s what we’re sometimes stuck doing. But, instead, recruit, and recruit now, those persons who are capable and have the knowledge, understanding and belief in stewardship to do a good job.

          These are the three steps that come “before” the campaign work itself starts. Complete these steps as soon as possible and start your brain-storming now!

 

                                   MEET YOUR GENEROUS FOLKS

          Last week, I talked about sharing the stories of a church’s generosity in the past and currently, learning about the history of ministry—particularly as it relates to a new pastor joining a congregation as of the new appointment year, and for current pastors to learn (or re-learn) some of the history.

          Sharing stories and talking about the past can often be encouraging and fun to remember. But it’s not the end of the work that should be started (or continued) around generosity. This is an important step for a new pastor starting with a congregation, but is something that could be helpful for a current pastor who has been with a congregation for some time.

          Learn who the top ten most generous people are in the congregation. That is not necessarily the highest monetary donors.

The Widow’s Offering

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

 

          Ask around. Who do others think are the most generous. They may be big money givers, but they may people who are true servants in the church. Learn who they are and meet with them. Learn their WHY?

• ·        Why do they love the church?
• ·        What does the church do that they generously support?
• ·        What are the stories that resound with them?
• ·        Why do they support their church?
• ·        Why are they generous?

          This information from your most-generous, getting to know your most-generous, and hearing the stories will help you help others to be generous, and help you direct the congregation in their WHY as a church, in doing the work that God has called them to do, and in being the church God has called them to be.

 

                           SETTING UP GENEROSITY

          For some churches, it’s that time when they are welcoming a new pastor; for others, their pastor has continued. At the beginning of the appointment year in the United Methodist Church, there are a couple of months before the busy fall starts, before Sunday School restarts, many church meetings start and before the proverbial fall stewardship campaigns.

          It seems like a good time to share with a new pastor or current pastor the history of the church’s generosity. It will help a new pastor learn how the church was founded and their history in ministry and in people. In fact, it may even be more helpful to current folks to share the stories that they know but may have “forgotten.”

          That history story can and must lead to conversation around the current generosity and ministry of the church. So much of the history of our churches happened because someone was generous.

• ·        There are windows and pews and chairs, pulpits, Sunday School rooms, kitchens…
• ·        There are children and older adults, youth and families…
• ·        There are classes for children, you and adults…
• ·        There are people who have gone into ordained ministry and there are missionaries…
• ·        There are laity who are the backbone of the church…
• ·        There are ministries that are hundreds of years old, some that are decades old, some that are years old, some that are much, much newer…

          All of these things and people and activities happen because people past and present have been generous. They continue to happen because of the generosity happening right now!

          Share the stories—with those for whom they are new and with those who may have forgotten.

          How has generosity been reflected in YOUR church!

 

              HOW DOES GIVING AFFECT RELATIONSHIPS WITH CHRIST

          We spend so much time talking about giving, and how it helps churches pay their bills and do mission work, and in the United Methodist Church, pay ministry shares (apportionments). Sometimes, we get really fancy and talk about giving back to God; and about tithing or proportional giving. And then, maybe, just maybe, we talk about generosity and how important it is to everyone’s spiritual journey.

          But, what if, we talked about giving, as intentional (on purpose), and proportional (giving specifically related to income), and how important those two aspects are to giving. Because not only does it:

·        Make our hearts sing; and

·        Enable God’s work to be done through our local churches; and

·        Change our relationship with money; AND

·        Strengthen our relationship with Christ!

          As Christians, we are New Testament people; we are children of God, and our sins have been forgiven because of Jesus Christ. In the Gospel of John, Jesus Christ said he was

·        The Bread of Life (John 6).

·        The Light of the World (John 8).

·        The Gate of the Sheepfold (John 10).

·        The Good Shepherd (John 10).

·        The Resurrection and the Life (John 11).

·        The Way, Truth, and Life (John 14).

·        The True Vine: (John 15)

          If Jesus is all those things, and all those things define our relationship with Jesus Christ and his relationship with us; when we are generous, and we think of money with our hearts instead of only our heads, then when our giving is intentional and proportional, our relationship with Christ is increased exponentially.

          For many of us, work on the financial aspects of our church and our church’s work is focused on the fall season. It is “only” summer; but now is the time to start talking and sharing about our relationships with money and giving. Don’t wait!

 

 OFFERING AS TRANSFORMATION AND THANKSGIVING

 

          How often do you experience the time of offering in church as either a hastily thrown out, almost apologetic time, or even a negative moment? I have to say, for me, too often.

          But the time of offering is as much an act of worship as prayer or sermon or song. Why don’t we treat it like that? Of course, the time of offering during a worship service is a time to share financial gifts that will allow God’s work to be done through that local church. But it must also be a time to offer ourselves to the glory of God and to be used by God.

          It can be a time of transformation. We are blessed by the grace of God. There is grace before we even know what it is; there is grace where we are pardoned, and there is the grace where we mature in our faith. That grace blesses us with everything. Everything we are and everything we have. We are transformed by God; we are transformed by grace; and that time, in church, where we offer ourselves over to God, can be a time of transformation.

          In addition to ourselves, we offer up a portion of what God has blessed us with. We aren’t giving our money to the church; we are sharing a small portion of what God has given us with the church so that God’s work continues and other lives are transformed. When we talk about giving our own stuff away, it starts to seem like a lot. But when we look at the fact that God has given us everything; and we can keep most of it to care for ourselves; giving a little bit back, 10% or more doesn’t seem like so much.

          Think of it like a basket of apples. There are ten apples. God asks that we give back the best apple for God to use; but God lets us keep the other nine to care for ourselves, our families, our homes and our lives. We can give thanks to God for that generosity, can we not?

          Our offering in church, or via online giving, or via a check put in the mail is done in thanksgiving to God. Let that moment, those moments, transform our lives!

If you have questions, ideas of comments, you can comment on this blog.

 

             INTENTIONAL AND PROPORTIONAL GIVING

          How often do people WANT to hear about tithing? How often do people actually TALK about tithing? On purpose? After all, it’s talking about the “bad T word.”

          Tithing is in the Old Testament, and it’s talked about a lot. Giving ten percent as the base of giving is something that was part of the Law in the Old Testament, of course. But do we really need to worry about tithing now that we have the New Testament.

          I agree that tithing appears several times in the Old Testament and doesn’t really appear in the New Testament. However, Jesus talks about caring for our neighbor and our world, so giving is vital to that.

          I think that talking about tithing is important and how giving just 10% isn’t all that much—after all, we get to keep 90% of what God gives us for ourselves! Studies say average giving is only about 2%. Jumping to 10% overnight can seem pretty overwhelming.

          Proportional giving is the way to talk about giving. If you’re giving 2%, consider prayerfully increasing that to 3% or 4%, and then increase again. Proportional giving is exactly that—giving a certain portion (percentage) to the church/others. The definition of tithing is giving 10%. Giving a different percentage is not tithing.

          Intentional giving is making a commitment, usually at the beginning of the year, of what you intend to give to the glory of God, for God’s work, through the local church. It isn’t a last-minute thought, or checking to see what you have left in your bank account that particular day, or what is left in your wallet or the bottom of your purse. It is stating your intentions and then following through.

          Both proportional and intentional giving are important aspects of generosity and giving. Talking about those aspects regularly and clearly will help you (and others) identify the challenges, choices and outcomes involved. Talking about and answering the question of what are the challenges, outcomes and choices will be fruitful conversations to have!