Denny Wright, Stewardship and Cooperative Program Director for the Arkansas Baptist State Convention invited me to tour the State with him in the Spring of 2009. The first session is about sustainable funding, and the second session is about online giving.
1. 5 Steps to Funding
a Sustainable
Ministry
Pastor’s Conference
Arkansas Baptist State Convention
April 2009
2. Why should I care?
“At least one out of five American
Christians – 20 percent of all U.S.
Christians – gives literally nothing to
church, para-church, or nonreligious
charities.”
- Passing the Plate
3. Why should I care?
“Americans spent nearly twice as much on
first-day sales of the video game “Grand Theft
Auto IV” as the SBC and the IMB would need
to share the Gospel with all the world’s
unreached people groups by 2010.”
- Empty Tomb
4. Why should I care?
Charitable donations as
measured by per capita giving of
disposable income has remained
the same since 1967 – 2.5%.
- Giving USA
5. What does this mean?
The individualistic, independent
American Spirit has influenced
our perspective on church giving.
Churches risk losing the funding
necessary to carry forward the work it
has been given to do.
6. What does this mean?
The church can’t fail.
There is no Plan B.
7. 5 Steps to Funding a
Sustainable Ministry
Summary
Help pastors evaluate and implement
giving tools and strategies that result
in fully funded budgets and long-term
sustainable ministry.
8. 5 Steps to Funding a
Sustainable Ministry
More Money.
More Ministry.
9. Session Goals
1. Highlight tension between ministry and money.
(funding)
– Discuss the role of pastor as organizational
manager. (sustainability)
– Reveal the disconnect between the pulpit and the
pew. (engagement)
– Provide some guiding principles to systematically
address challenge. (responsibility)
– Restore the role of stewardship as a strategic
effort within local church ministry. (transformation)
10. 5 Steps to Funding a
Sustainable Ministry
Step 1:
Establish a systematic strategy.
11. Establish a systematic
strategy
Let’s be honest about tithing:
The Church is a nonprofit organization
that exists through the donations of its
membership.
13. Establish a systematic
strategy
Let’s be honest about tithing:
Churches have an advantage over every
other nonprofit: weekly interaction with
membership.
14. Establish a systematic
strategy
Let’s be honest about tithing:
Churches are the WORST at capturing
the dollar and fail to consistently
provide a “call to action.”
15. Establish a systematic
strategy
Let’s be honest about tithing:
If churches continue to be silent, the
giving levels needed to operate this
complex organization will not exist.
16. Establish a systematic
strategy
Let’s be honest about tithing:
Giving is an outward sign of an inward
commitment. Measuring giving is one
way to measure the health of your
church and your membership.
17. Establish a systematic
strategy
Let’s be honest about tithing:
Church giving is connected to your
ministry plan. People want to support a
cause or organization that
accomplishes something they can’t do
on their own.
18. 5 Steps to Funding a
Sustainable Ministry
Step 2:
Start talking about it.
19. Start talking about it
In 1995, there were 600,000 nonprofit
organizations and 370,000 churches. In
2005, there were over 1.8 million
nonprofit organizations and 370,000
churches.
- Not Your Parents’ Offering Plate
20. Start talking about it
The more we remain silent with
respect to the subject of money in
the church, the more mysterious it
becomes.
21. Start talking about it
5 steps to stop stuttering over
money
Step 1: Embrace your role as chief
broker of opportunity.
22. Start talking about it
5 steps to stop stuttering over
money
Step 2: Expose yourself to the
unfamiliar.
23. Start talking about it
5 steps to stop stuttering over
money
Step 3: Seek out professionals in
the financial or fund development
industry sectors.
24. Start talking about it
5 steps to stop stuttering over
money
Step 4: Surround yourself with a few
trusted advisors from your church
membership.
25. Start talking about it
5 steps to stop stuttering over
money
Step 5: Practice. Practice. Practice.
26. 5 Steps to Funding a
Sustainable Ministry
Step 3:
Set expectations.
28. Set expectations
Why isn’t the church leading the
way in generosity?
Bill Gates foundation recorded a
20% loss in asset value in 2008 but
plans to give even more in 2009.
29. Set expectations
3 habits that establish expectations
of your membership
Habit 1: Personal Testimony
Hint: Your church will give as much
as you do.
30. Set expectations
3 habits that establish expectations
of your membership
Habit 2: Annual Stewardship Series
32. 5 Steps to Funding a
Sustainable Ministry
Step 4:
Make the ask.
33. Make the ask
Two shifts have taken place
within American Christianity.
1. The tithe is no longer solely
reserved for the church.
34. Make the ask
Two shifts have taken place
within American Christianity.
2. Christians want their tithe to
count.
35. Make the ask
5 systematic tools you need to
consider
1. Offering Envelopes
36. Make the ask
5 systematic tools you need to
consider
2. Online Giving
37. Make the ask
5 systematic tools you need to
consider
3. Contribution Statements
38. Make the ask
5 systematic tools you need to
consider
4. Special Offerings or Major Gifts
39. Make the ask
5 systematic tools you need to
consider
5. Planned Giving or Estate Tithing
40. Make the ask
3 brutal facts about giving grounded
in the Pareto Principles (80/20 rule)
41. Make the ask
Brutal Fact #1:
When your long-term funding
strategy is hung on the giving
habits of a small percentage of your
membership, you are tempting fate.
42. Make the ask
Brutal Fact #2:
Providing things like offering
envelopes and online giving are
primarily designed to encourage
giving and make it easy for the 80%
to do so.
43. Make the ask
Wikipedia raised $2 million dollars
in the final three weeks of December
2008 with an average donation of
$40.
How much money are you leaving
on the table?
44. Make the ask
Brutal Fact #3:
Stewardship is more important than
your sermon preparation.
45. Make the ask
Crown Financial Ministries reported
as many as 17,000 salvations in one
year as a result of people
participating in their program.
46. Make the ask
If stewardship is equivalent to
discipleship, then a call to be a
steward deals directly with the
Lordship of Christ.
47. Make the ask
When people are asked to commit
their time, talent and treasures to
advance the kingdom of God,
spiritual transformation takes place.
48. 5 Steps to Funding a
Sustainable Ministry
Step 5:
Report the results.
49. Report the results
In a time when consumers are
demanding more corporate
accountability and transparency,
this same sentiment is being
applied to traditional nonprofits and
churches alike.
50. Report the results
“They” want to know your church’s
spending habits.
Example: Texas Attorney General’s
office just launched on online tracking
service to let people see how charities
are spending the contributions they
receive.
51. Report the results
It won’t be long before the same
reporting tools are used to monitor
churches.
Are you ready?
52. Report the results
“Participatory Philanthropy” or the
“Democratization of Philanthropy”
are the phrases that best describe
the changing climate of generosity.
60. Report the results
Don’t report results unless you are prepared
to:
2. React based on the results received.
61. Report the results
Don’t report results unless you are prepared
to:
3. Request input from church membership.
62. Session Goals (in
review)
1. Highlight tension between ministry and money.
(funding)
– Discuss the role of pastor as organizational
manager. (sustainability)
– Reveal the disconnect between the pulpit and the
pew. (engagement)
– Provide some guiding principles to systematically
address challenge. (responsibility)
– Restore the role of stewardship as a strategic
effort within local church ministry. (transformation)
65. Session Goals
1.What is electronic giving?
– Why should I care?
– What are the characteristics of people who
give online?
– What options are available to churches?
– How can my church benefit from electronic
giving?
66. What is electronic
giving?
Electronic giving is when an individual
contributes money to a cause or organization
using an electronic platform such as the
internet, cell phone, dedicated kiosk, or
computer terminal to originate and execute a
transfer of funds.
68. Why should I care?
“Some estimates indicate that 60% of people
in the U.S. (and the percentage has been
growing every year) handle at least part of
their financial lives through electronic
transfers.”
- Brian Kluth on Electronic Giving
69. Why should I care?
“Online giving grew four times as quickly in
December [2008] than it did in other months.”
- Recent study published by The Chronicle of
Philanthropy
70. What are the characteristics
of people who give online?
When comparing average donor profiles
through established giving channels to online
donors, we learn:
• Younger
• Higher income earners
• Better educated
71. What are the characteristics
of people who give online?
When comparing giving habits of traditional donors
with online donors, we learn:
• Higher average gift
• Higher long-term “value” to organization
• Lower retention rates
• Often connected with national disaster or tragedy
(instant response)
• Repeat giving through traditional channels
72. What options are available to
churches?
The most common types of electronic giving
available today:
• Internet
• Electronic Bill Pay
• Stock Transfers
• Giving Kiosks
• Computer Terminals
• Cell Phones
73. What options are available to
churches?
Rethink Giving:
An emerging trend is empowering the
membership base to encourage giving.
Example:
Salvation Army
and the “Red Kettle Widget”
74. What options are available to
churches?
Churches should consider services that allow
the church to:
• Specify the payment type
• Customize to avoid confusion
• Provide detailed standard reporting
• Create an easy interface file for accounting
• Handles administration on behalf church
75. How can my church benefit
from electronic giving?
Electronic giving allows the church to overcome:
• Irregular church attendance habits
• Bad weather Sundays
• Givers who don’t attend (snowbirds, family, etc.)
• People who don’t carry cash or write checks
• Time delay when responding to tragedy or disaster
• People who wish to donate but attend another
church (special offerings, funerals, parents, etc.)
76. How can my church benefit
from electronic giving?
Electronic giving provides one more channel
you can offer people to fund the ministry of
your church.
Think less
“either-or”
and more
“both-and”.
77. Warning!
Objections you should anticipate
from your membership:
1.Offering envelopes are part of the worship
experience.
78. Warning!
Objections you should anticipate
from your membership:
1.Offering envelopes are part of the worship
experience.
– I don’t have a computer, and the only Web I
have is a cobweb.
79. Warning!
Objections you should anticipate
from your membership:
1. Offering envelopes are part of the worship
experience.
– I don’t have a computer, and the only Web I have is
a cobweb.
– We don’t have any young people in the church.
80. Warning!
Objections you should anticipate
from your membership:
1. Offering envelopes are part of the worship experience.
– I don’t have a computer, and the only Web I have is a cobweb.
– We don’t have any young people in the church.
– Our church shouldn’t encourage the use of credit cards.
81. Warning!
Objections you should anticipate
from your membership:
1. Offering envelopes are part of the worship experience.
– I don’t have a computer, and the only Web I have is a cobweb.
– We don’t have any young people in the church.
– Our church shouldn’t encourage the use of credit cards.
– Electronic giving reduces giving to the act of paying a bill.
82. Session Goals (in
review)
1.What is electronic giving?
– Why should I care?
– What are the characteristics of people who
give online?
– What options are available to churches?
– How can my church benefit from electronic
giving?
84. “Do More Ministry”
Blog
A conversation on Stewardship and Giving
www.lifewaystores.com/domoreministry
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85. Church Giving Matters:
More Money Really Does
Mean More Ministry
• Book will be available at the SBC Convention in
June.
• Seminar content based on book content
• Bulk purchase options available.
• If you would like to be notified when this book is
available, please e-mail me at
ben.stroup@lifeway.com.