The single most important thing you can do to increase giving at your church is to change how you take up your offerings. Yet tragically, the offering time has been one of the most neglected parts of worship. Now, post-Covid, many churches have stopped taking a physical offering, and many seldom mention giving. Church leaders spend more time planning out and executing the announcement time than they make the offering. It is no wonder giving, and givers are on a decline.
My mission is to reverse the decline in giving one church at a time. I always start at the offering because how you and your team view the offering will determine your future financial stability. If you see the offering as an intrusion into worship or worry it might drive “guests” away, there isn’t any help I can give you. However, if you are still reading this, then there is a chance that we can reverse any decline in giving you are experiencing.
The question is, how do you go about accomplishing all this? Let me lay out some thoughts that I believe will help you increase your giving.
First, get your staff on board. My biggest challenge in working with churches on improving the offering time is the staff. Lots of reasons, but one reason is they are jealous about the platform time of worship! When you start talking about taking one to two minutes for an offering talk, your Worship Leader thinks, "great, I'll have to cut short a song." There are many other reasons but suffice it to say that if your staff or leadership is not on board, you will never get the congregation on board.
At the next staff meeting, ask (please ensure you know the answers to the questions!)
- Do you guys know how much we need each Sunday from now until the end of the year?
- Do you know what missions or ministries we would need to cut if we don't hit those numbers?
You get the drift. As we say in the south, they have a dog in this hunt! You want them engaged and involved as you develop a plan.
Next, PLAN! Neat segue, huh? That's right back to one of my favorite mantras, get a plan and work your plan! I want you to plan out every one of your offerings. All 52 of them!
Here is how I would do it…
Common Thread? I would start by thinking if there is some common thread to what my church is doing this fall or this quarter. Is it more mission-focused overseas than in the past? Are you emphasizing the family? Sometimes there is a common thread, but many times there isn't. Yet I want to think through what our objectives are to be.
List all my church's major initiatives for the fall/quarter. Of course, you want to look at the calendar and where they fall but look behind the event. What is the "story" behind the event? How will the Kingdom be advanced? How will lives be changed or helped? Every mission and ministry initiative has a story. Remember what I say …
Get a story, work your story, tell people about your story, and they will give to support that story!
Now, list each weekend or Sunday of fall, starting with Labor Day. What "story" do you want to tell starting with that Sunday and every Sunday moving forward through the end of the year?
Plan out each Sunday based upon the above. Here are some key elements to think of…
- You want to inform your donors of what you are doing.
- You want to inspire them by what you are doing.
- You want to show them that their generosity makes a difference.
- Share with them about the multiple ways they can give. We can help with that! See below!
- And, most importantly, you want to thank them for their generosity.
Oh, and did I mention you have 120 seconds or less? If you think that it is impossible, turn on the TV. In 29.5 seconds, see how much can be said.
We provide our clients with written “talks” that we now call Mission and Ministry Moments each week. In two minutes or less, we put a positive focus on generosity and biblical stewardship. At OnlineGiving.org, we provide you with the tools for collecting the offering and strategy for improving your offerings. To learn more about how we can assist your church in increasing giving, contact us at support@onlinegiving.org or phone at (615) 206-4000.
We know that your giving can be increased in two minutes or less when we treat the offering for what it is, an act of worship. Change your attitude and approach to the offering time, and you will also see your giving increase.
The Stewardship Coach
The single most important thing you can do to increase giving at your church is to change how you take up your offerings. Let me lay out some thoughts that I believe will help you increase your giving. https://t.co/TApdlBUorW pic.twitter.com/WnqgprWill
— Online Giving (@onlinegivingorg) July 26, 2022