You never have to recover from a good start. My mentor, Dave Sutherland, always said that. It’s good advice. I believe the first six weeks of the year could determine the success of your financial year.
As you plan for the New Year you need to understand,
Why January is crucial for making budget in 2021. January is next only to July as one of the more challenging months of your giving year. Why is that?
- It typically takes people a couple of weeks to get over the holidays.
- Right as people start returning to church, their credit card bills arrive for all the Christmas gifts purchased, causing giving stress.
- In a typical year, you would lose at least one weekend due to inclement weather.
- Now, with COVID ramping back up, you can expect attendance to be lighter than normal.
This might be our most challenging January ever. This is why you need a good start. How important is a good start? I wondered how important the first quarter of a football game would be in determining the winner. I searched the Internet and found some football nerd who had actually crunched the number for NFL teams one year. Amazingly, 3/4 of teams leading after the 1st quarter go on to victory. Your first quarter of 2021 will set the pace for victory or defeat!
I realize that is football, and we are talking church, but in my experience, the churches that struggle in the first quarter almost always struggle throughout the year. There is nothing worse than running from behind. It takes more effort to catch up, and you are constantly at risk of falling further behind.
Let’s get ahead of the curve. If you know a curve is coming up in the road, you slow down before you are in the turn to navigate the curve. We know this will be a difficult first quarter. Let’s work out a plan of avoiding running behind by setting the stage with the first six weeks. Do you have a plan?
Let’s end your giving year well and set the stage for your best first six weeks ever!
Mark Brooks
The Stewardship Coach
mark@onlinegiving.org
