« What stewardship and giving books are you reading? | Main | When was the last time you said "thank you"? »
April 1, 2009
Offering Envelopes are "an old technique that still works"
Mark Brooks and I sat down to talk about church stewardship and giving. (By the way, you need to e-mail him about the financial analysis tools he created and uses with his clients. It's one of the best I've ever seen. The level of detail and intelligence it gives the pastor is unmatched.)
One of the things I learned during our conversation was how much he believes in offering envelopes, contributions statements, pastoral letters, etc. He believes these systematic tools - when used strategically - will significantly impact a church's ability to collect the amount pledged during a capital campaign. But he doesn't stop there. He also encourages the church to continue using these tools after the campaign is over.
Occassionally, I come across people who are skeptical of the offering envelope. They believe it is of little value and merely a relic of a previous generation. My intuition used to lead me to the same conclusions. But here is where that theory breaks down:
1. Many who think offering envelopes are "useless" are also faithful givers. They will give no matter what - even if they were asked to give only in pennies. The strength in the offering envelope is in its ability to expand your giving base and inspire a response.
2. Nearly every other traditional nonprofit organization spends a great deal of money printing and using envelopes as part of their fundraising strategy. Why? They work! (Even if a member gives online, the offering envelope is a subtle prompt to log on and donate.)
The results speak for themselves. Based on my experience and the data I've seen, those churches who use offering envelopes typically have a larger giving base (stability) and generate more contributions consistently when compared with those that don't (sustainability).
Posted by bstroup at April 1, 2009 3:49 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://blogs.lifeway.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/2083