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June 30, 2009
Multiple funding options for churches
I recently posted about multiple funding options for churches. This seemed to touch on a sensitive area for some (and confused others). Some of you have shared with me what you're church is doing to fund the ministry of your church outside of total dependence upon weekly giving. Excellent! I love hearing ideas. Some of you have also shared your objections and concerns that funding outside of tithes and offerings may be outside of God's design. I respect that too.
The bottom line is this (yes, punn intended): More Money. More Ministry. No Money. No Ministry. As church members increase their expectations of churches and as churches race to compete with the attention-grabbing messages and work from the traditional non-profit world, churches are facing competition that I'm convinced some church leaders don't even realize exists. If churches are going to meet the growing demands of ministry, the funding has to also increase.
There are two troubling things with weekly tithes and offerings: One, the assumption that the tithe is reserved for the local church alone no longer exists. Two, the attendance patterns of members is less frequent than it has been in years past. The combination of these two elements decreases the chances that weekly giving will fully fund the ministry budget of your church.
There is no magic combination of funding options for every church. Each funding plan should be contextualized to fit the ministry demands of the church and the community in which it exists. That being said, there are a few elements that should be present within every congregation's funding plan in addition to weekly giving: major gift development, special fund-raising initiatives/campaigns, estate tithing/foundations, donor base cultivation (or what I sometimes call compound giving).
Some of the most creative options that I've seen are: hosting ongoing community events that cultivate givers among non-church members (and maybe even non-Christians), leasing space in a local strip mall to help members who find themselves unemployed start their own business and in turn any proceeds from things like rent, etc. the church reap's from the success of the new business is invested back into the church, and establishing each new ministry with seed money for a defined period of time with the intent that the new ministry must become self-funding.
How are you creatively meeting the funding demands of the ministry your church has been called to do?
Posted by bstroup at June 30, 2009 1:27 PM
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