Do More Ministry: Planned Giving Archives

September 24, 2009

Georgia Baptist Pastor's Conference: 5 steps to funding a sustainable ministry

I'm leading two breakout sessions today for Georgia Baptist Pastor's at the State Convention Office. I thought I'd share with you the PowerPoint presentation I'm using.

I hope you find this helpful!

GBC 09 Pastor's Conference - Sustainable Funding

View more presentations from Ben Stroup.

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May 6, 2009

The Silent Middle

I was contacted recently by an individual who was frustrated because she was unable to find a way to learn how to invest in Kingdom work beyond her tithe to the local church. She isn't covered in debt yet also doesn't fall into the general definition of a high capacity giver or someone who has an extraordinary amount of money they wish to donate out of their excess.

She explained that God was calling her to give more but didn't know where or how to begin. Certainly, she isn't the only one who feels this way.

I have to admit I was stumped. After sending a few e-mails to people I know who have been instrumental in the world of generosity, I discovered that there is a known (but unquantified) group of people who aren't drowning in debt and have the desire and capacity to give beyond their tithe yet don't fall into the high capacity giving category as defined by traditional industry standards.

In fact, one generosity leader already had a name for this group: The Silent Middle. It appears that there is an underdeveloped, overlooked population of people who wish to be generous but are getting little to no attention.

Have you found this to be true? Do you agree? Are you frustrated because you want to give more but don't know how, who, or even where to begin?

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May 5, 2009

Sustainable Ministry PowerPoint Presentation

I've received several e-mails asking for the PowerPoint presentation I used during last week's seminar on sustainable funding. I'm also learning my way around Google Documents as a way to share, present, and collaborate on documents. I thought this might be natural opportunity to attempt to address one request and experiment with technology all at the same time.

So, here it goes.

Let me know if you have any difficulty accessing the presentation.

Also, I'd welcome any feedback or questions you might have related to the presentation itself. (Maybe one day I can learn how to merge a recorded audio version of this presentation with the slides itself...maybe.)

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December 10, 2008

Good reminders and best practices about year-end donations

The end of the year is quickly approaching. It's time to refresh your memory of all the rules related to year-end donations. In Gift or Gaffe? How to get the full benefit from year-end donations the writer outlines what the IRS has to say on the subject and identifies some real world examples and advice from church leaders.

You might want to consider making this information available to your membership through your Web site, bulletin insert, etc. It may help hedge against a series of like questions and may even prevent some of those uncomfortable post year-end contribution conversations in the hallway between Sunday School and Worship.

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December 2, 2008

Generis strategist offers 6 steps to stewardship success

Generis Strategist, Rubin Swift, offers pastors 6 things to consider as they plan and adjust their stewardship strategy for the remainder of 2008 and moving into 2009. These six steps will ensure you're covering the bases and moving toward action instead of becoming paralyzed with fear.

More than ever, the pastor needs to display a confidence and trust in the God he proclaims.

Pastor, what's your plan? Enough talk. Get moving. Make things happen.

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November 25, 2008

Individualism, Self-deteremination obstacles to church giving

"Many American Christians simply seem to have a hard time putting together two discordant ideas. On the one side, many seem to genuinely believe in the biblical notions of stewardship and discipleship, who are profoundly challenging to the autonomous individualistic self. But at the same time, most of them are also deeply committed to American autonomous individualism and accompanying notions of self-determination, absolute private property rights, and consumer sovereignty."

Passing the Plate, pg. 119.

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November 13, 2008

Method of giving may change in light of recession

Depending on how long the recession lasts and how deep its impact, churches need to consider that while members will continue to give, they may shift their method of giving.

If you haven't already, you need to implement a planned giving solution for your church.

Read more about Planned Giving:

Planned giving for churches, Part 1
Planned giving for churches, Part 2
Planned giving for churches, Part 3
Planned giving for churches, Conclusion

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November 4, 2008

Local church promotes giving in tough economy

"If this economic crash has taught us anything, it is that it is an illusion for us to think that we can find any security in anything material," said Stephen McSwain, author of 'The Giving Myths.'

This church brought in a noted author to encourage believers to "keep the faith" in the midst of uncertain times.

What is your church doing?

(Hint: Panic isn't an option. Hope is not a strategy.)

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November 3, 2008

October 23, 2008

Best comprehensive church giving research available

If you're looking for the best comprehensive research on church giving in one book, look no further than The State of Church Giving through 2006.

(Note: I recently purchased my copy direct from Amazon.com.)

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October 22, 2008

3 ways Church Administrators will respond to economic crisis

Is the world of church giving headed for doom and gloom for the next 12 months? Exactly how bad is it? It's easy to allow ourselves to include ourselves in "group think" and begin believing that these are the worst times ever. Below are three contrasting ideas/insights about giving in tough economic times and what this means for the church.

Insight #1 - Church giving will plummet in light of the current economic crisis.

Donors Start Cutting Back is some of the worst news a Church Business Administrator wants to read. If we believe this, then we make the assumption that ALL people give out of their excess instead of out of their first-fruits.

Insight #2 - Church giving will remain consistent in light of the current economic crisis.

One wealth expert believes that the stock market has little to do with people's regular disposable income or the source of much of philanthropic (that includes church) giving. His claim is the the stock market only impacts a nominal percentage of the average households monthly income. This is good news for Church Business Administrators

Insight #3 - Church giving will increase in light of the current economic crisis.

Ok. I realize this might be a tough sell. But one investment firm is claiming an increase of 12% in grant-giving to NPOs from its benevolent investment funds. If church adminsitrators have done their homework and managed the church business conservatively, then there will be a pile of money somewhere to assist the church during an interruption in normal giving habits.

Perhaps there are some who don't want to use these funds. My question is: Why not? That's what these funds are for. Once we emerge from the recession or crisis or whatever you want to call it, the funds will be replenished.

If the church coffers are choked and ministry is suspended for fear of not having enough, then the church won't be able to help or assist faithful members who now find themselves in need and members of the community who are turning to the church for help.

How you respond says a lot about what you believe. Adequate business management should have prepared all churches to thrive even with short-term interruptions in normal giving levels.

This too shall pass.

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October 15, 2008

3 brutal facts about giving grounded in the Pareto Principle

The Pareto Principle is more commonly known as the 80-20 rule. In other words, 80 percent of the result is generated by 20 percent of the effort.

This can be applied to church giving habits too. 20% of your congregation is driving 80% of your funds. This will either paralyze you or motivate you to become more strategic.

The reality is the it's the 20% who end up on stewardship and finance committees. These leaders can't imagine or understand why 80% of the congregation doesn't give.

What I've found true is the often the 20% thinks they are actually 40% or 50%. Most church leaders think their church is different (i.e. better) than the average. (Ever run into that before?)

Here are the brutal facts:

1. When your long-term funding strategy is hung on the giving habits of a small percentage of your entire congregation, you are tempting fate. Someone in that small group will leave the church, change jobs, loose their job, die, etc. If you're not building giving habits with the 80% group, you are leaving yourself wide open for disaster to happen.

2. Providing things like e-giving and offering envelopes are primarily to encourage giving and make it easy for the 80% to do so. The 20% don't need offering envelopes or e-giving. They are going to give anyway. If the pastor requested all donations be made into pennies, the 20% would take off from work early to stop by the bank and exchange paper for pennies. (Over dramatic, yes. But you get my point.)

3. Stewardship is more important than your sermon preparation. (I'm anticipating getting some negative feedback for this one. So I'm ready.) Stewardship is about discipleship. It speaks to giving of ourselves - our time, talent and treasure - because we recognize that everything we have is from God and is designed to be used to multiply kingdom efforts. While years are spent preparing pastors to preach, without a consistent stewardship education program pastors won't have a pulpit to preach from. (Pulpit can be symbolic if you are natually opposed to the piece of furniture that usually is found center stage at tranditional churches.)

Now more than ever pastors and church leaders must concern themselves with the fundamentals of organizational funding, stability and sustainability.

Let me sum it up by saying this: More Money. More Ministry. No Money. No Ministry.

That's the brutal facts.

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October 14, 2008

Anne Jackson talks about tithing

Anne Jackson, blog celebrity and author, talks about a very negative experience she had while on church staff regarding the subject of tithing.

Below is my response. I'd welcome your comments too.

You have uncovered a powerful paradox. Churches are the only God-ordained institution designed to continue and sustain the earthly ministry of Christ until his ultimate return. Churches are also non-profit organizations who are exponentially becoming more complex in structure and needs as the demands from members and communities are becoming more complex.

I've summed up my work with churches in this area into a simple phrase: "More Money. More Ministry." It's essential the we begin bringing a level of sophistication to Church as an organization to ensure that it's fully-funded and sustainable over time. Like it or not, this takes money. So the burden falls upon the church leaders (aka "non-profit managers") to ensure long-term sustainability. Our secular and religious non-profit brothers and sisters have been doing this for a long time. It's time the church steps up to do the same.

It sounds like the conversation you had while on a particular church staff was very inappropriate and most likely is the result of the wrong person being in the wrong position (or at least given the wrong task and strategy). However, that doesn't discount the reality that church leaders should be modeling the behavior that they expect from the membership. It's sounds like you were the victim of poor communication habits.

As church members are becoming less convinced the their tithe should be entirely allocated to the Church, it becomes the Church's responsibility to justify why the tithe should be given completely to the church. They "you-should-give-to-the-church-just-because argument" no longer works--if it ever did.

Thanks for the dialog on the essential subjects of stewardship and church giving!

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October 13, 2008

Exploring the impact of American Idol on church giving

"Participatory Philanthropy" may be the next revolution in charitable giving. TripAdvisor.com is asking the public to decide which cause the company should support.

Here is how the program works: TripAdvisor.com is offering five options for the public to choose how the $1 million dollar pledge will be divided. Polls close on a certain date, and then the results will determine how the money is spent and which organizations/causes are supported.

I wonder what this might look like in church. What if the initial budget presentation to the church body signaled the opening of the "polls" where members could pledge their monetary gifts for the specific ministries they want to to support? Then after a certain period, the "polls" would close and the results tallied. The end result would be any ministry that was significantly underfunded would be cut from the budget.

This works for American Idol which is arguably the most successful talent-seeking competition in history. It has also produced multiple pop stars who have been and continue to be very successful.

The dark side of the process is that sometimes, even the talented get cut. This would also have to be considered within the church setting. It may mean the a long-standing ministry might end up so underfunded that it would also be subject to the proverbial axe.

The appeal for me (even as a church leader) is that it puts the power back in the people in the pew - the ones who are giving the dollars to fund the budget. And people tend to be more committed and give more when they have a say in how their donations are used.

Given the precedent of undesignated giving within church settings, would an "American Idol" approach to giving work?

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October 10, 2008

Church givers expect ministry to continue in hard times

Some consumers do purchase products from vendors who support certain causes according to a recent article from The Chronicle of Philanthropy. The research cited evidence that when consumers had an option and the vendor demonstrated a link between their product and a greater human cause, the consumer was most likely to choose that product over other options.

Here's what caught my attention. More than a quarter of participants in this study expected the companies who produce the products they buy as a result of their demonstrated link to a greater human cause to continue to give at current levels if not increase their level of giving during these tough economic times.

This made me think about the church. As some churches are projecting their collections to be less than what they had originally budgeted - particularly for the 4th quarter - it seems prudent to evaluate any necessary cuts through the eyes of the church giver and not simply the business administrator.

If the general public is more likely to purchase a product because of its link to a cause they feel is important or connect to on an emotional level, why would we expect the people in our pews to be any different?

People give to church because they feel connected to and support its ministry causes. If in midst of necessary expense cuts the programs or ministries the church giver feels important are cut, this could unintentionally sever the emotional connection that inititated the giving in the first place.

Churches who wish to maintain the financial integrity of their operations must evaluate every decision from two vantage points: the impact of the economy and how essential the program or mininstry is to the larger vision of the church. (One might add that if a ministry or program is determined as non-essential and cut and is never missed, perhaps it wasn't a good investment in the first place.)

Expense cuts seem to be the first solution proposed when contributions take a dip. But church's run a dangerous risk in the midst of making those decisions of cutting program or ministries that the people in the pew see as essential. (The perception of the person in the pew matters more than church leaders wish to admit at times.)

Expense cuts provide an immediate, short-term solution. Loosing the ministry connection with the person in the pew in an attempt to provide an immediate solution may actually create a new long-term problem.

"It's not just about picking a cause off the shelf and saying this is what we stand for," said Ms. DaSilva. Marketers need to show a clear connection between an issue and a product. Companies, she said, should ask themselves, "What are we doing that is authentic, real, and relevant to connect with consumers on an emotional and practical level?"

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October 2, 2008

Sam Rainer points to financial optimism in the church

Sam Rainer blogs about church giving and the economy today on Church Forward--a topic we've covered consistently. His observations points to the reality that most churches are still very confident that they will meet or exceed their budgets in 2008. And some go as far as expecting and meeting growth in ministry budgets for 2009.

It reminds of an important giving statistic I came across earlier this year. Church giving - per capita - was actually higher during the Great Depression than it has been for the last 50 years.

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October 1, 2008

Connecting philanthropic behavior to church giving habits

The Univeristy of Pennsylvania's Center for High Impact Philanthropy recently published a report analyzing the habits and implications of high net worth philanthropists. Four conclusions emerged: practices are changing; peers are the most trusted source for information, high net worth philanthroposts often find it difficult to make informed, need-based giving decisions; most find themselves frustrated with a lack of information available regarding the impact of the organizations to whom they donate.

A few of the questions were featured and discussed in the report.

1. How important is it to touch/see/interact with the people or organizations you are giving to?
The response rated very important.

2. How important is a role other than check writer?

The response rated very important.

3. How important is it to know someone on the Board or from your peer group that recommends the issue or oganization?

The response rated important and slightly behind that was very important.

4. How important is impact data for gifts?

The response rated very important. (Note: The response was measured both before initial gift and repeat gift.)

So what relevance does this have for church giving? Here is what jumps out at me:

1. No matter the size of the gift or the wealth of the donor, people don't just write checks. Donors have a deep desire to get involved with the organization they are prepared to financially support.
This supports my theory that giving is an outward sign of an inward commitment.

2. Donors pay attention to what other people say and think. As objective and rational people claim or aspire to be, we are emotionally driven beings that make decisions based upon who we know, like and trust. The same is true for donors.

This supports my theory that it's important for church leaders to tell stories. Stories involve people. And people give to people - not organizations.

3. Donors, whether they are giving their last two pennies or out of their vast treasure chest, want results.

This supports my theory that the organizational leader who is best able to make a case as to the impact of the dollar will end up with the most dollars.

Bottom line is this: Get your people involved. Help your people become personally invested in your ministry. Provide measurable results. Then watch your giving increase.

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April 30, 2008

Planned giving for church, Conclusion

I thought the Eleven Commandments for Planned Giving in the Local Church was a very creative way to present the concepts we've briefly discussed over the past few posts.

It's easy to forget about the future when you're simply trying to manage today. And even though the concepts of long-term sustainability are unlikely to become a new concentration of any Masters of Divinity degree program, it doesn't remove our responsibility to ensure the long-term viability of the churches that we have been called to serve.

Just as we expect financial planners to increase our net worth over time, so do our churches need our assistance in doing the same. And for what purpose you might ask? Perhaps the greatest of all: to ensure the work of the Church continues as God intended until Christ's return.

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April 28, 2008

Planned giving for churches, Part 3

Let's assume that you've been thinking about how to begin implementing a planned giving strategy in your church. What's the next step?

I believe there are four critical steps to making planned giving work in your church.

1. Communicate with your church. I know this sounds like a basic concept. Sometimes it's easy to forget that we must involve the church in our decision making. Even though you've presumably spent hours thinking and planning a planned giving strategy, you need to allow time for your congregation to process this concept too. (Remember, the giving part of "planned giving" will be ultimately determined by your congregation.)

2. Get support from key influencers. You know who they are. (If you don't, then you're in trouble.) Spend time cultivating the support of those who can help you influence the church body. Church members need to hear an idea validated from the pulpit and from their peers in the pew. Use this dynamic to your advantage. Meet with these people one on one or in a special leadership meeting.

3. Involve the subject of planned giving in your education plan. Hold seminars or informational meetings throughout the year. Designate one Sunday every year to focus on the need to sustain the ministry of the church beyond today. Place informational flyers in the church foyer. Include the concept in your New Member class materials. Whatever you do, find ways to educate your members over time. Any planned giving strategy will take time, but the rewards are well-worth the effort.

4. Tell your story...over and over again. Every church has a story, a history of events and human interaction over time. Knowing that people give to organizations they are emotionally connected to, it's vital that we find ways for people to experience your church emotionally. And there is no greater tool in communication to convey emotions than the gift of story. This can come in the form of written or verbal testimonials, special services celebrating the past, present and future of the church or even visual displays in the Welcome Center. Legacy decisions are built upon the context of our collective past and our understanding of our individual role in the present. Never underestimate the power of story.

I'm sure there are other critical steps that I have not identified above. The most important legacy that we can leave as church leaders is our ability to provide for the future and continue ministry of the churches we serve beyond our seasons of service.

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April 24, 2008

Planned giving for churches, Part 2

We've discussed planned giving and related subjects on the blog in the past. I'd like to give you the opportunity to review some of the related posts that have been the most popular. I think they will help contribute to our current conversation on the role planned giving plays within life and ministry of every church.

New Day Emphasis includes Estate Tithing
A Christian View of Financial Planning
To give of to serve: that is the question
Philanthrocorp
Investing for eternity

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April 22, 2008

Planned giving for churches, Part 1

Each week I receive a report from Google Analytics that tells me lots of information about the visitor activity on this blog. One piece of information that I'm always interested in is what are the "keywords" that people type into search engines that lead them to this blog.

One subject that keeps rising to the top is planned giving. Since more than 50% of the people who visit our blog for the first time find it organically by searching for specific phrases or words, it tells me that churches and church leaders are beginning to understand the need to see beyond today. Or at least we can be confident that it's a subject more and more are wanting to explore.

I think most churches are comfortable meeting the immediate needs of today. But we have to realize that the cost of doing ministry is increasing just like everything else. That means it will cost more in the future to do the same ministry we are doing today. Thus, the need for planned giving becomes even more important if we hope to achieve any level of sustainability moving forward.

That being the case, I'd like to take the opportunity to open the dialog on the subject to understand why this isn't a more familiar subject to church leaders and how can planned giving benefit every church.

Let's begin with trying to understand why church leaders are reluctant to think about long term sustainability of the church as an organization through planned giving. John Foster and Derek Davis write in Planned Giving for Church: The Last Frontier?:

Unfortunately, part of the blame for this planned giving blind spot rests with clergy and their stewardship committees. While ministers may think about spiritual matters in the framework of eternity, they are often more comfortable asking for money that will be used immediately to relieve human needs ─ and letting providence provide for the long term. They were not trained to be fund-raisers or tax-planners, and are reluctant to preach about topics with which they're not familiar.

The assumption behind this statement is that church leaders are responsible for the long term spiritual and financial viability of the churches they serve. Do you agree with that assumption? Has your opinion changed since seminary? If so, why?

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