My friend Ben Stroup known as domoreministry on Twitter got into a twitter rumble with Anne Jackson known as FlowerDust about celebrating big givers. They would not use the word rumble but rather a conversation. At any point there was a lot of back and forth. If you use Twitter you know that you can’t say much when you only have 140 characters per post.

To get the full impact of what started the back and forth you would need to read Anne’s blog post entitled “Celebrating Big Givers.” The upshot of her post was a reaction to churches that hold special events for large donors. In short her post objected to this practice. Ben weighed in with his experience and then the back and forth began. So, never one to be shy about my opinion here are some things to consider…

The church has always depended upon a few to give the majority of the dollars given. This will not change in the future. While there is a lot of hype about amassing smaller donations the truth is that small donations have always been with us and always will. They represent only a fraction of what any church or ministry receive. It is not to be taken for granted or discounted. However, without large donors the work of ministry would be seriously curtailed. In most churches 15% of those that attend give 90% of the dollars. In non-profit ministries it is not unusual for the percentage to be even smaller. We can cry about this all day long but as the old saying goes, “It is what it is!”

Segmenting your donors is not the same as segregating your donors. We are admonished in Scripture not to show favoritism to those with wealth. We don’t give them special seats or upfront parking. Extrapolating out the instances given in Anne Jackson’s blog as showing favoritism strains that application. I don’t get asked to sing in the choir of my church due to my inability to carry a tune. I am not offended by that.

Let me say that we always counsel our churches that any event where high end donors might be asked to attend be called a Leadership Event. We invite all who are in leadership despite what they give. We simply want those that can make a difference with their gift to be there. Our premise is that leaders should lead. Look at I Chronicles 29 for instance.

Those who do have high donor capacity feel, sense and respond differently to vision than others do. They have different sets of questions and concerns that need to be addressed. Barna has found that churches that segment their donors will raise significantly more dollars than those that do not. Paying attention to who gives and how best to maximize their potential is not a violation of Scripture but a wise stewardship strategy for achieving Kingdom results.

Most discussions like this are driven not by facts but by emotions. What was more interesting to me than even Anne’s blog post were the comments that followed. I must admit to some jealousy at seeing that many comments to a post. Yet some of those that commented did so not from any sense of truly understanding the issues but from emotion.

Stewardship is not just my job it is my calling and passion. While I disagreed with a lot of the blog’s premise and nearly all of the comments that were given I do love the fact that the conversation was being held. Too many never think about these issues. Ben and I have often commented to one another how few pay attention to this vital area. Ministries ignore stewardship to their own demise!

All gifts are to be celebrated! Let me say that I understand the passion of this blog and the comments that followed it. We counsel that you have to know how to value the widow’s mite more so than the large gift. However, we spend a great deal of time helping pastors know how to identify, approach and talk to high end donors in an appropriate manner. To succeed in meeting your budget needs this key group is crucial. In the times that we live in we need every gift. What all of us can do together is greater than what a few of us can do!

So, should you celebrate the big giver? Yes! However do so in a way that is appropriate. Should you not celebrate the small gift? No! Find ways to celebrate every gift. While it might take some of your time in the end a wise focus on all your donor segments will pay off in more dollars being raised. At the end of the day it is the fuel that keeps your ministry going. It is more than worth the time and effort.

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

If you would like to read Anne’s blog you can find it below

FlowerDust

Yesterday I preached at FBC Winder, GA. They are a client of mine and the pastor this summer asked if I could preach my sermon, “Recession Proof Your Life” before they voted on their annual budget. I readily agreed. Before the service I met a man who had been involved in various ministries, some of which I had been a part of. Yesterday afternoon he sent me a nice email that said, “I have been in ministry for 25+ years and that was one of the best “tithing sermons” I have every heard. As you know, when you step out on faith, you know who is in control! I appreciated what you said and the ending was very moving.” My neighbor from across the street came yesterday and also commented on the message telling me that it was positive in nature.

I wanted to share that not to build myself up but to give credence to the approach I took in sharing the message. Frankly, I did not think it was my best but I was honored they were ministered by it. What I think gave them such a positive view were some of the following points that I regularly follow when I preach on giving. See if your last sermon followed this path and if not try it the next time you preach.

The sermon was not about guilt but opportunity. Preaching that people are obligated to give rather than given an opportunity to give sets the wrong tone to begin with. While it is true that giving is not an option we have to work to show people how giving is in their best interest as well as in the interest of the church. In life we do not start babies on solid food but on milk. Sadly most of your listeners are babes still in terms of giving and you need to slowly bring them to maturity. Banging them over the head with Malachi 3:10 might get you thunderous Amens from the choir but it will not move those that are not giving to embrace your message.

Be positive rather than negative. Sermons on giving do not have to be a drag to listen to. If you set the mood right at the start you can gain the hearing of those that you are preaching to. A positive approach will always get better results than a negative one.

Show how giving can bring results to their lives. My title was enough to get people’s attention. I was frank with them that one way they could recession proof their lives was by putting God first. I then talked about the promise in Malachi 3:10 not the command.

Preach grace not legalism. While I read Malachi 3:10 I quickly admitted to them that many of them could not afford to tithe at this point in time. I think it does not glorify God when we ask our members to give us 10% but then they can not pay their light bill or their rent. I told my listeners that if they made a decision to begin giving what they could and worked towards a goal that God would honor that.

I once heard a minister talk about how wrong the graduated approach to tithing was. He said it was like a married man saying that he use to have ten girl friends and was now down to five and working his way to none. Pastor, get a clue! Your members will tune you out if you require that kind of legalism. Frankly, due to bad decisions most have put themselves in a place where they truly do not have 10% to give to anyone. Show them how to get out of debt first, manage their finances properly and then they can become life long donors. If however you stubbornly cling to preaching that they have to immediately start at 10% you will lose them and only increase their guilt and frustration.

Offer them help. If you truly want to develop generous givers in your church then you need to offer help. There are many programs out there that you can use in your church. Find one that fits your church and regularly offer that to your members. While it might take a year or two to get them up to speed it will pay off in the long run.

Teach stewardship regularly. The church does not talk about money too much. The church does not talk about money enough! It is not that we preach on giving too often that turns people off it is how we typically preach on the subject. Show your members what giving to your ministry accomplishes and how it can benefit their lives as well and they will put their money in your offering plate.

While I would not presume to say I am the expert on preaching on giving I have in thirty plus years of ministry learned a few things. Like many I have learned from my mistakes more than my successes. Take these thoughts and apply them to your next sermon on giving and see if it will not make a difference.

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

PS. The ending that the man emailed me about was indeed moving. I shared with the congregation that now that I am a business owner I know what recessions can do to your business. I shared about the pressures business people feel. I asked all those in the congregation that owned their own business to stand. I then asked people to gather around them and lay hands on them as I had a special prayer for them. It was indeed a powerful moment. You might consider doing the same thing in your church.

It has been estimated that Americans spend over $450 billion dollars a year on Christmas! Even during this recession Americans will still spend billions of dollars on gifts many which will never see the light of day. How many Christmas presents have you gotten that you never used? While it might sound like Scrooge, what a waste!

That was the lead paragraph to an end of year letter that I recently wrote for a client. In the next paragraph I wrote the following: “Consider what a gift to our church accomplishes. This past year we have been able to impact hundreds of people locally with the gospel message of hope. We have through our denomination touched the lives of thousands literally around the globe. Even during a recession with our area hit incredibly hard this church has stepped up and given to meet the needs of our vision. Truly when you give here at your church it is a gift that keeps on giving!”

I then followed these paragraphs with a positive challenge to end the year well with a gift to the church. This particular church wanted to have a special offering that ran through the month of December and culminated on December 27th. End of year appeals are great ways to close the gap in budget shortages or to meet additional needs. Here are some basics to consider as you write your end of year appeal.

Have the letter to your donors by Thanksgiving.

Make the letter positive upbeat and to the point.

Share specifics of why you are asking people to give. Just asking them to give for the sake of giving does not motivate the heart.

Make giving easy for them, include an envelope.

Always include a PS as studies show most people skim a letter but always read the PS.

Take the time to personally sign each letter. The more personal the delivery the more effective the letter!

These are just a few things that if implemented can make your letter more effective. If you think that Americans don’t have money to spend consider that “Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2″ sold $310 million dollars on its first day of release. A good end of year letter might just net you some of the money your donor base would other wise spend on ties, socks and worthless Christmas gifts this year. What have you to lose?

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

The nation’s largest charities anticipate that giving will decline in 2009 by a median of 9 percent according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy. They further state that the fund-raising outlook for 2010 is not much better. The question I have for you is how will you fare in 2009?

Before we explore more about how you will fare let’s talk about some other interesting findings of The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s study of the biggest 400 charities in America. Only 16 were religious groups. Some religious groups were listed in categories such as social services since that is their primary work. Even though few are primarily religious in nature we can still learn a lot from this report.

Here are some observations that I had after reading the report.

Not all charities saw a decline in their giving.

Some saw a decline in 2008 but are poised to see an increase in 2009.

Others that saw an increase in 2008 are seeing a decline in 2009.

The over all rank or size of a charity made little or no difference in out come.

6 of the 16 listed religious charities saw a decline.

Overall these 16 saw a decline of .6% from ‘08 to ‘07.

Here is what The Chronicle of Philanthropy said these top 400 charities were doing in response to the recession. “The biggest charities are stepping up their efforts to solicit individuals, trying to explain more clearly why they need money, focusing on donors who have stopped giving, experimenting with new methods of online fund raising, and putting more time and effort into securing planned gifts.”

My question is what are you going to do about the possible decline in giving in 2009 and 2010? From the quote above it is apparent that these top charities are not going to just hope things get better. They have devised a plan of action and are working that plan. What are your plans? How will you end these last few months on a positive note? How will you get the new year off to a positive start?

Another question I have for you is this, are you even thinking about this? Sadly I find that too few give any amount of time to their stewardship plans. Those that leave it up to hope are typically the first to experience declines in giving. So, start now, if you have not already, to make sure that you end on the best footing for 2009. Ending well will set you up to start well.

As always if you need help we are here to provide that help for a price you can afford.

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

Yesterday one of my clients emailed me the following question. He wrote, “I have a question for you. Someone just sent a pledge in the mail today for $4,000. They also sent the entire amount in as well. Should we acknowledge them in a letter of thanks? How should we thank them, and maybe encourage them to think of us next year as well?” This layman intuitively knew that his church needed to respond in some way. He is far ahead of most churches in America. Most churches make a deadly mistake of either ignoring donations or taking them for granted.

I wish my own church were a bit better at this. For three weeks I have been getting letters every Tuesday about my lack of a pledge to the annual budget. It is clear that on Monday’s someone in the office checked the list of those that had not pledged and cranked out another letter. It always came on Tuesday. My wife finally came home after being in Oklahoma tending to her ill mother and we put our pledge card in the offering plate on Sunday. Yesterday, the first Tuesday after putting our pledge in the plate, there was no mail from my church. To be fair maybe some acknowledgement will come in the next few days. However I can not help but wonder why the appeal letter was mailed on a Monday arriving at my house on Tuesday and nothing acknowledging our commitment came in the same timely way.

Churches are sometimes their own worst enemies when it comes to raising funds. The list of things they do wrong fills book after book. There are at least two major mistakes they make that I want to point out in this post in hopes that you and your church will avoid them. Making these mistakes can and will cost you thousands of dollars in support.

Deadly Mistake Number One: Taking donors for granted. Too many churches just assume that members will give. Of course your members are suppose to give. Of course it is a biblical requirement. Of course it is our obligation. You however should not take that for granted.

Thirty three years ago my wife married me. She loves me, faults, there are many, and all. As Christians we understand that we are obligated to love one another. Yet it would be a tragic mistake if I did not continually tell her I loved her and worked to show her by my actions that I love her. I assume she loves me. I will never take her love for granted.

When I was a Senior Pastor I had a man come to see me to explain why he and his wife were leaving our church. He had come to know Christ while listening to me preach one Sunday. I was stunned. His reasoning further stunned me when he said, “You never tell this congregation that you love us.” Of course I loved them! I had however made a cardinal error. I had assumed that they knew I loved them. Assumption is a nasty disease that will hurt you.

Lesson Number One: Don’t take your members donations for granted!

Deadly Mistake Number Two: Never saying thank you. Have you ever held a door open for someone and they never thanked you but simply breezed through like that was what you were suppose to do? How did it make you feel? It probably caused you to be slightly indignant. It might have even made you question ever holding open another door. If you never acknowledge the donations made by your members you give them the same mis-givings. Never saying thank you is much akin to taking donors for granted. Together they can combine to make a one two knock out punch to your ministry.

The other day I read a fundraising blog, I read about fifty a day, that gave the advice of personally writing to top donors. They talked about how in this rush to use technology that sometimes a personal touch can go a long ways. I have to confess that I do so much on a computer that I can hardly write by hand! However think about it. Do you still go to the mail box daily in hopes of something other than bills? How would your donors respond to a thank you note written by you? While you might not be able to do that for all your donors should you not find some way of saying thank you?

Think again about my illustration of opening the door for someone. When a person smiles at you and thanks you for your kindness how does that make you feel? It makes you feel like doing it again and again. So, why would it be any different to do this for your donors? You should develop multiple ways to thank your donors both publicly and privately. It could mean in the end thousands of dollars to your ministry.

Lesson Number Two: Continually thank your donors!

I wrote back to my client who asked about acknowledging the gift that it was indeed a good step to take. I told him that I would simply thank the donor and not mention future gifts. In thanking this donor for their gift that alone would pave the way for future gifts to come.

I wonder how many gifts are lost because we take for granted that people will give and then when they do give we never say thank you? Don’t make these mistakes in your ministry.

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

Yesterday the Stock Market drop a hundred points. It’s now off its brief climb above 10,000 points. One of the main causes of the decline was the surprising fact that consumer confidence dipped after rising for several months. Just when we thought the end was here many are now expressing doubts about a recovery. As I have written before, when there are doubts on Main Street in consumer confidence you can be guaranteed it will effect your offering plate.

We in the Christian church appear to be little different from the world in that we seem to long for the return of the “good old” days. We are waiting for the return to normal before we move forward. Each day as we hear more depressing and negative economic news we wonder what our next step should be? This recession will recover slowly and continue to impact us for many more months. So the question must be what will you do?

Here are some thoughts…

Have the right perspective. Our hope as believers is not in the economy or in Washington D.C. Our hope is in the risen Lord! This is not the first recession the church has gone through. We made it through those just fine and we will make it through this one. If a recession is the worst hardship we have to bear we are blessed indeed. Around the world other churches are faced with much greater difficulty. Your perspective impacts your attitude and that spreads down line through your leaders and to your people. Now is the greatest time to embrace the hope that we have as believers.

Adapt a plan of action. Too few churches have any plan of action when it comes to stewardship. You can not simply roll with the punches during times like these. It takes smart decisive action. What are you doing to meet this challenge? What plans do you have? How much time are you personally spending on this plan? Too many have no plan at all and are simply hoping things get better. Hope is not a strategy!

Work your plan. Casey Graham in his blog post the other day talked about his time with New Life Church in Little Rock, AR. That church has been listed as one of the fastest growing churches in the country. Casey listed several things they were doing right. The first one was, You never quit talking about money. That might surprise you. My new book on Stewardship Myths has a chapter that deals with the myth that the church talks too much about money. The truth is we do not talk about it enough. What is essential is how you talk about it.

My point here is that you not only have to have a plan you have to work your plan. It can not be a one time thing. It has to be a year round thing. You as the pastor must be in the plan and you have to work the plan. It is just as important to work your plan as it is to have a plan. A hammer in the tool box does you no good if you do not use it.

Frankly no one knows how these next few months will shake out. There is a lot of conjecture about what the donor world will look like after the recession is over. At this point you and I can not wait to find out the answers. Growing churches grow despite the circumstances. Yours can too. Stop putting off acting now to avoid problems tomorrow. Hoping things will get better will not solve your problems that are fast coming your way. Prepare now for the future. The future is now!

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

Soon after putting the finishing touches on my new book I began to think about the next one. It did not take long for me to get a germ of an idea. It came as I was on Twitter reading comments by those that I follow. A pastor of a large church at a conference was quoted as saying that if you are not on twitter you had better get another job! His assumption was that everyone was on Twitter and we have to be in the people business. In the past few months I have had a running debate with my fellow Twitterites about whether this new phenomenon is indeed going to dramatically change every thing including how we raise funds.

So, I set out to research and discover the current impact of Social Media upon raising funds. At the outset I have to admit a couple of things. One, I love Twitter and Facebook and am at heart a techie wanna be. No, I don’t have an iPhone as I am a Blackberry fanatic and a loyal Verizon customer. I do have an iTouch and when Apple decides to let Verizon in the iPhone family I will quickly switch over. So, I do think, even though I am past fifty, that I can run with the young turks on this technology stuff.

More importantly however I have to admit that I have a bias that Social Media though having some impact, will not fundamentally change the way funds are raised. My opinion is that particularly in the church the key to sustaining funding is raising up disciples not simply band wagon followers. In that regards Social Media will play only a small part in the over all picture.

With all that in mind here are some preliminary findings…

Social Media is too new to fully analyze. I want to be fair to Social Media and give it the benefit of the doubt. It is simply too new a tool at this point to know what its impact overall will be. When we discard one platform for the next new platform one year to the next it is hard to evaluate where this will all land. At this point there have been too few studies to support that this movement is the future of raising funds not only in the non-profit world but in the church. Repeatedly as you research and read about this movement you see the word potential used. It is simply too new and not fully developed to warrant final conclusions. However, nearly every study while showing growth in terms of numbers is showing that the amount raised overall is a small percentage total of a non-profits overall funding.

Social Media in terms of fund raising is more hype than reality. Apart from the Obama campaign Social Media disciples can point to very few success stories in using this tool to raise funds. When you closely examine even that example you find that its success was over blown. The Campaign Finance Institute found that “only 26% of his money came from donors whose total contributions aggregated to $200 or less. Obama’s 26% compares to 25% for George W. Bush in 2004, 20% for John Kerry in 2004, 21% for John McCain in 2008, 13% for Hillary Clinton in 2008, and 38% for Howard Dean in 2004.” They further stated, “Obama received about 80% more money from large donors (cumulative contributions of at least $1,000) than from small donors.” So Obama raised most of his money the old fashioned way, through larger donations that typically did not come through the Internet.

I have looked at example after example of what some would say is a successful use of Social Media and have found that they lag far far behind traditional methods. One book that I researched gave an example of a non-profit using Social Media to raise over $31K from its 1.5 million member online supporters. Do the math, that is 21 cents per member! Not impressive at all. My contention is that when you do the math the return on investment is so low that you have to wonder if its worth it at all? At this point Social Media as a new impact player in raising funds is a myth that is unsupportable by the facts.

Social Media’s strongest adherents, young adults, give typically far less than other age groups. While old guys like me are embracing these new tools, typically it is the world of the young that inhabit the space. As such the amount given is fractionally small. While some are touting that this generation is just as generous as the WWII generation facts as of yet do not support that claim. You can find a lot of examples of five dollar donations being text in on cell phones at some concert. However when you evaluate that on the whole it is a fraction of what could be raised and a mere smidgen of what this generation spends on other personal preferences items.

While using Social Media should not be discarded it must however be used correctly. Much will be made of the growth of this new tool. There are indications of its growth among non profits. I am not advocating that we not use this tool. I am simply saying that it is limited. The most effective use of the tool is as an entry point to further engagement. So, please understand that I do think you should have an online giving strategy. What I am saying is that you need to see it in context and use it appropriately.

Given the small return that even the best Social Media campaigns are seeing it is wise to keep that in mind in your overall stewardship plan. As effective as the Obama campaign was in using the Internet they would have failed if all their eggs were placed in that basket. You too must see Social Media as one aspect of your total approach. It may grow in the future but for now it is very limited. However some money is better than no money.

The future will look like the past. Some things will never change. It has always been true that a few give the majority of any churches funds. That will never change. It has always been the fear of one generation that the next would not step up. Each time the next generation does indeed step up. As in the past so in the future God will raise up stewards to fund His work. The process that has been the most effective down through the ages has been discipleship. True disciples are what funds your ministry. Major on what works and minor on what has potential and you will have better success.

My old boss John Maxwell teaches that you need to spend your time wisely in the areas of your strength not your weaknesses. He states that if you are a 4 in a certain area you might work hard to improve to a 6 but you would still not approach excellence. In the same way if you are a 7 in an area you might improve to a 9. Since you only have so much time focus your time on that which will bring the greatest return, your strengths.

My position is that the same should be true for your stewardship plan. Focus the majority of your time on that which promises the best results. While it might be cool and hip to use Social Media at this point putting all your eggs in this basket will cause you to miss thousands of dollars and you could face hard times. In the same vein totally dismissing this new tool could mean the loss of five or ten percent increase in your receipts. That might just help you make budget this coming year.

The bottom line whether you agree with this post or not is that you need a comprehensive stewardship plan to successfully navigate through these challenging times.

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

“The rules of engagement has changed. The principles of organizational and interpersonal communication will forever be changed.” Those words were written to me by a friend who had asked a question about what was next after Twitter? To me simply asking that question about a Social Networking site that is still relatively new is telling. There is no question that just in the last couple of years Social Networking has become all the rage and could change the rules of engagement.

While I love Twitter and Facebook it is my contention that we are too quickly jumping on this new band wagon and need a healthy dose of reality. I am not convinced that the rules have been changed as much as those that are embracing Social Media claim. As of yet there is little factual data to confirm a major shift in behavior Certainly from a stewardship stand point the confirmed data to this point is showing that a change has NOT occurred.

Here are some points that I think we should consider before we too quickly embrace new technology as our savior or the future of raising funds.

Social Media is not the first new medium to trumpet new rules of engagement. While it might show my age I can remember the rise of cable television and religious broadcasting. There was a time when those who embraced television saw that medium as a fundamental new way of engaging people. While some ministries did indeed raise significant funds through television few churches ever did. More significantly religious broadcasting has made a minimal impact in terms of evangelism. In the end the return on investment will be judged in my opinion as a poor Kingdom investment.

I base this observation from experience. The last church that I pastored spent thousands of dollars on establishing a cable channel in our town through our denominations network. While our presence in the community was heightened in the end there were few people that I can point to as having been brought into the Kingdom through all the programs and advertising that we did. I bought into the belief that having a media presence would transform our ministry but now must admit that the impact was minimal.

Change in the church comes slowly not quickly. While we are debating what is next after Twitter the church will still stand. Some times I wonder if we truly believe in the sovereignty of God. We are either poor students of history or ignorant of theology. Christ’s church marches on no matter what the current media platform is. While the church does change it changes slowly not swiftly. Some might see that as a negative however the flip side of that is that the Church throws out what is unproductive and adapts to what works. It is still way too early to tell what the impact of Social Media will be.

The few will always give the majority. This has always been the case and will always be the case. In part this is a result of discipleship. While we must continue to encourage the next generation the end result will be that only a few will truly embrace the responsibilities of discipleship. To believe that Social Media will some how be the tool to engage the next generation of donors is to totally miss history and minimalize God.

The key for future fund raising depends not on new tools but the tried and true method of making disciples. I am all for using new tools. However at the end of the day what has sustained the church through time has been solid discipleship not a dependence upon new approaches. If you truly want to make sure your ministry is funded for the future focus on what works, discipleship making.

My fear is that in chasing the newest online tools we will miss what really matters. True discipleship can not occur behind a computer screen or a smart phone any more than it could from your couch watching television. In our rush to embrace what is hip and new we are trading our birth right for a pot of stew.

Tell me, what has been the impact of our chase to be contemporary? Have we truly been reaching the lost better than before? Statistics do not bear out that we are. While some might claim some success the truth is that nationally we are no closer to winning our nation than before we began this contemporary journey. I fear the same will be true as we chase the Twitters of the world.

That’s my view. What is yours?

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

People remember beginnings and endings. Stephen Covey wrote his famous line about beginning with the end in mind. We are nearing the end of another calendar year. How is your ministry ending up financially? Did you know that the fourth quarter is traditionally one of the strongest for churches and non profits? My friend Ben Stroup posted an article yesterday from Blackbaud, a group that produces fund raising software, that showed how fourth quarter online giving surges far ahead of every other quarter. While that is true for online giving it is also true for giving in general.

The question is what are you going to do to boost your fourth quarter giving so that you can end well. Hopefully you began the year planning to end well and are working your stewardship plan. If however you are like 90% of the churches out there without a plan now is the time to implement a plan of action to capitalize on this crucial quarter.

If you have been a regular reader of this blog you will know that I often write about end of year appeals and how important they are. I believe they are one of the best and easiest ways a ministry can finish the year well IF done right. However as I read letters that come my way I find that most rather than helping a ministry actually do more damage. Two letters in particular come to mind that I want to share as lessons in how NOT to appeal to your donors. They demonstrate violating what I believe are two cardinal rules of an appeal letter, keep in positive and keep it on point.

First consider the letter I received from my church asking me to make a pledge to their annual budget. For your information my wife and I have been away from church for two weeks due to travel on my part and health concerns about her mom. In fact we have had little time to discuss much of anything but the urgent. So yesterday I received a letter from our church that in part said the following…

“This is the second of five letters sent to members and friends from whom we have yet to hear. Each mailing comes at a considerable cost to the Church, so your prompt consideration of the part you will play in meeting our financial goals in the coming year is very much appreciated.”

I can frankly tell you that that sentence was a real turn off. It is so uncharacteristic of the church we attend. Everything is done with excellence. Everything but the annual campaign. My first thought on reading the letter was who wrote this? The negative tone of the letter does nothing to motivate me to make a pledge. We will pledge after the two of us can pray and talk over what we believe God wants us to do. However at this point letters like this do not inspire excitement.

The lesson? Always be positive in your appeal!

The second example of how NOT to write an appeal letter came from a client who thankfully asked me to preview his letter. His letter, which was on the whole positive and good had the following paragraph…

“I want to encourage every single member of our church to consider what he or she might give to enable ministry to continue and even increase. A “community reaching” and “world impacting” church requires a God-sized budget. Perhaps you would consider giving for the very first time, if you have never given (always remember our money back guarantee–if tithing doesn’t work, you can have your money back)! Or, maybe, if you are already a faithful giver, you might consider increasing that amount. We always encourage our membership to “bring into the storehouse” (Malachi 3:10) a true tithe, which literally means “a tenth” or 10% of your income.”

So, what is wrong with encouraging people to tithe? Nothing except the letters intention is to generate a strong fourth quarter and was meant to be an end of year appeal letter. As such it violated the rule of being on point. It also carries a bit of negativity bringing up what is frankly hot button topic. I am for people tithing but you should never get off point and his point was to increase end of year giving.

The lesson? Always stay on point!

A simple outline for an end of year appeal letter.

I believe it is easy to write an affective end of year letter. If you are unsure how to do it just go to your mail box and look at how others ministries that write you weekly craft their letters! In case you don’t get any of that kind of mail here is my outline for a good appeal letter.

Paragraph One - Tell exciting things about what God is doing at your ministry. Thank them for helping make it happen.

Paragraph Two - State your need and why you are writing as positively as possible.

Paragraph Three - Tell them how they can give and make giving easy and simple.

Paragraph Four - Thank them for their support and tell them how honored you are to serve them.

While the above might be an over simplification it none the less should serve as a guideline for you to start. As I always do every year I will for free write you an end of year appeal letter if you will contact me. So, get out your pen and paper and start writing!

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

PS. The Charis Group will donate $100 to the best end of year letter sent to us. To qualify you simply have to print this post off and include it in the appeal letter so we can differentiate you from all the others we get. The letter must be at our address no later than Dec. 1st to qualify. This is the second year we have done this. Last year’s winner was Noonday Baptist Church.

My neighbor called me last night to ask me out to dinner. My wife is away caring for her mother and I must say I was not looking forward to another night of my cooking. My neighbor’s wife was out so the two of us went and got some manly food, pizza!

During dinner I asked about how things went this past Sunday at the church we both attend. I was out of town working with a church and had missed the services for the second week in a row. My neighbor said, “Well I enjoyed Sunday School but I have to admit that I just zoned out during the sermon which was on getting people to pledge to the annual budget.” He further stated that he hated this time of year at our church and that this Sunday he was thinking of getting his motorcycle and taking a trip anywhere just to get away. This comes from a committed long time member who has in fact already made his pledge once again.

Could that same thing be happening to you? Could your focus on stewardship however you do it be back firing on you? This is one reason why many pastors and church leaders shy away from talking about money or stewardship in church. They fear the back lash from members. The truth of the matter is that we are not talking about money too much in church we are talking about it too little. The problem is that when we do talk about it we often do so in a way that does more harm than good.

Preaching on stewardship is a necessity. Raising funds is not optional. How you do it is. In the process of researching for my new book on Social Media and fundraising in the church I am reading a book that I think has some thoughts for us in this regard. The book is called “People to People Fundraising.” One chapter talks about how the five laws of marketing can help us in raising funds. Those laws are:

1. Make it easy. Whatever you do in terms of raising funds you have to make it easy. Churches typically have an easier time of this as the weekly offering is an easy place to give. However in these days when more and more people travel, like me, giving your members a way to give when they are not there, i.e. online or direct mail, is essential. At the same time it should be easy to go to your church web site and donate. If you do not receive funds outside of the offering plate it might not only be a result of not having the right platform for that but also it is not easy. Make it easy and they will more likely give and keep on giving.

2. Make it fun. If we err in the church it is here. We too often stress the obligation side of giving and leave out the fun side of giving. I wrote a blog post recently about this called Stick or Carrot. The annual pledge drive does not have to be a drudgery. Work hard to make it fun and you will see a vast difference in the results.

3. Make it popular. In marketing this means creating “social proof.” Social proof is the powerful idea that if we think everyone else is acting a certain way, we are likely to act that way too. In stewardship the easiest way to do this is by allowing your lay people to tell their story about why they give and the blessings they have seen in return. Show your congregations that many others are committing to support the work of ministry and you will find others joining the team as well.

4. Reward your supporters. While we should never preach that if people give, God will give back incredible wealth to them, we should talk about the rewards to giving. It’s the carrot principle. Not only do we need to stress the blessings that flow from giving personally but show them the rewards corporately. I continually stress that what we need to do is trumpet our successes. Every win should be celebrated. Winning teams fill the seats and winning ministries get the funds. So, to the glory of God, blow the horn sounding your ministries wins as a result of the faithfulness of your donors.

5. Cultivate your growing circle. The authors of the chapter I am basing this blog on at this point had a great sentence when they talked about how doing the steps above would grow a circle of supporters. They said, “Do not forget to tend it!” They then said, “We believe that most donors stop giving to charity because of dissatisfaction with how they were treated by the charity rather than personal constraints such as financial problems. The poor service? Too much mail, no thank-you acknowledgments, and little information on how their money was spent.” Make sure you do not make those mistakes or you might find your circle diminishing.

My hope and prayer is that you will work to make stewardship a joy not a drudgery for your members. It is not something you have to endure. It can be something that blesses not only the church but your members. It all starts with the right attitude and a lot of creativity and care. The time you spend on this vital area will pay long term dividends for your ministry and in the end for you.

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group