God is able to meet all of your church’s needs according to his riches in glory. He’s the one who multiplies the church’s resources to accomplish his mission through every season. We believe that your people want to know how to most effectively give toward Great Commission advance in and through your local church. We also believe they are more likely to give regularly and sacrificially when they know how to give and how their gifts are making a difference.
Perhaps before COVID-19 your only method for giving was passing an offering plate during Sunday morning worship services, but now you have been forced to find new ways to make giving available to your people. The thriving congregation of tomorrow will offer multiple avenues for effective giving to God in and through the local church.
Meeting Current Needs
Do we have multiple methods for giving in place, and are our people aware of them?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR TEAM-BASED EVALUATION & PLANNING:
- Our giving is keeping pace with budget right now:
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- 1—2—3—4—5
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- We have made multiple methods available for giving, such as text-in giving, online giving, mail-in giving, and drop box giving:
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- 1—2—3—4—5
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- Our people are well informed of the various methods for giving to and through our church:
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- 1—2—3—4—5
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- There is appropriate accountability in place for all methods of in-person and online giving:
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- 1—2—3—4—5
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- The congregation is appropriately informed of the church’s financial condition:
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- 1—2—3—4—5
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Review your answers to determine key areas of strength as well as those areas that need additional growth. Your responses may change week to week as you ramp up your regather phases, so it would be wise to revisit these questions often. Be sure to check out some of the resources linked below as well as on the sbtexas.com/covid19 site. In addition, email the SBTC staff who stands ready to assist any church that needs help or encouragement.
Assessing Developing Trends
Are we noticing any emerging concerns or opportunities related to giving?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR TEAM-BASED EVALUATION & PLANNING:
- What percentage of our weekly receipts is coming in from each method (mail-in, online, text, drop box, etc.)?
- What age groups are responding best to each giving method?
- Are we receiving consistent praises or complaints about one particular giving method?
- When are people making online contributions? During services when prompted? A specific day/time of the week? A specific day of the month?
- What percentage of our church membership is regularly giving?
Planning Future Opportunities
How will we effectively communicate the various methods for giving in the future, keeping that information before the people without coming across as needy or overbearing?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR TEAM-BASED EVALUATION & PLANNING:
- Which new giving methods will we retain in the future and which will we eliminate?
- Will we continue to make a weekly appeal for giving to those who may be joining the service online?
- How can we target certain age groups with giving methods that are most popular within their demographic?
- How and when will we communicate that the regular, sacrificial giving of the church membership is making a big difference in our Great Commission strategy?
Strategize the Path Forward:
- Start by listing all giving methods at your disposal, ranked in the order of their demonstrated effectiveness in your context.
- Are there any giving methods you will discontinue or add in the future?
- Who is responsible for development and communication of giving methods?
- What specific measures of accountability will we put in place for each method?
- Set a specific date with your team in the next 3 months to discuss and reevaluate.
other toolkit sections
