VANCO BLOG

We talk a lot about how e-Giving helps members keep their commitments to contribute tithes and offerings to their churches. But electronic giving options can help churches manage another key financial necessity: payments and fundraising for all the activities that happen every day in your church community.

We’ve talked a lot this year about how important it is to offer members choices in how they give to your church. Smartphones and the Internet have changed how we do so many things, including how we make charitable gifts.

A look back at our 10 most popular blogs of 2016 shows that many of you share our interest in that topic and how it relates to setting up your financial stewardship program. Here are the conversations we’ll remember and revisit in the New Year:

I’ve wanted to make a donation three times in the past two weeks, but only succeeded once — and that was because the church offered online giving. My gift was also more than double what it would have been if I’d only been able to give cash or write a check.

For the past four years, Giving Tuesday has followed the widely recognized post-Thanksgiving shopping days Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The day kicks off the giving season, when many people in the U.S. focus on holiday and year-end giving.

Many people give to their church because they want to make the world a better place to live. They want to know that their charitable giving is making a difference in the world, and believe that the work their church does in the community meets that goal for them.

That belief motivates almost 75 percent of churchgoers to give to their churches, according to research we did last year. In order to capture that generosity, churches have a lot of work to do to let their congregations know how their giving makes a difference.

Fewer people attend church and giving to churches isn’t keeping up with the overall growth in charitable giving. That’s why it’s so important for churches to focus on projects that can help grow their ministries.

Whether your church wants to grow its membership, increase stewardship or has some other project in mind, success depends on starting with a strong strategic plan.

Here are some things to remember when you’re creating that plan:

Faithpoint United Methodist Church is proud of its e-Giving success, and rightfully so. Almost three-fourths of its members give online and its overall revenue has increased since the church added e-Giving to its stewardship program.

How did Faithpoint, which opened in 2003, launch and grow its online giving so quickly? Senior pastor George Wasson points to three key drivers: culture, convenience and communication.

Knowing how your congregation prefers to give is just part of the generosity equation. You also need to know where their interests lie so that you’re asking them to volunteer their time, contribute money or take part in outreach programs in ways that are meaningful to them.

How often do we hear or say that God loves a cheerful giver? We know as church members that it’s important to give to fund the church’s ministry, and many of us draw satisfaction from making a gift. But as church leaders, is there more you can do to make giving to your church an experience that your congregation goes about cheerfully?

With Easter just over four weeks away, you’re planning for your best-attended services of the year. Since average church attendance is nearly 50 percent higher on Easter than any other time, your biggest concern may be crowd control. But here’s something else to think about at Easter and any time of year – are you making it easy for occasional churchgoers to give to your church?