During the Sunday offering, are you asking your congregation to “give money” or are you inviting them to participate in what God is doing in the world? Sadly, most stewardship efforts fail to inspire generosity, but United Methodist Church has suggestions on how to change that. (Photo: Gayle Nicholson, Creative Commons)
As the calendar year draws to a close, more and more giving appeals will reach mailboxes and inboxes. How can your appeal overcome the giving fatigue that accompanies the increase in appeals? “People are more willing to give when they see generosity as part of who they are,” says Dr. Summer Allen. Here are 10 […]
“Human generosity, far from being a thin veneer of cultural conditioning atop a Machiavellian core, may turn out to be a bedrock feature of human nature,” concluded UC-Santa Barbara psychologists in a recent study. Writing in Scientific American, author Maria Konnikova cites research supporting that it is more blessed to give than to receive. (Photo: Asenat29, Creative Commons)
You can give away almost anything — your time, money, food, ideas. In this hour, stories from TED speakers who are “giving it away” in new and surprising ways, and the things that happen in return. Their insights into a new world of giving offer important lessons for church leaders. Check out especially Dan Pallotta’s segment. (Photo: Stephen Dann, Creative Commons)
Even if you’ve heard some of these tips before, this list of 16 great ideas from Diocese of Ottawa, Anglican Church of Canada, is worth printing out and giving to every member of your finance and stewardship team! Which can you implement immediately? (Photo: Jared Jarvis, Creative Commons)
Overwhelmed by all the choices out there in congregational online giving? Who isn’t? ChurchBuzz’s updated online giving guide provides simple how-to advice and tips for congregations that want to jump into the area. (Photo: Ged Carroll, Creative Commons)
Author and stewardship coach Ben Stroup suggests 10 reasons people may not be giving to your church. A changing climate of church giving compels leaders to trade in the view from the pulpit for the one from the pew. He provides hopeful exercise for realigning your vision and communicating with congregants about giving and generosity. (Brayden McLean, Creative Commons)
Churches need money for ministry, but the needs of congregations today outpace the will of people to give, especially given the generational differences between “the great generation” and baby boomers, and then between baby boomers and millennials. As traditional funding sources are maxed out, There is one asset that nearly all churches possess—land. Why not look into a land-use policy that can help finance ministry? (Photo: Alejandro Rdguez, Creative Commons)
Electronic giving is the preferred method of giving for a majority of church members, according to a recent study. In other settings, people have developed habits of giving that rely on e-giving methods. Many of our congregations, however, haven’t yet responded to these changes, says Luther Seminary’s Adam J. Copeland.
If generosity is how we honor and express human value, than any act of kindness counts in the bigger picture. We can all be kind. We can all be generous. This is one of the key teachings of all the world’s religions. So we decided to look into our databases of quotes collected from our reading and see what teachers of our times and earlier ones have said about the spiritual practice of generosity. Read this assortment of quotes and observations, share them, and make them a part of your own development. (Photo: Bert Haymans, Creative Commons)
