Yesterday we discussed how important it is to ‘Talk About Giving’ to your congregants. Today, for rule #2 our focus will be on helping your congregants become regular givers. What are the tools and resources we can employ to help disciple and grow the generosity of our churches? Let’s find out in Rule #2 – GIVE REGULARLY. Check out rules #1 and #3 in our other blog posts.
Rule #2: Give Regularly
Giving should be a regular, standard process. Churches, just like individuals budget off income and although there may be some variables in this planning process, typically a church can look backward to look forward. Therefore, it only makes sense to budget and plan on the pretense that regular, steady income will project the same this year as it was last year. (although we are all hoping for a raise!) Teach your givers that the church builds and delivers ministry off the regularity of its giving members. Individuals who give consistently are the backbone of the church and scripture encourages believer’s in this very direction. 1 Corinthians 16:2 “On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with His income.” The church needs to teach to give first, and regularly; each time income is received.
Here are a few strategies for helping your congregants move from sporadic to recurring giving patterns:
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- Ensure online giving engages your congregant and inspires them to make a scheduled commitment. We recommend Vision2 for a comprehensive online and offline giving solution that integrates with your ChMS, accounting, and MortarStone systems.
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- Inform your congregants. In most cases, lack of regular giving is linked to lack of knowledge. Make it a point to tell your congregants, every week and in all communications, how they can schedule regular giving.
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- Access, Analyze and Act. At MortarStone, we like to say, “what gets measured, gets managed.” By accessing giving reports, you can see which congregants are perfect for a recurring giving schedule. Drill-down to the household level using your MortarStone dashboard and access how to best communicate with these unique givers.
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