Creating a Culture of Generosity

H E L P I N G L E A D E R S B E C O M E B E T T E R S T E W A R D S

Presented by

eChurchGiving amp Pushpay

Creating a Culture of Generosity

CHURCH EXECUTIVE bull C R E AT I N G A C U LT U R E O F G E N E R O S I T Y2 churchexecutivecom

C R E AT I N G A C U LT U R E O F G E N E R O S I T Y bull CHURCH EXECUTIVE 3churchexecutivecom

Table of ContentsCHRONOLOGICALLY INCORRECT A NEW APPROACH TO ENGAGING FIRST-TIME GIVERS 4

I recently conducted a small Facebook test Survey participants were asked to answer three questions about giving Herersquos what I foundbull 96 of people consider themselves to be generousbull 80 of those same people want to be more generous than

they currently arebull 92 feel held back by a lack of money

These findings represent a strange tension between who we are who we want to be and our perceived lack that stands in the way

By Derek Gillette

THE TENSION BETWEEN TECHNOLOGY AND FAITH 6

A few months ago we wrote an article ldquoHow Pastors Can Lead Their Church to Greater Year-End Givingrdquo One of the readerrsquos comments stuck out to me

The title of this article shows the sad state of many churches today hellip I want to vomit when I see articles like this

Yes the tension between technology and faith is very real

By Derek Gillette

PROOF THAT ADDING MOBILE GIVING WONrsquoT INCREASE YOUR CHURCHrsquoS BUDGET 8

It seems like everywhere you turn therersquos another article or conference session being conducted around the importance of online and mobile giving for churches These articles advise about the need to relate to the next generation and use the technology people are already using on a regular basis

But how well does this giving technology actually work And is it worth the time and money to implement

By Derek Gillette

ONLY 42 OF CHURCHES ACCEPT ONLINE DONATIONS mdash NEW SURVEY RESULTS 10

Perhaps more startling though is that of those churches who do offer a digital option they only see 11 percent to 13 percent of their total contributions come through that method on average

To better understand these numbers and what churches can do to improve upon them I jumped on a call with Rick Dunham president and CEO of Dunham + Company

By Derek Gillette

3 MYTHS PASTORS BELIEVE ABOUT CHURCH GIVING TECHNOLOGY 12

After working with and surveying more than 1000 churches we identified an amazing correlation between giving technology and church generosity The problem was not so much with the passion as it was with the system Using these conversations with pastors and our own survey data wersquove compiled three myths that many believe about church giving technology

By Chris Heaslip

7 BEST PRACTICES FOR REACHING YOUR CHURCHrsquoS BUDGET GOALS 14

As I read the Puget Sound Business Journal a few months ago I stumbled across an article titled ldquo7 ways to make a real connection and realize a real return on that sponsorshiprdquo The author made seven points about how corporate non-profit sponsors can motivate their employees to form a deeper bond with the cause theyrsquore supporting

I found the advice to be spot-on so I decided to ldquostealrdquo his seven points and rewrite them specifically for churches

By Derek Gillette

KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR INBOX FOR FUTURE INSTALLMENTS ON HOW TO CREATE A CULTURE OF GENEROSITY AS WELL RELEVANT SURVEY INSIGHTS


CREATING A CULTURE OF

GenerosityPresented by eChurchGiving amp Pushpay

Chronologically

A new approach to engaging first-time givers

I recently conducted a small Facebook test Survey participants were asked to answer three questions about giving Herersquos what I foundbull 96 of people consider themselves to be generousbull 80 of those same people want to be more

generous than they currently arebull 92 feel held back by a lack of money

These findings represent a strange tension between who we are who we want to be and our perceived

lack that stands in the way

By Derek Gillette


The relationship between our treasure and our heartFor those of us whorsquove grown up in the Church wersquore intimately

familiar with the instructions Jesus left us in regards to storing up our treasure But Irsquod like to offer a spin on the story

19 ldquoDo not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal 21 For where your treasure is there your heart will be alsordquo Matthew 619-21 NKJV

For where your treasure is hellip there your heart will be alsoWe think about this passage in chronological order If our hearts are

correct and in submission to Godrsquos will then we will be obedient with where we put our treasures

In response to this belief we craft sermons and campaigns around obedience teaching about how much we are supposed to give and that God rewards a giving heart

There is nothing wrong with this approach mdash but how well is it working

Problem engaging new and young givers Surveys show that 80 percent of church giving comes from 20 percent

of the congregationAnd in another study 80 percent of churches baptized less than two

young people a yearFinally in preparation for this article I spoke with Dustin Hite campus

pastor for Geist Christian Church in Indianapolis IN and he expressed this sentiment to me ldquoAs for connecting first-time folks guests thatrsquos a challenge my friends and I have constantly struggled with and still donrsquot have the answer tordquo

What if we switched the orderPerhaps itrsquos time for a new view of the order of the parable What if we

switched from trying to connect with the heart first to trying to remove the barriers to obedience

The original Greek text for the verse reads out in English like this ldquoWhere indeed is the treasure of you there will be also the heart of yourdquo The word ldquotreasurerdquo there speaks more towards a container than it does an object Itrsquos the greek word ldquotheacutesaurosrdquo which is the root of the English word ldquothesaurusrdquo meaning a storehouse for synonyms mdash and in this case for precious things

So when you read ldquotreasurerdquo replace it with ldquostorehouse for precious thingsrdquo Where your storehouse of precious things is there your heart will be also

Or in other words where you have chosen to put your money mdash and where yoursquove chosen to invest it mdash is where you heart will be stored and invested as well

A change on the insideWe know that something happens inside of us when we give something

of value away to a person in need Even if our heart is in completely the wrong spot and we have no intention of deeper relationship therersquos this connection thatrsquos created

This happens because we have taken our money (something of worth) and invested it into a storehouse In doing so wersquove brought along a small piece of our heart as well Now they are stored together in this safe place for precious things

Living in Seattle I see homeless individuals asking for money on a daily basis But when I think back on all of these encounters I canrsquot see any faces I donrsquot remember any of them except for one

I was at a softball game with some friends when a homeless woman approached us She asked for money and I was in a terrible mood I countered her offer with one of my own ldquoI donrsquot have any money for you but Irsquoll buy you a meal if yoursquore actually hungryrdquo I was thinking that this would send her along her way but instead she readily accepted

It was her I my sister and a friend of ours at Sharirsquos a 24-hour diner The homeless woman ordered a full breakfast meal and a chocolate shake and ate the entire thing quite quickly As I sat there I felt something strange Even though I wasnrsquot doing this out of generosity I felt my heart drawn to the outcomes of this woman I asked her where she was staying what her name was and told her that she was special and that Jesus loved her

And now probably 10 years later I still remember her face A piece of my heart is still stored up and invested in her outcomes

This happened not because my heart was in the right place to begin with but because there happened to be a Sharirsquos in the same parking lot and I happened to work there and it was an easy dismissal for me to make the offer The barriers to acting out in generosity were incredibly low Once I gave my heart quickly followed

The truth is that giving changed me even in just a small way for the better

Make the barriers as low as possibleThis brings us back to our original problem How do we engage and

connect with young and first-time givers in a way that builds a long-term relationship

The answer Create an emphasis within your teaching culture and operations around making that initial gift as easy as possible

Ask yourself these questions1 How easy is it for a church member to give for the first time 2 Can a young millennial member use his or her phone to give in 30

seconds or less3 Have you created an emphasis around giving for the first time making

the gift as easy as possible

As new members attend your church and decide if they will stay will there be a portion of their hearts that is stored up and invested with your church

Derek Gillette is Communications Manager for eChurchGiving wwwechurchgivingcom and Pushpay wwwPushpaycom in Seattle WA



Generosity

The tension between technology and faithTherersquos a tension that exists sometimes when you talk about the relationship between technology and the church



This commenter continued

When a congregation is walking with the Lord and the Holy Spirit is moving in peoples [sic] hearts and transforming them to be more like Christ you do not need to ever preach on giving or come up with gimmicks and ideas to increase peoples [sic] giving They will give because they are moved by the spirit to give


By Derek Gillette

Digging deeper

We wanted to dig more into the connection between faith relevance and technology So we put together a short three-question study We then administered this study to some of the 2500 attendees of the Nazarene M15 Conference held in Kansas City MO in February

Question 1 On a scale of 1-5 how relevant do you feel your church is to your local community

Church leaders as a group rated themselves a 35 out of 5 in terms of relevance This answer speaks to a feeling that their churches are planted firmly in the middle between relevance and being out of touch Many of the pastors made comments to the effect of ldquoWersquore close but wersquore just not quite there yetrdquo

Question 2 On a scale of 1-5 how big of a role do you feel technology plays in staying relevant

When we asked specifically about the role of technology 78 percent of church leaders said they believe it plays a crucial or very important role in staying relevant

Question 3 What holds you back from being more relevant and effective in your local community time money technology or people catching the vision

For this final question we wanted to force church leaders to choose one of four potential lacks We know that this is a bit of an impossible question since they all play a part not surprisingly many pastors wanted to select all of the above However when forced to select one 67 percent of church leaders chose people catching the vision And an underwhelming 5 percent chose technology as their primary lack


What does this tell usWhile technology will never replace the

importance of catching the vision it plays a crucial role in helping churches stay relevant

Keeping this in mind it starts to make sense why some would feel so negative about promoting giving techniques and technology Technology mdash in place of a heart and vision connection mdash is never an acceptable substitute In fact when responding to our original commenter this is what I said

Whatrsquos been really cool for [Pushpay] is to see churches who partner with us and after going live see the amount of new givers increase by as much as 33 percent Thatrsquos huge

Now were these people not obedient before or was their heart not in the right place or were they spiritually lacking Irsquom not sure how to answer that but I do know that they are giving faithfully now and the church as a whole is benefitting

How to preserve the balanceWhen we talk to churches about giving technology we use the phrase

ldquoUnlocking Generosityrdquo This refers back to a statistic we mentioned in the first part [ httpchurchexecutivecomarchiveschronologically-incorrect ] of our Creating a Culture of Generosity series 80 percent of people want to be more generous than they currently are but 92 percent feel held back by a lack of money

The desire to be generous exists itrsquos just waiting to be unlocked I like to use the analogy of working out We all know we need to do it

Most of us want to do it But the act of signing up for a gym membership and then driving there multiple times a week mdash itrsquos something that very few of us do consistently However if a gym existed next door to my house and a personal trainer was the re waiting for me working out would become a lot more of a regular habit

Some people mdash probably 20 percent of us mdash will exercise consistently no matter the circumstances For the remaining 80 percent we might exercise from time to time but getting that extra boost is whatrsquos needed to develop a healthy and regular routine

We work hard to help churches engage those 80 percent of non-regular

Church leaders as a group rated themselves a 35 out of 5 in terms of relevance This answer speaks to a feeling that their churches are planted firmly in the middle between relevance and being out of touch Many of the pastors made comments

to the effect of ldquoWersquore close but wersquore just not quite there yetrdquo

givers In doing so we know that the technology is just a tool to make the process easier resulting in an outcome that gets us all excited a changed heart and healthy habits that help transform us to be more like Christ




Generosity

Proof that adding mobile giving wonrsquot increase your churchrsquos budgetA few months ago I sat down for coffee with a young executive pastor He was technologically savvy ambitious and full of positivity as his church had seen triple-digit growth in the last few years

As soon as the topic of church software came up his countenance changed

By Derek Gillette

ldquoWe tried this church database company but no one used it so we dropped itrdquo the XP told me ldquoThen we tried this accounting software and it was a lot harder to implement than they told us so wersquore switchingrdquo

His point Itrsquos safer to do nothing than to risk making the wrong decision

Information overload



To get some data behind this we partnered with Church Executive and put together a giving survey that asked pastors to disclose if their giving had gone up or down in the last quarter which giving methods they used and how concerned they were about their churchrsquos giving levels

Surprisingly we found almost no correlation between increased giving and offering a mobile way for people to give

Let me walk you through what we did find


Of the 150 or so churches we surveyed 32 offer giving through a mobile app Their answers paralleled those of churches without a mobile giving optionbull 96 of those with mobile giving said their giving last quarter increased or stayed

the same Those without mobile giving reported a 92 increase bull 56 of those with mobile giving said they were concerned or very concerned

with their current giving levels compared to 68 concern by those who did not bull Among those with mobile giving 70 admitted that less than 30 of their total

contributions came through online or mobile methods

These results make it very clear Simply adding a mobile giving option to your church does not guarantee an increase in giving or a reduction in worry

So whatrsquos the answer Why do some churches see dramatic giving increases when adding a

mobile option while others see no changeTo better understand this we personally reviewed the digital giving of each

of the 48 churches in our survey After visiting each churchrsquos website mdash and trying to give to each church as a first-time giver mdash we foundbull 21 offered giving through multiple vendorsbull 53 required a login to givebull Only 15 showed a text-to-give option on the giving page

And the most shocking discovery Of the 48 churches that said they offered giving through a mobile app only 9 showed a mobile option on the giving page

Well-learned lessons

Based on this data and after consulting with thousands of churches to implement successful mobile giving we advise that your church heed the following tenets before implementing mobile giving

3 common mistakes

1) Clicking on ldquogivingrdquo takes people straight to the giving form with no context or instructions Besides just being impersonal this practice doesnrsquot afford first-time givers any context about your churchrsquos beliefs the security of its online giving or even how to give for the first time Frederick Church of the Brethren (Frederick MD) offers a great example of how a giving page should look and read httpfcobnetgiving

2) Including a lengthy fill-out form on the ldquoguestrdquo giving page We know the importance of reducing barriers at church and online giving should be no different Donrsquot expect first-time givers to fill out lengthy forms that take more than three minutes to complete

3) Asking people to sign up for ACH by printing a form and returning it to the church Expecting this is not only incredibly insecure but also time-consuming

3 best practices

1) Having one digital giving vendor that offers multiple giving options Using a different vendor for each giving option creates confusion mdash not only for givers but also for your bookkeeper Find a vendor that offers all-in-one giving through text mobile online and ACH

2) Not requiring login or account creation for first-time givers Remove barriers by only asking for minimal information to make that

first gift email address name phone number (optional) amount fund and credit card information Anything else is too much3) Having a clear strategy around growing three things ACH recurring

gifts and first-time givers This is the final but most important best practice To accomplish it be sure to partner with a vendor that offers education talking

points and instructional videos and uses a system that encourages recurring gifts Ask about these things when doing your research

Derek Gillette is Communications Manager for eChurchGiving httpwwwechurchgivingcom and Pushpay httpspushpaycom in Seattle WA

churchexecutivecom



Generosity

Only 42 of churchesaccept online donations ndash new survey resultsAn interview with Rick Dunham president and CEO of Dunham + Company

By Derek Gillette

This stat was one of the eye-opening revelations uncovered by Dunham + Company in their latest church survey [ wwwdunhamandcompanycom201504study-shows-churches-lag-behind-in-facilitating-online-giving ]



Q What made you want to commission this studyWe do quite a bit of work in the faith-based sector including churches

and we wanted to get an objective feel about where the Church is in facilitating online giving The movement to online giving is very customer-driven and churches need to respond to changing consumer behavior which favors a mobile-centered solution for just about everything

Q Why do you think the 42-percent number is so lowThis number was shockingly low for us I expected to see it closer to 60

percent But honestly therersquos a big gap between large and small churches in the study Only 29 percent of smaller churches (less than 200 in weekly attendance) allow for online giving while 70 percent of larger churches provide the option

Q What are the major barriers for churches especially those with fewer than 200 membersPeople are becoming more and more comfortable with online

transactions both social and commerce The barrier for churches is simply the time and resources required to execute on this change in consumer behavior When as a church yoursquove had a tried-and-true method for years itrsquos hard to want to change that overnight

Q Why do you think nonprofits have made the jump so much faster than churchesFunding sources Both churches and nonprofits rely on charitable

donations but the way in which people give to churches uses the weekly consistent in-person interactions Nonprofits donrsquot have the same amount of weekly contact so the need for facilitating giving from a distance is different Also direct response efforts (mailings and emails) are a significant source for donations for many nonprofits which means they have to create an online landing page to drive donations

Q The 11-percent-of-total-giving is so low Even with nonprofits itrsquos only 6 percent WhyYou must remember that the 6 percent and 11 percent numbers

are weighted averages Large donation options such as estate giving and planned giving skew the percentage down away from digital for nonprofits

Regardless these numbers are low for the Church Irsquom not sure what the best practice number would be but I did get an email in response to our survey from a gentleman who used to be in charge of online giving for his church They grew their digital giving to 30 percent So numbers like these are possible when a digital giving strategy is properly executed

churchexecutivecom

Q Based on this information what are three tips for churches looking to increase their digital giving above that 11-percent numberFirst the church website must be optimized to facilitate online giving

with as little friction as possible For the churches that currently donrsquot have such an option they need to create it For those that do they need to ensure itrsquos optimized Our online scorecard can provide that direction wwwdunhamandcompanycomonlinefundraisingscorecard

Mobile optimization is everything Transactions are increasingly done through a mobile device and just having an online form is not enough It needs to be mobile-friendly From start to finish make sure your digital giving process is easy to complete on a mobile device

What are you saying in the actual service itself This is the secret tip that many pastors donrsquot think about The best digital and traditional communication strategy will never take the place of that in-person appeal from the stage Make it clear how to give digitally with instructions on-screen And ensure yoursquore talking about the impact donations are making through the work of the church

Q How important is the difference between online and mobile giving optionsAs I mentioned above people prefer a mobile-friendly experience Text-

to-give and mobile giving apps such as Pushpay are great options and they need to be able to capture donor information along with receiving the gift This is crucial as it keeps donor records clean and makes it easy for the giver to donate again the next time As long as itrsquos promoted in the service once Irsquom set up Irsquom more likely to give again

Q What role do you think mobile-specific giving could playFor those churches not sure if digital giving is for them take a peek

around next time the giving portion of your service comes around Notice the people scrambling to pull out their wallets looking for a checkbook indicating theyrsquove not thought in advance about giving but theyrsquore still motivated to contribute Mobile giving puts a method in front of them which allows a spontaneous gift easily and simply

Q Whatrsquos the one practical step a church who is considering digital giving should take nextI recommend three things First make sure you have a simple online

giving form with the least friction possible including the number of fields login requirements etc

Then make sure itrsquos mobile-optimized meaning specifically formatted to be filled out on a phone or tablet

Finally make sure yoursquore effectively communicating that to your audience

Derek Gillette is the communications manager for Pushpay httpspushpaycom and eChurch httpechurchgivingcom Pushpay is the 10-second mobile giving solution Ninety-percent who download the app give with it 45 percent of gifts happen on days other than Sunday and the average gift size is $176 Continue the conversation with Gillette on Twitter httpstwittercomderekgilletteco

churchexecutivecom C R E AT I N G A C U LT U R E O F G E N E R O S I T Y bull CHURCH EXECUTIVE 11


myths pastors believe about church giving technologyBy Chris Heaslip


After working with and surveying more than 1000 churches we identified an amazing correlation between giving technology and church generosity The problem was not so much with the passion

as it was with the system Using these conversations with pastors and our own survey data wersquove compiled three myths that many believe about church giving technology Our hope with sharing these is that they might inspire you to have a conversation with your church team about your own giving practices

Myth 1 The cause can overcome the hurdlesAs much as we want to do the right thing there are many times when

we just donrsquot Itrsquos not for lack of desire itrsquos more about how easy the bad option was for us to take

As an example Irsquove known for years that I need to start eating healthier I think about it all the time I do the research But when Irsquom in the middle of a busy week I still find myself reaching for a Red Bull

I know that a healthy smoothie would achieve the same energy boost effect for me but making a smoothie is so much work I have to get out the blender find a knife cut the fruit portion things correctly mdash oh my goodness Irsquom getting tired just thinking about it

But if someone set a smoothie down in front of me would I drink it over a Red Bull Absolutely

The same principle applies to giving technology We can have the greatest cause in the world but if giving is too difficult most people wonrsquot make it all the way to the ldquosubmit paymentrdquo option

In fact our research shows that up to 85 percent of mobile users will abandon a donation if the giving process takes longer than 30 seconds For online forms with every click you lose 10 percent of your potential givers

How many seconds does your giving process take How many clicks are involved Do givers have to refill all the fields each time (name address credit card etc) or does your form pre-fill those

Increase generosity by removing the hurdles In other words put the smoothie down right in front of them

Myth 2 People are too scared to regularly send money using their phones

According to Pew Research 91 percent of the worldrsquos population has a cell phone Thatrsquos a crazy number And in the United States 56 percent of cell phone users have a smartphone with that number increasing exponentially as you look at Americans 34 and younger

MIT Technology Review recently reported ldquoSmartphones are spreading faster than any technology in human historyrdquo

How many in your congregation now use their phone or tablet in place of a paper Bible How many use their phone to check email immediately following the service Conducting a majority of our social and business interactions on mobile devices has become commonplace

Itrsquos time to stop viewing mobile devices as a distraction and instead look at them as an opportunity

We live in a society where we use mobile phones for a large portion of simple online transactions including purchasing music on iTunes funding projects on Kickstarter or giving by text to disaster relief causes

The fear of mobile payments is gone for most people instead it has moved to the far end of the spectrum where they prefer to use their phone simply because of the speed and ease

Does your church currently offer a mobile giving solution Can members contribute by text message

We even recommend visiting your own churchrsquos website on your phone and try to navigate through the giving process How many times did you have to pinch and zoom How frustrated did you get How much time did it take to enter in all those credit card numbers

Increase generosity by embracing the smartphone rather than avoiding it

Myth 3 Your administrative team can just ldquomake it workrdquoProbably the biggest mistake wersquove seen when working with churches

is the piece-by-piece approach They understand they need new giving technology so they go out and secure an online giving form

But then members of the congregation say how much they would love to be able to text and give So the church quickly secures a text vendor Great Right

While it might be great for the end user things are not always so rosy when we work our way back to the desks of the administrative team Decisions that are made piece by piece can often neglect the amount of work that is required on the backend

Not even the most dedicated and faithful bookkeeper (as hard as he or she tries) can keep these scattered databases accurate mdash let alone other important elements such as passwords and training documents

Chris Heaslip is CEO of Pushpay and eChurch Pushpay is the 10-second mobile giving solution Ninety-percent who download the app give with it 45 percent of gifts happen on days other than Sunday and the average gift size is $176 Continue the conversation with Heaslip on Twitter ChrisHeaslip

Imagine a church experience where the pastor stands before the congregation casting a vision Therersquos a family in need A building needs repairs A project requires a bit more funding All the things that your church loves to get behind because it makes a huge difference in the community

Giving information is shared on the screen in the form of a text-engagement code or custom URL and immediately members begin to donate through their phones in as little as 10 seconds As they walk out of the service they can donate at kiosks in the foyer where trained staff are present to answer any questions In addition when they arrive home they have the ability to give just as easily whenever they are inspired during the week It could be as they walk the dog have their morning devotions or attend a small group The process is simple easy to understand and uniform across all platforms

The best part is that administrators in real time can see donations and easily get information into your church database

Unfortunately an experience like this is still the exception rather than the norm

ldquoI know that a healthy smoothie would achieve the same energy boost effect for me [as a Red Bull] but making a smoothie is so much work I have to get out the blender find a knife cut the fruit portion things correctly mdash oh my goodness Irsquom getting tired just thinking about it


The same principle applies to giving technologyrdquo


best practices for reaching your churchrsquos budget goals By Derek Gillette

Irsquom an avid fan of stealing other peoplersquos content and making it my own This is how great artists make their living Find something amazing get inspired and then repurpose the work and make it your own To take a piece of Scripture slightly out of context ldquoThere are no new ideas under the sunrdquo (Eccl 19)

As I read the Puget Sound Business Journal a few months ago mdash in print I might add mdash I stumbled across an article titled ldquo7 ways to make a real connection and realize a real return on that sponsorshiprdquo The author Adam Worchester made seven points about how corporate non-profit sponsors can motivate their employees to form a deeper bond with the cause theyrsquore supporting

I found the advice to be spot-on so I decided to ldquostealrdquo Worchesterrsquos seven points and rewrite them specifically for churches What follows are the seven best practices for reaching your churchrsquos budget goals


1 Invest more than moneyWersquove found that giving often is the first act a person will take once he

or she has decided theyrsquore ready to be more involved in your church How easy is it to use a mobile phone and give to your church for the first time And then how is your church making a dedicated effort to view this first gift as a raised hand

Lay out the logical next step for a person to go deeper Perhaps itrsquos a small group volunteering opportunity or just a shared meal coffee with the pastor

2 Develop a visionNon-profit groups implicitly understand the importance of casting

a vision Rather than relying on obedience they paint a picture and tell a story

In fact keeping the impact front-and-center is now a best practice used by many companies mdash and churches can do the same It involves recognizing a need in the world understanding that money is required to meet the need and finding a model to simultaneously create funding and address it

3 Stay in touchI like to call this category ldquothe First 100 Daysrdquo When someone

gives for the first time what do the next 100 days look like for that individual What follow-up protocols are in place Is there an automated email workflow Does it trigger a phone call from a member of your leadership team

According to fundraising experts Pursuant first-time donors who get a personal thank-you within 48 hours are four times more likely to give a second gift

4 Review performanceWe all know that one of the toughest things to create in church is

consistent participation especially for volunteer events The same could be said for raising money to support special campaigns mdash a building fund new ministry support or a large missionrsquos fundraising night for example

Does your church have a mandatory review process after such events are completed What worked and what didnrsquot What did people get most excited about What feedback was collected and how do we incorporate that for next time Church databases can help you track this information

5 Review prioritiesPerhaps your church for 20 years has operated a Tuesday morning

homeless ministry But three years ago the person who had the heart for the program left the church Is this ministry still something your church is passionate about running

Asking these honest and hard questions from time to time keeps your church on track and in-sync with the heart of your congregation This also keeps your church innovating rather than falling stagnant

We applied this principle to our own giving software recently launching a feature called Fastpay which cuts the giving time down from 10 seconds to five To learn more visit youtubecomwatchv=myRKmD1KMuoampfeature=youtube

6 Analyze spendingWorchester queries in the original article ldquoIs your sponsorship money

being used in the most efficient waysrdquo This is an important question churches need to operate with the same introspection

How much are we paying for donation-processing How time-consuming is our weekly reconciliation Is it eating up staff resources which could be spent in other ways Also how many contributions are we losing by not giving people an easy way to give from their mobile phones (Seriously you guys mdash this is a huge one)

7 Be creativeThere are three values younger-generation donors look for

transparency authenticity and social justice What creative ways has your church tapped into those sentiments

Has your pastor talked from the stage about the personal causes he or she supports

Do you give updates on the impact of the money thatrsquos been given to date Are you using technology mdash such as the eChurch app mdash to send push

notifications about current needs

Donrsquot be afraid to step outside the box and create an opportunity for conversation to happen

Derek Gillette is the communications manager for Pushpay [ httpspushpaycom ] and eChurch [ httpechurchgivingcom ] the 10-second mobile giving solution Ninety-percent who download the app give with it 45 percent of gifts happen on days other than Sunday and the average gift size is $176 Continue the conversation with Gillette on Twitter httpstwittercomderekgilletteco

ldquoWhen someone gives for the first time what do the next 100 days look like for that

individual What follow-up protocols are in place Is there an automated email workflow Does it trigger a phone call from a member of

your leadership teamrdquo







By Derek Gillette





By Derek Gillette




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Chronologically






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Generosity







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3 common mistakes




3 best practices







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3 common mistakes




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Generosity


By Derek Gillette















churchexecutivecom



























































































































Generosity







By Derek Gillette

Digging deeper


























Generosity



By Derek Gillette





















3 common mistakes




3 best practices







churchexecutivecom



Generosity


By Derek Gillette















churchexecutivecom

























































































Generosity







By Derek Gillette

Digging deeper


























Generosity



By Derek Gillette





















3 common mistakes




3 best practices







churchexecutivecom



Generosity


By Derek Gillette















churchexecutivecom









































































































Generosity



By Derek Gillette





















3 common mistakes




3 best practices







churchexecutivecom



Generosity


By Derek Gillette















churchexecutivecom

























































































Generosity



By Derek Gillette





















3 common mistakes




3 best practices







churchexecutivecom



Generosity


By Derek Gillette















churchexecutivecom



































































































3 common mistakes




3 best practices







churchexecutivecom



Generosity


By Derek Gillette















churchexecutivecom

























































































Generosity


By Derek Gillette















churchexecutivecom




























































































































































































































































































































































































Documents

Creating a Culture of Generosity