Archives For Stewardship

Top Ten Resons Churches Should Offer E-Giving Methods

June 27, 2011 — Leave a comment

Why should a church offer a variety of giving methods including e-giving, online giving, and giving kiosks?

Because…

  1. We are passionate about seeing people come to know Jesus and experience His best for their life.  The more people who can financially partner with us, the more lives we have the potential to impact.
  2. What we do as a church we want to do with excellence. That includes our services, kids’ ministry, outreach; and that also includes giving.  The bottom line is that businesses like banks have understood the value of offering a variety of tools.  Of course we are not a bank, but it could be argued that churches have a more important mission than banks.
  3. The methods of currency exchange evolve of time. We observe throughout history how people have moved away from offerings of animals, grain, goods, or minerals.  Now we’ve moved away from cash and checks. For instance, 80% of US households are now utilizing electronic direct deposits, online banking, and or other online transactions.                                                                                                                         Continue Reading…
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Improve Your Church’s Website – Online Giving

June 9, 2011 — Leave a comment

[This post is part of a series on Free and Simple Ways to Improve Your Church’s Website]

Almost 80% of churches have a website, but only about 15% of American Protestant churches offer online giving.  However, 80% of US households are utilizing electronic direct deposits, online banking, and or other online transactions.  Additionally recent studies demonstrate that online donors are more generous than their offline counterparts.  It makes me wonder why many churches are lagging way behind industries like banking when it comes to giving features, usability, and accessibility.  Overall, there is a lot of room for churches to improve their website by improving their online giving.

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Investing In God’s Kingdom Like It’s Yours

April 27, 2011 — Leave a comment

Do you invest in God’s Kingdom like you invest in yours? Really the ideal mindset is a one kingdom mindset, where you understand everything comes from God and is God’s. But this little test might help us see if we have that singular mindset or if we really do have two kingdom’s – ours and God’s.

Many pastors and Christians have a good understanding of finances, savings, and planning for retirement.  Rightfully so, we are getting and giving a lot of good financial advice, and many of us have growing 401k or 403b accounts.  And here’s the typical approach we take with these accounts:

1.  Our investment is consistent – we invest every time we get paid.

2. Our investment is first – it normally comes directly and immediately out of the check.

3.  It is measured – we have chosen a percentage in advance that is based on a strategy.

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Planning a Capital Campaign

April 4, 2011 — 2 Comments

I love strategic thinking.  In fact, when you combine that with my competitiveness then you have a dangerous mix for a “Settlers of Catan” game.  Last week, David Messner and myself took the time to map out a campaign that is launching this fall. It was so much fun to see the ideas all charted out and arranged.  (This go around we decided to go old school with paper and markers instead of using mind mapping software)

One of my favorite parts of working with churches is taking the big picture and breaking it down smaller action steps.  This morning I was meeting with Kregg Hood, Senior Vice President of Stewardship and Loans here at AG Financial, and we were noting how there are easily over 100 action steps leading up to the launch of a campaign.  And that doesn’t even include the follow-up phase.  Sometimes a vision can be overwhelming, but when you get it all on paper then people can begin to see how, with God’s help, this might actually happen.    So what are some things to consider when planning a capital campaign?  Here are some things I would suggest:

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