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Stewardship Practices

Stewardship Practices. Introductory Comments. Why people give (from Clif Christopher “Not Your Parents’ Offering Plate”) A belief in the mission Regard for the staff leadership Fiscal stability of the organization Three pockets from which people give Regular income Accumulated assets

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Stewardship Practices

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  1. StewardshipPractices

  2. Introductory Comments • Why people give (from Clif Christopher “Not Your Parents’ Offering Plate”) • A belief in the mission • Regard for the staff leadership • Fiscal stability of the organization • Three pockets from which people give • Regular income • Accumulated assets • Estate giving

  3. Introductory Comments • Why people give (results from a Luther Seminary research project) • I am grateful for what God has given me (92.3%) • I know that my giving will make a difference in people’s lives (86.7%) • I belong to a congregation and I want to do my part (84.2%)

  4. Introductory Comments • All “asks” for giving should focus on the need of the giver to give, not the need of the church to receive • Don’t use a budget to ask people to give • Don’t talk about “the church is a business” • Don’t talk about the monthly bills • Focus on the Bible • Focus on the mission

  5. Giving • Regular Giving • Capital Appeals • Endowments

  6. Regular giving (usually from regular income) • Annual stewardship response program • Several weeks in length • Focus on scripture and the mission of the congregation • Leads to an ask for growth – (personalized?) • Resources that are available • Pledging • How it can help the giver • How it can help the congregation • What are trends that you are seeing? • Which comes first, pledging or budgeting?

  7. New Consecration Sunday www.augsburgfortress.org Walk with Jesus http://resources.elca.org/ Giving Magazine www.stewardshipresources.org/ Make It Simple www.elca.org/Growing-In-Faith/Discipleship/Stewardship/Make-it-Simple.aspx http://www.swpasynod.org/site/content/stewardship-resources

  8. Regular Giving • Is tithe a helpful word? • If so, how can it be communicated as a word of grace? • If not, how can we answer the question, “What is a generous gift?” • Multiple giving opportunities (for example, Mission of the Month)

  9. Regular Giving • “New” ways of giving • Are we asking people to conform to “our” ways? • Automatic withdrawal as a Biblical model of giving • On-line giving • Cell phone giving • Credit card/debit card giving • “Twenty and thirty somethings” don’t write checks, don’t carry cash, and are wary of long term commitments. What giving mechanics might help them give generously?

  10. Thanking • Thanking Everyone • With reports of giving • In worship • In newsletters/e-mails/other methods of communication • Thanking Individuals • Pastor intentionally thanks before worship • Pastor writes five thank you notes per week • Congregational thanker(s)

  11. Thanking • Lessons from Luther Seminary (and many other non-profits) • How Luther Seminary thanks donors • How much of this is transferable? • What are the possibilities of giver targeted thanking? • What are the dangers of giver targeted thanking?

  12. Tell • People need and deserve to know how their giving is making a difference in the world. • (…and you can bet that if they don’t know how their giving to your congregation is making a difference, they will be tempted to move their giving to someplace where they know how their giving is making a difference)

  13. Tell • The need to tell something many times using different media before the message is heard • The knowledge gap between leaders and others • Tell as you thank • Tie your telling to your mission • “Because of you…” • “Look what you’ve done now…”

  14. Telling the local story • To repeat myself – don’t assume too much knowledge • Temple Talks (short, sweet and well-rehearsed) are effective for this task • Connect telling, serving and giving • This might be the best place to engage younger members

  15. Telling the story of designated giving • Use the web and available print resources • Guest speakers/preachers • Mission trips?

  16. Telling the story of synod and churchwide www.ecsw.org/ www.elca.org/

  17. Stories of Faith in Action To order free copies of this publication plus shipping, call 800-638-3522, ext. 2580, or visit www.elca.org/resources and search for ELCAEO1001.

  18. How does your congregation talk about money when you aren’t asking for any?

  19. The importance of talking about money • Since God own everything and we are stewards of all that God has entrusted to our care, it stands to reason that God cares as much about what we “keep” as God cares about what we give away. • Since “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”, it stands to reason that both what we give and what we “keep” has the ability to take our heart with it.

  20. Some Resources • Money Leadership for Thriving Congregations http://www.elca.org/Growing-In-Faith/Discipleship/Stewardship.aspx

  21. Resources • More than Money Matters® https://www.thrivent.com/moneymatters/ • “Money Sanity Solutions: Linking Money + Meaning” by Nathan Dungan www.sharesavespend.com/

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