The Church and Money Part 6

This is the last post for this series. I wanted to end this series of posts with sharing some practical ways to create a culture of generosity in your church. As a matter of self-disclosure, I want to say that we do not practice all these ways at New Season yet. However, we are working to getting there. The list is not exhaustive.

Here are some practical ideas in no particular order:

• Send out quarterly giving statements letting folks know how much they gave and thanking them for their generosity. Be sure to tie their giving to how the church has been engaged in ministry to fulfill its mission and vision. Include in this mailing opportunities to give for specific items beyond general giving as some folks would like to give in this way as well. You might also consider doing a video update of how the church's giving has helped to live out the mission and vision of the church. This video can be posted on you tube and/or shown on a Sunday.

• When you have a sign up sheet- always have a place where persons can mark that they would like to support the event financially.

• Preach and teach about stewardship with a message series every year and in other ways throughout the year.

• Have some type of challenge once a year for folks to increase their generosity whether that is a traditional pledge card or some other more innovative way.

• Give persons the opportunity to impact the community by listing agencies and organizations in your community who need funds.

• Do a bless back program where you return the offering from the previous week to your church and ask them to bless others with it and tell the stories of what they did.

• Regularly have video testimonies as you take the offering of how persons giving has been used.