Transcript Developing a Strong Stewardship System

Developing a
Strong Stewardship
System
Goal:
To develop and
cultivate first-time
giver into lifetime
stewards and generous
donor.
“For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be
also.”
Luke 12:34
Myth:
The unchurched don’t want to
hear about money.
Truth:
Unchurched people are not
afraid to talk about money.
Only Christians will have a
problem with money issues.
Focus for this seminar:
MONEY!
If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a
couple of car payments... Anonymous
Every day I get up and look through the Forbes list of the
richest people in America. If I'm not there, I go to work...
Robert Orben
Money can't buy friends, but you can get a better class of
enemy... Spike Mulligan
Money can't buy you happiness but it does bring you a
more pleasant form of misery... Spike Mulligan
I made my money the old fashioned way. I was very nice to
a wealthy relative right before he died... Forbes
Focus of this Seminar
1. Regular church giving.
-
Not about Building campaign
Not about Fund raising campaign
2. Stewardship as discipleship.
-
This is a full-on discipleship issue
- Never seen a disciple who isn’t a giver”... Randy Alcorn
3. Being a fully resourced church.
- Ministry is expensive!
- How do we set appropriate budget?
- Every dollar you need to do ministry is in the pockets of
-
your people.
Satan wants to keep money issues in the dark.
We can talk about everything in
the church but money!
• Major assumption
– It is impossible to become a fully developed
follower of Jesus unless you become a fully
developed steward of personal resources.
• Minor Assumptions
– Our members are poorly trained on issues of
financial stewardship. Most don’t get ideas from
church.
– There is a difference between stewardship and
donor development. (Not a campaign!)
What is A Stewardship System?
Begins when an identified person gives a
first-time gift and seeks to move them in a
three-step process.
First-time
giver
Regular
Giver
Step #1
Tither
Step #2
Extravagant
Giver
Step #3
Clarification
• Not everyone moves at the same pace.
• Many will move through these steps
rapidly, others will not.
• People will move in and out of the
process.
• Definitions of these steps will vary
from church to church. Set your own
numbers.
5 Types of Givers
1.Non-givers - High percentage of
attendees
- Don’t give because they haven’t
been told Why.
2. First-time
3.Regular / Systematic Givers
4.Tither - proportionate givers
5.Extravagant Givers - Goes beyond the
tithe. (Every Christian should move here)
Step # 0
Cultivating First-time givers?
First-time givers are recognized an
identifiable gift is given.
– If you are not using offering
envelopes you will never be able to
intentionally move people through
the giving process.
– Don’t be ashamed of building
intentionality.
Education is key!
• Preach on it at least four-times a year.
– Two important times of the year.
a. Jan - Budgeting and debt
b. Sept - Managing money
•
Short personal testimonies about giving.
– Find good givers and let them share
– Find those who have found peace through giving
•
Giving challenges at least twice a year.
– Challenge first-time givers
– Challenge regular givers to give at another level.
•
Provide ongoing resources
– getting out of debt CD’s and etc...
•
Create a giving brochure
Help people know that the
church is supported by its
members.
Life change happens through everyone’s
giving.
- Baptisms, Salvations, Community
outreach.
- Giving is about life-change not stuff!
- Celebrate the purchase of things as a
way to enhance life-change.
Educate people on multiple
options for giving.
• Weekend Worship - Don’t “Take” offering.
“Give” offering. - (70% give this way)
– Envelopes in bulletin every week.
• On-line - (Paypal)
• Send giving envelopes home.
– Make envelope self addressed/stamped.
– Many will take it home and put it in their bill
stack and pay it when they pay monthly bills.
• Automatic bank drafts
Why Multiple ways?
1. Cultivate new givers
2.Give options to those who
forget to give at weekend
service
3.Help those who are gone for
extended periods of times.
Check giving records every
week!
• It’s your responsibility to know.
• It may help you find potential
problems with regular attendees.
• Helps you adjust monthly
budgets.
• Allows you to track giving with
topics and seasons of the year.
First-time Follow-up
• Follow-up with every firt-time giver.
– Send a thank you letter and another envelope to
give again.
• Explain what you money did. (Cast Vision!)
• By wednesday of every week.
– Email to givers
– Thank you packet
•
•
•
•
•
Letter
Auto-debit form
Financial teaching CD.
giving envelope
postcard on present teaching series.
On-going follow-up
• Quarterly giving statements
– Thank you letter - With Vision
– Postcard on present series
– Financial CD
– Auto-debit enroll form.
– Giving envelope
• Giving encouragement letter to all those
who haven’t given lately.
Step #1
Cultivating Regular Givers
• Educate - Give tools and understanding.
On the first day of every week, each one of you
should set aside a sum of money in keeping with
his income, saving it up, so that when I come no
collections will have to be made... 1 Cor 16:2
• Utilize an annual giving challenge. (2 to 3 month challenge)
– Put a commitment card in the bulletin
– Follow-up with those who accept the challenge
– Layer the challenge to help people move in the
process.
• Provide one stewardship small group each year.
– Good Sense
– Crown Ministry
– David Ramsey
– Randy Alcorn
• For every person involved involved in a giving
small group giving will increase by $1000 per year.
• Use membership class to support the importance of
giving.
• Use a membership covenant that includes giving. (Don’t be shy!)
• Regularly remind people of the importance of
giving.
• Monthly Newsletters about good things
going on in the church.
• Thank everyone for being generous.
• Annual Budget meeting. Vision Cast.
• Look for those who are stepping up to a
higher level of giving and send out a
personal letter to thank them for their
generosity.
Step #2
Cultivating Tithers
• If you get the first-time system in place, this
comes natural.
• Educate regular givers why they need to
tithe.
– Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my
house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not
throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that
Mal 3:1o
– Tithing is an act of worship. (Full tithe! Don’t teach
you will not have room enough for it...
tithing through increments or steps.)
• Challenge attendees to test God by tithing.
– Consider that no one really knows what to do.
Leadership Issues
• People won’t do what your staff doesn’t do.
• If staff isn’t giving, they shouldn’t be staff
members.
• Teach your staff on tithing
• Hold every staff member accountable.
• Pastors, if you can’t be a good steward of your
own money, you can’t raise up good stewards.
– Become a theological expert on giving.
– Decide to family finances under control.
– Decide to hold staff and family accountable to bring
whole tithe.
– Make annual progress toward becoming E.G.
Step # 3
Cultivating Extravagant Givers
• Move people to give sacrificially on a regular
basis.
• Teach that the tithe is a minimum.
– Tithes go to the church
– Offerings are above the tithe to other opportunities.
• Do an annual special offering. (Christmas offering)
• Do one-on-one vision casting with extravagant
givers. Throw an annual dinner for top givers
in church.
• Don’t be afraid to cast vision with big donors.
Continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 3:8
“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be
arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain,
but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with
everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be
rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.
19In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm
foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the
life that is truly life.” 1 Tim 6:17-19
“But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in
knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us see
that you also excel in this grace of giving.” 2 Cor 8:7