Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” (KJV). The founder of INJOY Stewardship Solutions, John Maxwell, adds, “And where there are no resources, the vision perishes.” As is usually the case, John is right. As a result, many pastors and church leaders continually put in a lot of work to ensure their mission and vision are fully-funded.
This year-round effort includes money message series, offering talks, stewardship education, first-time giver systems, digital giving promotions, discipling high-capacity givers, and even conducting capital campaigns and special offerings. These systems are critical to your church’s ability to fund its mission and vision.
But, as important as these activities are, there is one system which plays a statistically disproportionate role in your church becoming fully-funded. Seasoned ministry leaders know what it is. It is called a Year-End Giving System. Here is why this system plays such an integral part of your church’s success:
December makes up only 8.5% of a calendar year but per this report from the easyTithe blog, we learn that the giving during those 31 days accounts for 30% of your church’s entire annual revenue. More importantly, the last three days of the year, December 29th through 31st, account for 10% of your yearly giving. Think about that, .8% of a calendar year yields 10% of its annual revenue!
Therefore, it is imperative that pastors and church leaders have a plan for maximizing year-end giving. Your ability to do so will enable you to deliver the life-changing ministry God has called your church to. Here are a few tips for raising as much money as possible with your Year-End Giving:
- Connect year-end giving to your church’s mission and vision. People give to life-change. Make sure people know that every dollar that goes into the top of their church’s ministry funnel will have a dollar of life-change coming from the bottom of the funnel.
- Create urgency. The beauty of year-end giving is that it contains a self-imposed deadline. Givers respond to critical needs when attached to time-sensitive deadlines. By connecting specific ministry initiatives to a specific timeline, the givers in your church will respond accordingly.
- Have a clear and compelling call to action. A lack of clarity in your messaging will result in a lack of resourcing for ministry. Say to your people, “This is what I would like you to do….” Year-End Giving is successful when you give a specific goal by a specific date with specific ways to give that will result in a specific impact in people’s lives.
- Make it easy to give. Continually remind your givers via text and email about the need to give by December 31st at 11:59PM. Include links in your messaging which lead them to give in as few clicks as possible. The less clicks, the more money you will raise. Conversely, the more clicks it takes a person to give, the less you will raise.
- Engage the non-members of your church. Let’s be honest, there are tax benefits even for non-believers who give year-end gifts to charitable organizations. Not only will there be tax benefits, but many non-members will give simply because of the personal satisfaction they will receive for helping serve those less fortunate than themselves. It simply makes them feel good to make a difference in someone’s life and be a solution to their problems.
- Be consistent in your messaging. Develop your year-end communication strategy prior to December. Create a documented communication calendar. Make sure your communications are time sensitive. Most importantly, remember to include messages of life-change in every communication.
Pastor and church leader, don’t miss the opportunity to maximize this unique time of generosity. To help you in this area, INJOY Stewardship Solutions has partnered with MinistryDeal.com to provide a special Year-End Giving resource. This year-end giving planning kit includes the following:
- Step-by-Step Guidance
- Time Sensitive Checklists
- Sample Video
- Sample Special-Offering Page
- Sample Emails
- Sample Texts
- Social Media Templates
You can purchase these done-for-you resources for only $29!!! The Year-End Offering Planning Kit will help you save time, relieve stress, be more strategic, and raise more dollars for more ministry.
There may be no more important coaching resource you purchase this year. 10% of your annual income may depend on it! Get this planning kit today by clicking HERE or on the images provided.