Let’s face it, income for a church can be tough.  If you’re like most pastors, there’s often a shortage of money at the end of the month. 

We can also agree that income for your church is one of those things you have very little control over. Your church is completely dependent on the generosity of the donors and people that call your church home. 

So, are we supposed to just throw up our hands in despair? 
 
Absolutely not. Here are five ways to encourage generosity in your church: 

1. Make giving and generosity part of your DNA  

Churches have a bad rep when it comes to giving.  Unfortunately, too many pastors have taken advantage of people and preyed upon the donations of their congregations. We still have churches that preach a false narrative of the prosperity gospel, health and wealth, or “name it and claim it” (none of which can be backed by scripture). 

As a pastor, in some cases, you have to overcome past experiences, perceptions or generalizations; but you also need to share that generosity is part of spiritual development. 

To encourage generosity in your ministry, you need to make giving part of your DNA. Preach about it regularly, talk about it openly and candidly, let people know that to be part of the church is to be part of a movement of generosity. 

When people see that the church is genuine, that it is a good steward, and that things are happening as a result of people being generous with their giving, a snowball effect will occur, and people will be more likely to get onboard. 

2. Share stories about what can be done when the church is funded to do ministry  

One way to get that snowball moving is to tell stories about what the church has been able to do because people were generous.  Use real stories, from real people.   

My Giving = Ministry Happening

Now, you don’t have to share specific numbers or tell people how much people were giving, but explain how ministry was able to get done because of the generosity of others. 

Share stories about tangible life change that occurred that was only possible because the church had the resources available. Share about how many salvations, baptisms, marriages saved, etc. that were possible from your church. People need to equate that My Giving = Ministry Happening!  

This may also include sharing a story of how someone’s finances were impacted when they started to give.  Now, you must be careful here because you don’t want to give the impression to someone that their results will be the same just because of giving, but God has made it clear that he will bless faithfulness. 

3. Make the giving process simple and easy 

This step is more practical. If you’re not accepting electronic giving, you need to get that set up today.   

Many studies show that giving increases when online giving options are available and, let’s face it, most people don’t carry cash or their check book regularly. 

Did you know that we have a church online giving system called SimplifyGive?  The name explains it all – a simple way to give to your church. We support online giving via Debit, Credit and ACH, along with giving through web forms and text messages. 

Studies show that giving in churches that have online options increases by more than 30%. 

If you’re reaching a younger demographic (40 and under), you need to have electronic options available for people to be generous. 

Bonus Tip: when you have your offering time in your service, make sure to communicate that you have online giving available, and put the links up on the screen or make them available in the bulletin or worship guide. There will be people that pass the plate without putting anything in and that will be seen by others. If you call it out and say, “You’ll see some people not putting anything in the plate. That’s because they probably gave online, and we welcome you to do the same” 

That simple, non-invasive statement will go a long way to encourage giving. 

4. Show your gratefulness for the generosity of you donors  

It’s one thing to be thankful, and another to demonstrate it.  Of course you can say you’re thankful. But until you actually show someone your thankful for their generosity, it doesn’t matter. 

When was the last time you sent a thank you letter to a first-time donor? 

A simple letter or even email of gratitude to a first-time donor will go a long way.   

When you send out your donor statements, include a pastor’s letter with it to share your thankfulness, and also use that as an opportunity to share what was able to be done in that time period, because of generosity. 

Bonus Tip: Consider sending out semi-annual donor statements or even quarterly statements with a pastor’s letter.  With the SimplifyChurch Bookkeeping Portal, this process is simple and only takes a few minutes. 

When it comes to generosity, you can’t talk enough or make people aware enough about how thankful you are AND what their generosity does for the ministry. 

5. Cast a big vision and show your confidence in how you’ll get there 

Until you share the vision, people won’t know where you’re going. 

People will follow confident leadership and will “buy in” to a vision they can believe in. Everyone wants to be part of something bigger than themselves, and you can use that opportunity to bring people along. 

Sometimes that vision will seem out of reach.  And to be honest it should be. 

 Your job as pastor and leader is to cast a big vision, but then through leadership and direction, show people how that vision can be accomplished, and what part each person needs to play.   
 
What does this mean, practically? Let’s say you have a church that averages 100 people in attendance and a budget of $200,000 per year. Going into the next year, you know God is going to do some big things, and you want to project a budget of $230,000 for the next year.  That’s a 15% increase, which in church world is a pretty big jump. 

When you share the vision for the upcoming budget year, share the number. Acknowledge that it’s a bold step of faith and will take God’s provision to accomplish. Then break it down to show what that number means for each person in the church. 

A $30,000 increase in budget, is about $2,500/month. You may then mention that average churches only have about 20% of their active attendees as givers, which equates to an increase of $125/month for each giving unit. $2,500/(100 * 20%) 

From there, use this as an opportunity to share how each person can get involved. Maybe project out and encourage people that aren’t current givers to consider giving $125/month.   

Show them what this would like like if the number of givers increased by 10%.  Let’s say instead of 20 people, there were now 30 people giving, and all of them committed to start at or increase to $125. Do you realize that would mean your annual budget would actually increase to be closer to $250,000!  That’s even more than you projected, and it really wasn’t that difficult. $125 * 30 ppl = $3,750/month! That’s $15,000 more per year than you set as your dream goal. 

These five keys will greatly increase generosity in your church. While it may sound simple, these five keys are just the start. Encouraging generosity isn’t something you complete overnight, especially if the first key of making generosity part of your DNA isn’t happening. That shift needs to start and happen over a consistent time period. Once people see you’re committed to making it happen, they’ll jump onboard as well. 

Have you set up online giving for your church yet?

Even if you have a current online giving provider, you need to check out SimplifyGive.com. Our transaction rates are the most competitive and we give you everything for no monthly fee. No strings attached, no contracts, no hassle. We’re just here to serve.

P.S. We even give you text-to-give at no additional charge! Get Started With Online Giving Today!

I remember in my first pastoral position as I moved up the ranks in the church and first started reviewing the budget I was shocked when I received my first income report. I was shocked because it showed that less than 20% of our weekly attendance average had given anything in the monthly report.

Of course this had to be wrong so I ran back to the bookkeeper’s office and said there was something wrong with the report and something had to be missing or overlooked.

I’ll never forget the look on her face when she asked me to sit down in her office. (A bit of a backstory, the lady who was serving as the bookkeeper also used to work with the youth group when I was a rambunxious 17 year old so she held a motherly status for me)

She proceeded to tell me that the report wasn’t wrong and that was the reality of the church giving.

I was shocked.

I grew up in a Christian home where my dad from as soon as I received an allowance told me that tithing was part of church life. I’ll admit there probably could have been a more encouraging way to put that, but it worked for me.

Now, I’ll also admit that I can join the ranks of most church goers, I’d contend, that most struggle with this area of discipleship. The devil knows where he can grab a foot hold with me and tithing is definitely one of those areas where I can struggle.

So as pastors, how do we effectively share and encourage giving in churches. I’ve already written in a few areas where giving seems to be one of those taboo subjects most pastors want to scoot past quicker than messages on sex.

Here’s a quick idea on how to move people to take baby steps towards generosity.

I don’t remember who first introduced these steps so I cannot take credit for the originality, but they are also not earth shattering either. It’s a pretty simple idea and the stages are merely generalities and names I came up with.

The fact is the same, however, our goal as pastors should be to encourage people to move to the next step of giving. Here’s a quick explanation of each step.

Stage 1 – Tipper

This unfortunately is where a large number of people fall. If you’ve ever been the person walking up the aisles to pass the plate, these are the folks that grab a last minute amount of cash out of their wallet, fold it over 4 times and place it in the plate as incognito as possible.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with that except for the fact that it’s the epitome of poor theology and understanding of church.

For many of these people, their background or understanding of church giving puts it in the same boat as a charitable donation to a local community organization or the people that tie up traffic asking for money at the local four way stop in your home town.

Stage 2 – Giver

The next step shows a person moving up the chart when it comes to giving and discipleship. They now understand the purpose of giving back to God, but are not quite ready to fully commit. Generally speaking these will be younger Christians or people newer to church.

This will also be the people that have been around church a long time and still don’t quite fully understand or have never a true and accurate message about tithing. Further, they may have heard (possibly several times) and just haven’t quite brought themselves to the point where they are ready or trusting enough to jump in completely.

Their donation is consistent, but not a tithe (10% of income) that God has commanded. Perhaps it’s a budget issue, lack of funds, misplaced priorities or whatever, but either way, this group has the biggest potential to move to the next step.

Stage 3 – Tither

This group gets it. They are giving a true 10% tithe faithfully and consistently.

Now, before we continue pushing towards sainthood, let’s keep in mind that for many people, this act is still done begrudgingly. They give because they feel obligated. They’ve been shamed by previous churches, pastors or parents that you HAVE to give 10% back to God through the local church. While this group represents a big portion of your monthly income, keep in mind that many come to this step through legalism so there is still room for growth here.

Before we move on though, we must also mention that this group does contain some very faithful, sweet givers that faithfully are giving what they can, their tithe is given cheerfully and may represent a sacrifice on their part. Don’t let the few that tie themselves to legalism overshadow those faithful givers in this area that are truly experiencing the blessing of generosity.

Stage 4 – Generous Tither

The fourth group is the upper echelon of your tither group. These are the people that are going above and beyond their tithe to give. While this group will be small, it will also represent your most faithful church members, strongest supporters and most active participants.

Note: You will still have some here that are plagued by legalism, and these may also be some of the harshest critics in your church. Don’t let the few over-shadow the remainder that are a blessing to your ministry.

A Generous Tither understands that it’s all God’s to begin with and we are merely stewards of what He provides to us. They know that while God commands a tithe be brought to the storehouse, they are willing to go above and beyond to be generous to the ministry.

Their generosity in many ways will represent a sacrifice on their part in order to be generous, but they also experience the true blessing that comes with that sacrifice.

Stage 5 – Sacrificial Generosity

The final stage represents the smallest portion of givers. In fact, it is so small that you could possibly serve an entire ministry career without knowing one person that gets here.

Sacrificial Generosity completely flips the giving model upside down where the person no longer seeks God for how much to give, but rather, their question is asking how much they should keep.

These givers have come to a point of faithful dependence where they know that God will provide for all their needs and living out of complete faithfulness means that God will provide for them monetarily.

Here’s a challenge for you. Share these steps with your congregation and ask each person to self-identify what stage they are at.

Once they see where they know which stage they are at, challenge them to move to the next stage. Use this as part of your assimilation process as people become discipled through your ministry. As a pastor, encouraging people through faithful stewardship is part of the gig in discipleship.

What stages are you at yourself pastor?

Let me know your experiences with giving and these levels. Any words of encouragement you can share with other pastors that may be struggling with this topic in their church? Comment below.