Most pastors don’t like talking about money. I believe they fear they’ll be labeled as caring too much about money and not enough about souls. Others may feel that if they talk about giving people will leave the church. Sometimes people will leave, but I would argue that you do your congregation a great disservice when you don’t talk about giving.

I wish I had a great giving story. You know one of those I was on the verge of bankruptcy but then I gave my last twenty dollars to God and everything began to fall into place.

Unfortunately, my giving story is rather boring. I just read what the Bible and Jesus had to say about being generous and decided I should be a generous person.

What qualifies as generous? Is it ten percent? The Bible seems to make a pretty good argument for it, but to simplify it I just asked myself, if I were to go out to dinner and leave a generous tip, what would that number be? Ten percent seems to be a good starting point.

Why am I trying to convince you? Most of you are pastors or church leaders. I’m sure you understand the concept of tithing, and you understand that for your church to survive, the people within your church have to give.

So, how can you make sure that happens? How can you make sure to increase giving all year long? Here are a few things you can do.

Daily

Practice generous giving in your daily life. Don’t expect your congregation to do something that you’re not willing to do yourself.

Pray for your congregation, not for them just to give but for the financial struggles and stresses many of them face on a week-to-week basis.

Weekly

Treat your offering time as a part of worship and not just an afterthought. Share scriptures, stories, and statistics on how giving is impacting your congregation, community, and world.

Send thank you cards to every first-time giver and those who give large gifts. If you’re worried about seeing what someone gives, have someone else give you the names and addresses without the amounts.

Monthly

Send a monthly newsletter to givers letting them know how their giving is impacting lives each week. Get started here.

Take a giver out for coffee or lunch. Show them you care about more than just their checkbook. You’ll be amazed at what you will learn in these conversations.

Quarterly

You are only required to send giving statements once a year, but many churches experience an increase in giving when they send quarterly statements.

Don’t just send the statement though. Make sure you attach a letter letting them know how their giving is making a difference. Do you see a theme emerging here?

Yearly

Throw a big end of year party and only invite those who give to your church. This is the perfect opportunity to let them know stats on salvations, baptisms, and, of course, tell stories.

Oh, and don’t forget to mail those end of year statements.

What did I forget? I’d love to hear your best giving tips, make sure to leave a comment below, and don’t forget to subscribe to the blog to get tips each week on leadership, church growth, and more.