It’s no secret that December giving in churches is the highest of any month. There is no reason to hide it or apologize for it; it is a fact. December is also the biggest giving month for non-profits as a whole. There is competition for a limited pool of charitable dollars for all non-profits, which includes your church. The days of the local church being the default, first choice destination for charitable dollars are over.
Consistently thanking your givers is one easy way to keep your church as a primary destination for charitable dollars.
Write “Thank You” Notes to Your Givers
Pastors and Senior Staff should write a thank you note to at least the main investors in your church. There is no need to reveal dollar amounts of each giver; just have an alphabetical list. Should pastors know what people give? Well, that’s another conversation for another day.
So, why handwritten notes? They make people feel special and appreciated. Aren’t your people special to you and appreciated by you? The note doesn’t have to be long. Just the gesture itself will go a long way.
What should be in the note?
“Thank you for financially investing in the mission and ministry of our church.” (I encourage you to say ‘financially investing’ and not ‘generously investing’. You don’t really know if their financial giving is generous or not but you are definitely appreciative of their giving)
“Without your giving, our church would not have the same impact on the community and the world.”
“Our friendship is valuable to me. I am humbled by your family’s commitment to our church with your service, time, finances, and prayer.”
“Thank you. See you Sunday!”
The amount of givers and the amount of people writing notes will dictate how many givers will receive one. Ideally, every giver will receive one, but that is not always feasible. Determine how many people will be writing notes (all ministry staff members is certainly appropriate) then determine the amount of notes each person can write in one week. In your next staff meeting, introduce the concept. Show the list to your team, have them identify the people in their ministry area to communicate with, then begin writing!
Don’t wait until January to say thank you for the previous year’s giving. Thank your givers in December; it will impact the next year’s giving.
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