Churches have poorly discipled people in stewardship, but they can learn to grow a generosity culture, said David Whiting at the Aug. 28 Thrive Baptist Network Lunch and Learn.
Whiting, senior vice president of GenerosityOS, presented some surprising facts about Americans’ generosity:
- Americans are giving more than ever
- Giving percentage of income has stayed the same
- Percentage of giving to churches has declined
- Churches are missing significant giving opportunities
“People don’t become generous by accident. They have to be led,” Whiting said, explaining why stewardship discipleship is important. Churches have to intentionally include financial stewardship in any discipleship process, he said.
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Practical tips
Whiting gave practical tips to engage with missed giving opportunities.
First, churches can start creating a generosity culture by spending two minutes every Sunday mentioning giving, Whiting said. This could be in the message, as a thank you for a recent project or outreach, or some other celebration that relied on financial generosity. Make generosity a regular, normal thing, he said.
Whiting warned against broad statements like “this church is so generous,” as that allows people to remain comfortable with their current giving or not giving at all. He suggested instead to say something like “thank you to those that give, because you helped provide backpacks to 200 students.”
Second, churches need to have a giving pathway that is regularly talked about and known, Whiting said. An example pathway is first time to intentional to growing to tither to sacrificial to legacy.
Celebrate stories about those who have taken a step on the pathway, Whiting said, but use the pathway to show people how they can grow in their generosity.
Third, Whiting said, churches should clarify three things: what the church believes about generosity, a discipleship strategy around generosity and what the church believes about tithing. Churches should make sure these are clearly communicated, he said.
Fourth, churches should teach on generosity more than they currently do, Whiting said. This could be an annual series or the two-minutes-a-week celebrations. Create axioms that reflect the church’s belief on generosity and become part of the culture (for example, “God owns everything, I’m just His money manager” or “Giving is the only antidote to selfishness”).
Churches should clearly teach proportional/percentage giving and communicate that generosity is a lifestyle decision, not a finish line, Whiting said. And churches should regularly share the giving pathway as part of the discipleship process.
Fifth, churches should start a process of communicating about generosity, Whiting said. He suggested that, like people growing in generosity, churches need to grow in communication about generosity. So, churches need to take time to plan how they will start and continue to communicate about generosity.
Finally, Whiting talked about the importance of metrics and tracking — reviewing attendance and giving regularly.
Churches should have a process of communicating with first-time, one-time and lapsed donors, he said. Short communication should be the goal with first- and one-time givers.
Communication with lapsed givers is important, Whiting said, because many times when people stop giving, it’s a symptom of some other issue or need they’re afraid or embarrassed to share. He suggested to not even mention giving at all and provide an opportunity to care for the person, because, ultimately, discipleship of generosity is just a small part of discipleship of the whole person.
Creating a culture of generosity can be overwhelming, Whiting admitted. So, he suggested deciding on one step to take and implement.
“When you leave here, decide what is your one idea, what is your next step and implement that one step,” he said.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Tony Young and originally published by Arizona’s Portraits.
