How to Encourage Giving in Church

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: October 16, 2022 References

Asking for money from members of your congregation can feel like an intimidating task—personal finances are usually private, but in a church, those donations are what enable you to have an effective ministry. You can encourage charitable giving by learning how to educate your congregation, being transparent, and creating diverse giving opportunities.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Educating the Congregation about Giving

1
Express the church’s financial need for charitable giving. Members may not be aware of how a church financially functions, so be explicit about what is needed and how the church uses given funds to meet those needs. Whether you are collecting for a specific event (like the middle school students taking a service learning trip) or for the general fund, people are more willing to give when they know there is a need.^{[1]
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- Give exact figures for how much money is needed if you are collecting donations for a specific cause.
- Share what your need is when doing the announcements before a service begins.
- Put information somewhere it can be found in print by congregants. A weekly printed bulletin, online at the church’s website, or on the church’s social media pages are great places to share this information.
2
Connect giving to your congregation’s faith and spiritual health. Teaching what the Bible says about money is a way you can serve your congregation while also opening doors for your congregants to give back to the church. The Bible teaches that everything belongs to God, and when you give that is an act of praise and worship.^{[2]
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- Spend a few weeks every year teaching about the Bible and money. Use scripture to illuminate what the Bible teaches about material belongings.
- Giving is something that benefits both the church and its members. The Bible teaches that “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed” (Proverbs 11:25).^{[3]
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3
Help members be good stewards of their finances. Perhaps you have congregants who would like to give to the church, but who feel they cannot due to financial strain. Helping your congregants get to a place of financial peace will empower them to trust in the resources God has provided and, in turn, enable them to give back.^{[4]
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- Offer support groups for people to talk about personal budgeting, tithing, getting out of debt, and saving for the future.^{[5]
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- Offer financial peace workshops where you will work with congregants to tackle their budget, debt, spending habits, and future planning to help them take responsibility for what has been given to them.
- Remember that as you talk about the church’s finances and stewardship, you also have a responsibility to lead your congregants in their financial decisions.^{[6]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Being Transparent

1
Be available to answer questions about the church’s finances. This will foster trust between the leadership staff and the congregation. If how funds are dispersed is kept secret, your congregants won’t know how their donations are being used and they will be less likely to give.^{[7]
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- This will also help keep the leadership staff accountable to be good stewards of the church’s finances. Transparency removes the temptation to abuse power and enables everyone to operate in the open.
- Have a biannual or quarterly meeting that is open to the congregants where the finances of the church, as well as potential expenses and goals, are clearly laid out.
2
Show how donations have been used. This helps show the congregation that their funds are being used for good. Did the money go toward purchasing supplies for the annual Christmas dinner for the homeless, or is the church saving to repave the parking lot or put in handicapped lifts?^{[8]
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- Itemize how donations were used line-by-line to account for given funds. You most likely know the cost of everything that was purchased (food items, plane tickets, a contractor) and can share this information with your congregation.
- If the donations you collected went towards a certain event, create a slideshow or video to share during a service to highlight the event.
3
Have a plan for how excess funds are used in the church. The best case scenario with giving is that your proverbial cups will overflow. If this is the case, being able to answer how those extra funds are allocated will eliminate questions of mismanaged funds.^{[9]
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- Is there a general fund into which excess donations would go? If so, provide a balance of the input and output of that fund to your congregation.
- Were you able to do something additional or extra special because of the excess donations? Share with your congregation what that was.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Creating Diverse Giving Opportunities

1
Offer giving envelopes for donations during church services. Passing around a basket is how some churches collect donations, but this can be an intimidating moment for givers, especially if they are not able to give on a weekly basis. Make envelopes available for congregants so they can deposit their offering into a designated location at their own convenience.^{[10]
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- Have a stack of envelopes available near where the weekly bulletins are stacked. If you have pews, put a few envelopes in front of each seat on a weekly basis. You can purchase envelopes specifically for church giving at church supply stores or online.
- Have a secure box for envelopes to be deposited into. Make sure this box locks and that when it is emptied there are two people who deal with the donations together. This eliminates temptation to take donations and ensures funds are managed properly.^{[11]
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2
Have a website for online donations. Some congregants will never want to send money online, but for many, including the younger generations, the ease of online donations will make giving simpler. Almost everyone has access to the internet and is online at some point during the week, if not daily.^{[12]
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- Link to your donation site from your church’s main website. You may be able to use services like PayPal or even go directly through your Facebook page.
- This also give members of your church the ability to print records of their charitable giving throughout the year.
3
Set a realistic goal to raise money for a special cause. Your church most likely has a desire to minister to the community and to the world at large. Picking a specific cause or organization to support will give your church an actionable goal to work toward.^{[13]
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- Ideas for a special giving opportunity are supporting a missions organization you believe in, raising money for a neighborhood need (like planting a community garden), or hosting a holiday packing party to distribute goods to the underserved in your community.
- Ask your congregation or leadership team for ideas, too. You may be surprised to find out what people are passionate about or have connections to already.
- Perhaps you want to sponsor meals for children in need for 3 months through an organization in your community—share with your congregation how much money is needed to meet this goal. Pick a deadline for raising the funds. Create a visual tracker to show how much progress is being made toward that goal.
- Make this goal community-oriented and visual, so that everyone is aware of it and can participate.