Leaders talk about financial matters all the time. But are you having conversations that affect your givers?
Next: Read 3 Giving Conversations Every Church Should Be Having With Members.
Giving Conversation #1:
The Need for Transparency and Accountability About Church Spending Decisions
More and more people have a heightened sensitivity to excess and fraud in charitable organizations. So the church’s annual report should cover income, expenses and assets in an easily accessible format for members.
It’s also a good idea to:
- Host regular open meetings (with access to minutes for those who can’t attend) so members can ask questions and learn details on the church’s activities and decisions
- Appoint independent auditors to review financial records
- Issue background checks on staff and volunteers annually
- Use secure giving software with an audit trail feature to prevent fraud
- Have a policy in place to allow concerns to be reported without fear of retribution
Learn 5 Ideas for Being a More Transparent Church
Giving Conversation #2:
The Health of Giving Trends
Overall giving rates that are holding steady or even rising aren’t necessarily a good indicator of healthy giving. A few metrics that better determine “health” include:
- Percentage of households that are giving
- Frequency of household giving
- Percentage of top donors
Reports to pull before launching your stewardship program
Giving Conversation #3:
The Role of Technology in Giving
It's great that more and more churches recognize the need to make giving convenient and accessible for church members via online giving, mobile giving apps and text-to-give. But, unfortunately, most of these platforms fail to demonstrate impact or engage givers with their bill pay-like experience. And 64% of people say they would give more if they knew the impact of their gifts. (Source: Fidelity Charity)
Look for a digital giving platform that graphically demonstrates how -- with every gift given -- your church is serving your members, community and world through media-rich Give Stories.
We'd love to show you all Vision2 can do to help with these giving conversations ... and more.
Reach out with your questions about Vision2's comprehensive giving and stewardship platform.
Gina Calvert: May 9, 2023
