HELPING LEADERS BECOME
B E T T E R S T E WA R D S .
SUSTAINING GENEROSIT Y THIS SUMMER
Presented by: echurch & easyTithe
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CHURCH EXECUTIVE • S U S T A I N I N G G E N E R O S I T Y T H I S S U M M E R
churchexecutive.com
Table of Contents WANT TO SUSTAIN GENEROSITY THIS SUMMER?
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2 experts share 4 tried-and-true strategies any church leader can use: • When teaching generosity, focus on consistency — and being proactive • Maximize technology to (cost-effectively & easily) stay in touch • Make giving easy … even from afar • Plan special summer-only events & offerings
Featuring Eliot Crowther & Becky Kopplin
5 WAYS TO MAINTAIN THE GIVING MOMENTUM THIS SUMMER
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Because our minds seem to go on vacation long before our scheduled check-in dates, we begin to slack off a bit when it comes to our day-to-day routines. This can even trickle down into our church lives. Though this season of rest and relaxation often leaves church pews and offering plates empty, summertime presents an excellent opportunity to reinforce the principle of giving in the hearts of your members in a way that is both uplifting and instructive. Here are five ways to avoid giving lulls and keep the generosity flowing throughout the summer months.
Content provided by easyTithe
THE DREADED “SUMMER SLUMP”
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One of the most discouraging aspects of the summer slump is that lower church attendance also tends to drive others — who perhaps aren’t on vacation — to stay home, as well. Many churches are veritable ghost towns during summer months. The big question is whether or not there’s anything your church can do about it … and there is. You don’t have to accept the inevitability of the summer slump.
By Jayson D. Bradley
churchexecutive.com
S U S T A I N I N G G E N E R O S I T Y T H I S S U M M E R • CHURCH EXECUTIVE
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2 experts share 4 tried-and-true strategies any church leader can use Q: For most churches, just how big of a problem is a drop-off in summer giving? Crowther: Really, we need to expect that attendance is going to dip during the summer. Depending on the size, maturity and demographic of your church, that means summer giving can drop between 5% and 50% — the numbers are all over the map. Kopplin: We’ve seen that many churches experience declines ranging from 13% to 20% during the summer months. We’ve also found that churches who enter the summer months with the right tools and a planned communication strategy see less than a 1% decline. In fact, by leveraging a robust giving and ChMS platform, churches can increase overall donations by an average of 33% and avoid the summer slump entirely. Crowther: Many churches are resigned to the reality of the ‘summer slump’ and plan for it every year. Attendance can vary based simply upon how nice the weather is. Volunteers are out of town or taking some muchneeded rest. In other churches, anxiety surrounding summer giving is a minor nuisance — particularly in newer church plants that might not have the financial stability to weather the difficult months. But, that doesn’t mean we’re powerless to do anything about it. Kopplin: Going blindly into the summer with no plan can be an extremely anxious experience for church leaders. (I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that.) Just as we approach the times of increased donations, so too must we plan for the lulls in attendance. Nothing can make the summertime blues seem as intense as not pacing to budget. You need to plan, plan, plan! (Have I mentioned ... plan?) Approaching your summer season with a proactive plan of a multi-touch donation and communication strategy alleviates all the worry that accompanies lower attendance. Plan to be fiscally conservative in the right areas, while investing early in the framework that will empower your mission as you lay the strategic plans to thwart the valleys of summer donations. 4
CHURCH EXECUTIVE • S U S T A I N I N G G E N E R O S I T Y T H I S S U M M E R
Eliot Crowther Co-founder and Director, echurch powered by Pushpay
Becky Kopplin EVP Giving Systems and Payment Strategy, easyTithe
Q: What causes declines in summer giving? (And what can churches do about it?) #1: When teaching generosity, focus on consistency — and being proactive Crowther: People can’t pass the plate at a service they don’t attend! Recurring giving is the ‘secret weapon’ you have against the summer months. So, talk about it as an important part of your discipleship process. In doing so, keep in mind that if the process to set up or edit a recurring gift is difficult, fewer people will engage. Kopplin: During the summer months, it’s easy to forget what we’ve disciplined ourselves to do, even as faithful stewards. We’re in a summer rhythm. Fortunately, year-round, nothing supports a faithful donor (and their church) quite like recurring giving. In this sense, automation trumps determination; share how to sign up for recurring donations towards those funds, and continue to update folks on your progress throughout the summer. Find solutions that allow for connecting and updating recurring donations on multiple platforms. Embracing this ‘set-it-and-forget it’ mentality really moves ministries forward. churchexecutive.com
Crowther: It’s important that we teach giving as an area of responsibility that is planned rather than impulsive. Vacation or not, people know to make their car payments on time. In the same way, they have to be taught how important consistent giving is to the life of the church. Start talking about the summer slump in the spring. Let members and attendees know how giving drops off. Show them graphs and charts about how giving has been in past summers. Share some of the ways this shortfall makes ministry more difficult. Challenge them to commit to giving throughout the summer; send a letter or email as a reminder. Depending on your church, it might be a little awkward to talk about money at first. But, it helps to establish openness and transparency about your budget and needs with the congregation. #2: Maximize technology to (cost-effectively & easily) stay in touch Kopplin: One of the most critical approaches to modern giving — particularly in the summer — is providing fragmented giving types: text giving, through a mobile app, on the website, and via social media. Create targeted message opportunities to connect specific groups with personalized messages that speak to people’s expressed interests in the church, and share your donation methods with them. Mass-communicate to these segments via text, email or even a voicemail, and plan and schedule those messages in advance, so you’re firing on all cylinders. We must leverage communications platforms and digital methods to do life together (and in this case, ministry), no matter where we find ourselves, physically. Giving and communications toolboxes — along with social media — are the methods of choice, here. While social media is free, what really helps is being able to target personalized messages to a larger group within your organization. To fully engage, you’ll need a comprehensive giving toolset and communications solution. Crowther: Stay present and top-of-mind with your congregation by communicating with them where they already are. If people can’t catch your podcast in the week, or stay updated about events via your app, or get devotional content on social media, then they’re probably not fully connected with your church. The more connected your congregation is, the more generous they’ll be. A healthy digital presence is about long-term consistency, not shortterm effort. The best time to get started on social media was five years ago; the second best time is today. Start with small, consistent efforts to stay connected with your congregation outside of a regular service. Get a custom church app as a central digital hub for your community to engage with your church. For whoever runs your church’s digital platform, this will represent a time investment; but remember: consistency is key. It’s better to start small and stay consistent then to try and do everything at once. Social media, in particular, is a place where quantity actually trumps quality — as long as the quantity is consistent.
“Nothing can make the summertime blues seem as intense as not pacing to budget … [a]pproaching your summer season with a proactive plan of a multi-touch donation and communication strategy alleviates all the worry that accompanies lower attendance.” — Becky Kopplin Crowther: Does it take longer than 30 seconds to give for the first time at your church? Do I have to hunt around your website for five minutes to find a link? Is your giving mobile-native, or a website displayed (sometimes poorly) on my phone? Is the recurring giving experience at your church like filling out paperwork at the dentist’s office? If you make it simple, easy and normal, you’ll find people are still giving when they’re on vacation. Making digital giving the norm at your church is worth the effort. In fact, we’ve even seen churches’ giving go up during the summer months as a result of implementing simple mobile giving. #4: Plan special summer-only events & offerings Crowther: Church attendance is going to falter in the summer. That’s normal, and it’s OK — but that doesn’t mean we’re powerless to do anything about it. Make summer at your church a big deal! Launch an exciting sermon series. Put together a couple of high-quality events with your community. Give people something to rally around. Kopplin: It’s sort of a “chicken / egg” situation, but some churches reduce the number of services they hold in the summer as attendance drops off. So, it makes sense to offer series or events that might not happen at other times of the year. Though we can be certain that fewer people will be joining us on Sundays this summer, that doesn’t mean we stop pastoring. It’s not enough to communicate your donation options passively and occasionally — and summer is a great time to think outside the box. Get creative. Plan an event with a sister church, or in the community. To reach older youth, stretch events beyond VBS … and get outside! Plan what you’ll say (what the fund is, what the event will be, what you’re building); how people can support it (what methods they can use to donate); and how to communicate it. Happy planning! — Reporting by RaeAnn Slaybaugh
#3: Make giving easy … even from afar Kopplin: When members are away, they’re not only missing our Sunday sermons — they’re also missing your ask to continue to support the mission. It’s that simple. Make it easy for people to donate while they’re away with digital options, and promote those tools in the months leading up to the summer. Set a goal to ensure you have your members’ emails addresses, cell phone numbers, and are connected through social media. That way, you can share these digital giving tools and continue to engage people in your missions all summer long.
churchexecutive.com
“The best time to get started on social media was five years ago; the second best time is today. Start with small, consistent efforts to stay connected with your congregation outside of a regular service. Get a custom church app as a central digital hub for your community to engage with your church.” — Eliot Crowther S U S T A I N I N G G E N E R O S I T Y T H I S S U M M E R • CHURCH EXECUTIVE
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WAYS to maintain the giving momentum this summer
Temperatures are starting to warm, and people are beginning to daydream of a temporary escape to a white sandy beach or maybe even a secluded mountain retreat. Because our minds seem to go on vacation long before our scheduled check-in dates, we begin to slack off a bit when it comes to our day-to-day routines. This can even trickle down into our church lives. Though this season of rest and relaxation often leaves church pews and offering plates empty, summertime presents an excellent opportunity to reinforce the principle of giving in the hearts of your members in a way that is both uplifting and instructive. Here are five ways to avoid giving lulls and keep the generosity flowing throughout the summer months. #1: Start saving now Be prepared for summer by setting aside extra funds whenever possible and only using them for emergencies. Need-based appeals fail to connect with people because the true mission is lost. Your congregation can tell when you’re speaking about donations because you need to stay afloat, as opposed to furthering the mission of the church. Learning the giving cycles of your church and maintaining a reserve fund is critical to the long-term success of any church. This will give you the freedom to speak about giving as an issue of spiritual formation rather than a fundraiser to help keep the lights on. #2: Plan a summer of excitement You can’t expect regular pleas for donations to keep members from sliding. Instead, use the pulpit, church bulletin, website and social media to announce what’s happening at your church in the coming months. Host an engaging sermon series focused on topics that connect with people on a deep spiritual level, and focus on answering important questions about their faith. Have fun activities throughout the summer, and encourage your members to invite guests. Take advantage of the warm weather by organizing church-wide picnics, family movie nights, and a youth sports league. These activities will keep people engaged in your church and will intrigue those in the community to come and join the fun. Talk up what your church is doing, and get excited! Remember that enthusiasm is contagious. #3: Reach out to absent members It doesn’t matter how amazing your summer sermons are or how full the activity schedule is; members will still take vacations — as well they should! However, just because your members are out of town shouldn’t mean they’re out of touch with your church.
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CHURCH EXECUTIVE • S U S T A I N I N G G E N E R O S I T Y T H I S S U M M E R
Put sermons online and send emails to remind your congregation that they can tune in anytime. Encourage small group leaders to lovingly reach out to members who are absent. This ensures that everyone feels appreciated when they attend and missed when they can’t. #4: Offer ways to give on the go A simple way to enable your members to give even when they’re away is to offer online and mobile giving options. This way, they can make donations from the devices they use most, wherever they might be. To make it even more convenient for them, give your members the option to set up recurring giving. When you give people the information and tools to set up automatic recurring donations, they give more faithfully. It’s proven. A donor using recurring giving, on average, gives 42% more than a donor using a one-time option. #5: Create a culture of generosity The best way to prevent a summer slump is to show the importance of giving throughout the entire year. It’s not enough to just ask churchgoers to give. Teach them about giving from God’s Word to provide a full understanding of why Christians should give. You can also set up volunteer opportunities to offset costs and give people the chance to display generosity even when they don’t have money to contribute. Following through with these tips is an easy way to achieve your church’s summer goals. Remember: the key to keeping members engaged in giving is to show your appreciation and to keep the doors of communication open. Your members want to know they’re valued and that what they contribute is making a difference in the lives of those you serve. Get your giving momentum started today at easytithe.com! — Content provided by easyTithe
churchexecutive.com
By Jayson D. Bradley
Most of us — including pastors — like to imagine that the summer exists as a time of relaxation ... a time away from our harried schedules. Deep down, though, we know this isn’t true.
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CHURCH EXECUTIVE • S U S T A I N I N G G E N E R O S I T Y T H I S S U M M E R
churchexecutive.com
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e’re actually just cramming recreational hobbies and barbecues into already bursting calendars. Parents with school-aged children are pulling their hair out to ensure that the kids have something to do during the day. They spend quite a bit of time taxiing them to camps, sports commitments and summer activities. On top of all that, summer is the most popular time of the year for families to take trips and vacations. Unfortunately, when families look for breathing room in their schedules, church is often the first thing they cut. Church leaders know this and respond accordingly. This back-and-forth dance is noticed and seems to encourage even more people to stay home. Enter: the summer slump. One of the most discouraging aspects of the summer slump is that lower church attendance also tends to drive others — who perhaps aren’t on vacation — to stay home, as well. Many churches are veritable ghost towns during summer months.
Getting your church set up with with a tool for recurring giving — and then training them to use it — is a game-changer. When people set up automated giving, they become more involved and interested in the life of the church. The best part is, they don’t have to think about giving. A recurring payment system is a potent weapon in the fight against summer slumps. Once members are signed up for their giving to recur naturally, you’re that much closer to being out of the woods. The best way to encourage recurring giving is with your own mobile app from a provider like eChurch, the premier provider of Pushpay giving technology and custom apps to the church space. A mobile app has many benefits. First, it offers a secure way to give. Second, it allows your members to give from wherever they’re vacationing (including foreign countries). Third, it helps you stay engaged with them while they’re gone. Having your sermons, calendar,
Then, as soon as school starts up again, there’s a big push to get everyone focused and back on track. With that, the fiscal year seems to start in September. Because church offerings are typically given as part of the church service, giving drops dramatically when people stop attending. The summer slump takes a huge financial toll on a church. Knowing this, churches often budget their finances according to a feast / famine calendar, enabling them to make it through the lean months by storing up resources during the busier times of the year.
and congregational communications all bundled within the same app that people are using to give, is a genius way to get your church over the summer slump. While recurring giving is ideal, one-time gifts are great, too. A good app makes single donations possible with a few taps. It’s the perfect solution anytime someone is interacting with your church.
There’s no question that churches experience a summer slump… The big question is whether or not there’s anything your church can do about it — and there is. You don’t have to accept the inevitability of the summer slump. One key way to avoid this seasonal dip in giving is to set your church up with recurring giving. I’m sure that — instead of giving weekly — many of the people in your church give larger checks once or twice a month. Maybe they even mail them in. But once they’re away on vacation, it’s easy for that kind of giving to fall through the cracks. churchexecutive.com
It’s not so complicated. (Really.) You might think that an app is an accessory for megachurches, and you could never afford or maintain one. But, I assure you that’s not the case! An app is easy to manage, and completely affordable. Actually — with the increase in giving that you’re likely to see — the app can pay for itself. As you can see, the summer slump is not inevitable. You can help fortify your congregation against the low-attendance and paltry giving that normally accompanies the summer months. Jayson D. Bradley is a writer and pastor in Bellingham, WA. He’s a regular contributor to Relevant Magazine, and his blog — JaysonDBradley.com — has been voted one of the 25 Christian blogs you should be reading. S U S T A I N I N G G E N E R O S I T Y T H I S S U M M E R • CHURCH EXECUTIVE
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