Celebrated on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving (in the U.S.) and the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday kicks off the charitable season, when many people focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving. Now in it’s fifth year, it is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration. (more…)
Next to the retail employees at your local mall, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone working harder in the months ahead than pastors and church leaders.
There are Christmas concerts and nativity pageants to be coordinated, extra services and outreach opportunities to be planned, not to mention all of the traveling, shopping, and family get-togethers that pack an already crowded schedule!
With so much going on, it’s understandable that certain things like generosity end up getting “back burner-ed” for a few weeks. But it shouldn’t!
As I’m sure you know, the holidays are the single most important season for your churches’ finances! (Fun Fact: Nearly 18.00% of all charitable giving and over 22% of online giving takes place in the month of December alone!) It’s no exaggeration to say that many churches’ budgets will be saved or sunk in the weeks ahead. In fact, over 40% of churches report that they receive fully HALF of their annual budget in the month of December alone.
Whatever the case may be at your church, generosity is too important a topic to ignore until January. But that doesn’t mean it needs to occupy a ton of time either! Below are three easy things you can do in the weeks ahead to ensure that your church ends 2015 on a high note. (more…)
Next to the employees at your local mall, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone working harder this month than a pastor or church administrator.
There are Christmas concerts and nativity pageants to be coordinated, extra services and outreach opportunities to be planned, not to mention all of the traveling, shopping, and family get-togethers that pack an already crowded schedule!
With so much going on, it’s understandable that “non-essential” things like digital giving end up taking a back seat for a few weeks. But they shouldn’t!
With dozens of family-members and friends visiting your church for the first time this month, and with givers scrambling to get their year-end donations in before the 31st, it is no exaggeration to say that the gifts you receive in December can make or break your budget. (Fun Fact: Nearly 18.00% of all charitable giving and over 22% of online giving takes place in the month of December alone!) (more…)
