Generosity & Giving
Does it feel like you’re always standing at the pulpit, asking for more money from your congregation? Is offering time a chore for your people? Well, are you taking the time to celebrate ministry that is happening? Perhaps if your people hear testimonies of how God is working, they will be more generous when the plate is passed.
Developing a Healthy Stewardship Ministry in the Local Church
There is an enormous transfer of wealth coming in the near future. It totals in the neighborhood of $68 trillion! It is important for your church to have a stewardship and generosity [...]
Church Giving 2025
Church leaders need to know generosity trends in 2025. That's the starting point for this discussion. Then it will get really up-close and personal as Brad talks about how to inform, inspire, [...]
Estate Planning for Churches in the 21st Century
Estate Planning is an often overlooked financial tool when evaluating church funding now and in the future. National surveys tell us that over 65% of our church members don’t have any type [...]
7 Reasons to Offer Estate Planning at Your Church
Most church leaders don’t have a will or an estate plan. So it is easy to see why church leaders don’t encourage congregants to get one either. So many say, “I don’t [...]
End-of-Year Letters Are Vital
Year-end letters are vital to the life of your people and church. They can share stories of ministry and remind people of God’s great work during the year. A number of years ago, my [...]
The Top 5 1/2 Questions XPs Are Asking about 2023 Giving Trends … with Surprising Answers
We had the pandemic and that raised lots of eyebrows about giving. Now we are in a post-pandemic era. There is angst about economic uncertainty and changes in core giving engagement. What [...]
Legacy Gifting: From the Why to the How
As leaders, we are called to seek out and then shine a light on the path for the faithful to follow. One of those paths is stewardship and generosity. But how do [...]
Top 5 Urgent Hurdles to Make or Break Your Financial Year
A Focus on the Next 10 Months to Finish the Year Exceeding Budget Even though giving is stable now, what variables loom ahead that could disrupt your financial world to diminish your [...]
River Valley Church Receives $400,000 in Crypto Donations
Creating Catalysts of Generosity with Cryptocurrency An interview with Clynt Reddy, Executive Director of Operations for River Valley Church and Engiven. Each year River Valley hosts an annual event called Kingdom Builders, where they [...]
Eight Practices For Effective Online Giving
I’ve spent a lot of time on church websites recently ... like dozens of hours on hundreds of websites! Along the way, I noticed some trends about online giving. Having grown by 21% in [...]
Heart Financial Planning: A Summer Check-In For Pastors
Almost every pastor I talk to gives to the church. But, the majority seem to give from duty, obligation, almost joylessly. I can almost hear some of their inner thoughts: The box is checked. [...]
Legacy Gifting: The Heart of Stewardship
The stewardship journey is not only the work of a faithful follower of Christ but those chosen to lead them. The church has a unique opportunity to provide leadership in encouraging the [...]
State of Giving 2020
Full of charts and graphs, the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability has produced a free 24-page report on the state of giving in 2020. Warren Bird Ph.D., Vice President of Research and Equipping, served as [...]
The K Shape: Implications for Churches
This intriguing article, America's Two Coronavirus Realities by Dion Rabouin, perfectly describes what I am seeing in most churches and communities in the U.S. In my last ebook, Beyond: The Forward Focus Framework, I described three [...]
Giving Envelopes and Designated Giving
Tuesday, February 12, 2019 Hey Fletch…our church envelopes and website allow donors to make designations. There are words that say, “The board has complete discretion and control over the use of all donated funds.” [...]
Four Levels of Givers
Friday, December 14, 2018 Hey Fletch … I was at the Smart Money for Church Salaries workshop in Dallas. It was awesome. I’m creating an executive summary of my notes for our directional team [...]
What Should I Look for in Online Giving?
Monday, August 20, 2018 Hey Fletch … Our church is considering starting online giving. What are the kinds of things that we should be looking for? DRF—From a user’s perspective, the number one thing [...]
Understanding “The Big Shift”
Do you remember the E.F. Hutton advertisement? The essence of the ad is two people are talking about investments. One says, “My broker is E.F. Hutton and he says …” At that point everyone [...]
Capital Campaign = Spiritual Revival. Seriously?
Can a capital campaign in a church cause a spiritual revival? Absolutely! I know from first-hand experience. When I was 25 years old and went through my first capital campaign, it transformed my life, [...]
Giving Away 50% of Church Income
Thursday, June 7, 2018 Hey Fletch … In all of the church connections you have, do you know of other churches that are attempting to give away large percentages (50%+) of what they receive [...]
Mrs. Gold and the $300,000 Check
Tuesday, June 5, 2018 Hey Fletch … On Sunday, Mrs. Gold (that’s really her name) handed me an unmarked envelope with a letter in it. When I got back to my office and opened [...]
Sharing Stories of Ministry
Saturday, May 26, 2018 Hey Fletch … I like your suggestion about getting people's stories. How do you do that in a church? DRF—One of the best way to measure the effectiveness of your [...]
The XPastor Site is Different
Monday, April 23, 2018 Hey Fletch … I’ve been in ministry a long time. Your XP-Seminar is unlike anything that I have attended before. I absolutely love it. The XPastor site exudes something different [...]
Is a Donation ‘Thank You’ Too Pushy?
Thursday, April 19, 2018 Hey Fletch … Do you encourage churches to acknowledge first time givers through a thank you letter? I am considering starting this because I see this as a significant opportunity [...]