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 at our church and I came across a note I took over our lunch discussion on generosity. It says, “We should target each of the four giving groups at our church on a monthly basis.” I didn’t capture what these four groups are. Do you recall this conversation and what those four might be?

DRF— It was Dustin Bosscher that gave that example. He is the co-founder of gyve.io. This is a great platform for online donations. Let me ask Dustin to reply. He has great thoughts on the topic.

Dustin—I would love to have an in-depth conversation with you. In the meantime you can go to this link and read these descriptions for each of our categories: 

Rookie: This type of giver is someone who decides to give for the first time. This is someone who has put their trust in the mission and is ready to take a first step in their generosity journey. As a rookie giver, their gift shows a growing trust in God and the leadership of the church.

Relative: A relative giver decides to give based on how they spend money in other areas of their life. They ask questions like, “Why am I giving more to my cell phone company than I am to God?” The relative giver will note their monthly spending (cable, new clothes, car payments, etc.) and start to reflect if their spending shows how important God is in their life.

Relational: When your relationship with God impacts your financial decisions you are a relational giver. A relational giver is beginning to learn about biblical stewardship or managing the money God provides in a way that honors Him. Biblical stewardship involves tithing (the practice of giving 10% to the local church you attend), saving money for the future, and avoiding debt.

Radical: As a radical giver, you begin to ask questions like, “Am I giving in a way that changes me? Does my giving affect my lifestyle? Does it stretch my faith?” The emphasis is not so much on what God is asking me to give, but on what God is asking me to keep. A radical giver is someone who makes a lifetime or long-term giving commitment that governs their larger decisions like homes, cars, investments, etc.