The close of the calendar year represents a pivotal season for church finances. For many ministries, a significant portion of their annual operating budget and capital campaign funds is generated during the month of December.

But in an era of digital noise, how do you ensure your church’s crucial appeal cuts through? The answer lies in leveraging the power of your Church Management and Communication Software (ChMS). A successful end-of-year (EOY) campaign isn't about mass emails; it’s about personalized connection, clarity of vision, and seamless technology.

Most of you are in the middle of Christmas preparations, but I know there are some of you already thinking about sending contribution statements in January.  Your concern about making sure everything is lined up right is what makes you so valuable to your church's leadership environment.  

I know this because there are members of our Churchteams staff that have the same gifts and calling.  I've seen them thrive in preparing services and resources to help our churches succeed with excellence on detailed processes like managing data and sending out contribution statements.

This is the third in a series of three blog posts on using church management software for stewardship development.  In the 101 blog post we looked at filters that help you recognize first, second, and lapsed givers.  In the 201 blog post we looked at how to automate feedback and follow-up using scheduled reports.  

In this blog post we want to share with you the mechanics not only of giving, but also of helping people feel good about their giving.   2 Corinthians 9:7 says, "the Lord loves a cheerful giver."  So, it is important for church leaders to do everything they can to help people feel good about their giving.

In mylast blog post I mentioned that most churches don't have a stewardship development system in place.  Some will have a philosophical reason for this.  For others it's a matter of priorities and resources. 

I have no idea how many articles, books, conferences, and capital development programs I've been around through three (okay, four) decades of ministry.  I do know that they have been extremely helpful to churches I've been a part of and so many churches that we have served through the years. 

Our role as a church management software is to help churches set up and automate the best practices for which they have received training.  Last week I showed you the three filters in our reports to help with first, second, and lapsed contributors.

I recently emailed a stewardship survey to our clients to get a pulse on online giving and stewardship in their churches.  The first part of the survey was to collect some basic numbers.   

In addition, we ran some numbers based on data across all our online giving organizations.   You might find it interesting to see how your church compares to these findings.  You'll see how to do that below.

The second part of the survey asked about the use of features and for stewardship stories.  One feature lags behind the others.  One idea and one story provide insights into helping people better use the online tools you provide.

This is the third in a series on year-end and online giving.  In this post we are going to rank the most used online giving features and consider their benefits to donors.    

All of these insights come from the survey we did a few weeks ago.  So, they originate from church leaders using online giving every week.  If you would like to learn more, join us tomorrow afternoon at 2 Eastern / 1 Central for our year-end onling giving zoom briefing.

This is the 2nd of 3 blog posts related to end of the year campaigns and online giving.  Last week we looked at ideas for end of year online giving campaigns.  In this post, we're going to look at online giving from the perspective of organizational promotion and benefits.  

I really appreciate those of you who took the time to give us your thoughts.  I think your  responses are representative of a broad spectrum of churches and that they are very insightful. 

Consider this summary chart of how our survey respondents promote online giving.

Thanks to everyone who took last week's survey.  In these next three posts we're going to look at a few statistics from these churches and their insights related to:  1) end of year campaigns, 2) organizational practices, and 3) individual benefits.  I picked up several good ideas and think you will to.

Let's start with these statistics from the survey that show the changes we all know happened in online giving since Covid.  73% of our respondents now receive more than 60% of their giving online compared to 27% in 2019.  That's a 270% increase!  

For decades nonprofits and churches have used the holiday season as a special time to raise funds for ministry.  In fact a large percentage of income for many ministries will come in the next couple of months.  The significance of this season has only increased in the last decade with the poplularity and promotion of Giving Tuesday.

Our team could put together a list of ideas to help your church get the most out of online giving this season.  However, a lot has changed in recent years and we would like to hear your stats, stories, best practices, and/or creative ideas.   

You've cast the vision for a new year, a new building, or a new missions opportunity.  You've asked people to pray to determine the part God would have them play in investing in this vision over the next months or years.  Now, it's time to let them respond.

The cardstock pledge cards have been handed out.  With them you gave out some really cool, branded pens as swag. The cards are collected and expectantly prayed over.  

As a church leader, you know the impact that online giving has had on the financial stability of your church through the Covid Pandemic.  It has been a life-saver.

You've also seen the improvements we and most online giving providers have made in the past few years in terms of user experience and things like giving donors the option to cover fees.  These have made it easier for them to give and help with costs.