Hopefully this is timely and helpful for any church struggling financially. Here’s the bad news: There is no silver bullet when it comes to raising up generous givers. If your church is struggling financially, there is no quick fix. There is a strong spiritual element connected to our relationship with money…and practically nothing happens quickly…
Tag: Giving
Learning to say “Thank you” with the IRS in mind
What’s the worst thing that could happen if I don’t keep the IRS in mind when issuing Giving Statements or something to acknowledge gifts? Well…the IRS could disallow the donors charitable tax deduction which would lead them to have to pay more taxes. This would probably lead to a ticked off donor who will likely…
Preaching on giving IS NOT like Peeing on an Electric Fence
I decided that every tenth post/video would be on Stewardship Education. I realize that the title of this post and the picture probably don’t make you think, “I bet this an educational video.” One thing I run into over and over again is pastors and church leaders being afraid of preaching on money, giving, and…
How do you track donations in QuickBooks?
Churches might avoid QuickBooks because they think they will need a separate system to track donations. Most church accounting programs have a module for accounting and a separate module for keeping the giving records. For years, the rumor was that you could track giving records in QuickBooks…and that rumor is true! I played around in…
Unrestricted, Designated, and Restricted Gifts
Are donor-restricted gifts a blessing or a curse? Often they are a blessing…especially when the church’s leadership is trying to raise money for a cause or project. A lot of churches take special offerings for specific missions (e.g. Mission of the Month). Others raise money for capital projects or to retire debt. But what about…
The Step Chart on Steroids
The old “Grow One” Step Chart has been around for a long time. A number of churches have distributed a chart similar to this one during their pledge card or stewardship drive. The Step Chart actually was very convicting to me and led me to start tithing. The Step Chart is great for personally conviction,…
Giving for Farmers & Ranchers
Most churches and pastors will want to completely avoid talking about money and giving in church, and their primary reason they usually give for doing so is, “What about the farmers?” I 100% agree that farmers and other small-business owners have a more difficult challenge in determining what they should give because their personal and…