The Top 5 Mistakes Churches Make in Direct Appeals kills a churches chances of raising funds! Help us pay our electric bill was an appeal I received a few years back from a church trying to increase giving. Talk about a non-exciting appeal. Appeal letters and emails work. If they didn’t charities would not utilize them. Yet,
If you know how to write effective direct appeals you have a better chance of being fully funded this summer! Summer is a challenging time when it comes to making budget. Why? Attendance is down thus giving typically is down. At the same time most of what you do for the year happens during the summer months. So, giving is down at a time when expenses are up! What is a church to do? Have a proactive summer giving plan! Get my 2016 Fully Funded Summer plan here —-> https://thestewardshipcoach.org/store/
Using direct appeals you can increase giving this summer but you need to avoid these five common mistakes. Here is my list…
- Boring appeal. Most letters and emails are simply boring and few read them. You need to grab your reader’s attention immediately or your message will not be heard.
- Too long. The typical pastor can’t say hello in less than five minutes. They tend to write the way they talk. People today skim data due to the barrage of information they must process.
- Poorly laid out. If people are at best skimming your appeal you had better have it laid out to be as readable as possible.
- Rambling on and on. Get in and get out! That is how you have to make your appeal. One key ingredient for success is to be precise and succinct.
- Non Existent! No letter is not better than a bad letter. Most churches simply don’t do anything and then wonder in July why they are behind budget.
Avoid these five common mistakes and you will have a better chance of raising the funds you need to do the missions and ministry you feel led to do!
Last week one of my members sent me a letter she was working on. It was for the most part well written. I made some edits, suggested some other ways to communicate the essence of the letter. Working together with her coach landed her church with a much better appeal. The cost for my advice? $1. Do you have a coach working for you for only $1 a day?
Find out more at https://thestewardshipcoach.org/about/
Let me be your coach!
Mark Brooks – The Stewardship Coach