In my over 20 years of helping churches raise funds I have found there is one key barrier to reversing the decline in giving. It’s the Tyranny of the Urgent.
Christian leaders are consumed by immediate problems causing them to ignore future problems. It is not that the majority of leaders are ignorant of what is going on in giving. It is simply that they are too busy to give any of their valuable time to this. The Tyranny of the Urgent presses in upon them and thinking and planning for increasing giving gets put off for another day.
One of the biggest problems is to get church leaders to really listen. I know what happens. While someone shares concerns about giving declines the rest of the staff around the table will nod their heads, but their minds would start thinking about all the other pressing tasks they had. They listen but in a distracted way.
The reason for this is that declines in giving typically happen slowly over time. You think you have time to address it later, so you put off doing anything. Month after month, year after year, churches have done nothing to offset the decline. Ultimately, we will all pay for succumbing to the tyranny of the urgent.
That’s one of my biggest problems. Half of those that land on this blog post haven’t even read this far. Most only read stuff on giving when they are in a financial bind. The majority of leaders wait until a financial crisis happens before they recognize it and ultimately try to do something about it. Frankly pastors and staff are uncomfortable talking about money and finances. It is simply difficult to get them interested.
The first step to solving a problem is to recognize you have one. Right now can you tell me if your giving is ahead or behind at the same point as last year? Are you increasing donors or losing them? What are the last three to four years giving trends telling you about your growth or lack there of? You need to know the answer to those questions.
Why should you care? Unless the current rate of decline in giving to the Church is reversed by the year 2050 Americans will give only 1% of their disposable income to the churches. What that means is that multiple Christian ministries, colleges, seminaries as well as churches will fold. The rest will see their ability to do ministry drastically curtailed. If you think your church will avoid this decline without you doing anything about it, you are wrong.
You have five years before the decline will start catching speed and momentum. That was one of the take aways from a recent report of the state of giving in America. Now is the time to get to work to offset the 1% train wreck. I am here to help you but you need to get to work!
Mark Brooks – The Stewardship Coach