If you want to improve giving get a story, work your story, tell people about your story and they will give to support that story! This has been one of my major mantra’s that I give to clients.
By story I mean, what you and your church are accomplishing. What things are you doing that are making an impact for the Kingdom? What lives are being touched and changed? That is your story. To increase giving you MUST tell that story.
Churches are terrible about telling their stories. They are even worse about connecting giving to those stories. We need to take a page from the non-profit world and look to see how they powerfully use stories to garner additional gifts.
I recently received a letter from a non-profit charity called, John 3:16 Mission that works with homeless people in my hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Their letter was a great example of how telling your story of what you are doing helps generate additional support to keep working your story.
Here are some of observations from the recent letter to us…
They make the “ask” unapologetically. They don’t assume we know they have needs. They send out regular letters with appeals. They never apologize or worry about offending us. They simply ask for our support. If you don’t ask people won’t know to give and thus won’t give.
Next the “ask” is focused. They are asking us to give various amounts that will pay for a set amount of meals. It basically costs them $2.11 a meal to feed homeless people in Tulsa. So they have suggested amounts of how many meals $25.32 or more will feed. You know what your gift is going to and what the impact will be.
Their “ask” is appealing. Who doesn’t want to help homeless people? Throughout their material every story is an appealing story of life change. The stories they share draw you in and captivate you. All the successful non-profits do this. Do you?
They focus on results not on their budget. In every appeal they make the focus is not upon helping them make whatever their yearly budget is. It is always about what they are doing. Notice the picture here on the left. They list all they have accomplished thus far this year by starting with the headline, “Measuring Your Impact.”
One thing expert charity appeal writers tell you is that your appeals should focus more on the donor than upon you. Thus John 3:16 uses the phrase, measuring YOUR impact, not measuring our impact. Make donors feel their gift matters and they will continue to give.
Charities are experts at this and churches are horrible. Have you ever heard anyone say, “All the Red Cross ever talks about is money?” Yet we in the Church get hammered by this regularly. I believe it is because we have failed to tell our story. We have failed to SHOW life change as a result of gifts given.
They ask and never stop asking! Frankly I don’t know how many appeals a month we get from John 3:16. We at least get one or more. Honestly many of them we don’t even open. Yet every time we get a letter from them it at least keeps them in our minds. This time when my wife brought the letter into my office she said, “Don’t throw that away. I want to make a contribution to them.” So, never stop asking!
We MUST make a case for why people should give each and every time we make an “ask.” From the weekend offering, to appeal letters and emails to Social Media posts, we need to tell our story. Each appeal MUST make the link on how a dollar given to your church changes the world for good. Assume nothing. Work to craft each appeal with the thoughts mentioned above.
Once again…
Get a story, work your story, tell your story and people will give to support your story.
Ours is THE Greatest Story ever told of how Jesus can change lives for eternity one at a time. Who wouldn’t be motivated to give to that?
Mark Brooks – The Stewardship Coach