If you are going to be fully funded in the New Year you need to know how 2 shifts are changing giving. Why is this important? Because…
Successful organizations must know how to manage and thrive no matter what the unknowns.
Remember Donald Rumsfeld’s statement about known unknowns and unknown unknowns? He made it in reference to the events after 9/11. I remember the first time I read his statement I just went, “Huh?” Then the more I thought about it the more sense it makes.
So, harkening my best Donald Rumsfeld, let me begin by giving you what for me where two of the most significant known unknown discoveries I made this past year. The two are known. We just are not sure how it will ultimately impact us. The first, I have been writing about for some time, but the issue came into sharper focus in 2018 giving me an aha moment. Here it is…
We are in the midst of what I call The Generational Generosity Shift. I began writing on this, last summer after the Blackbaud Institute wrote a paper entitled, “The Next Generation of American Giving: The Charitable Habits of Generation Z, Millennials, Generation X, Baby Boomers, and Matures.”
41%. That is the percentage the study found that Baby Boomers give collectively to the charitable pie. I bet in your church it’s even higher than that.
At the other end of the spectrum Millennials and Gen Z’s give 14% and 2% respectfully of the entire charitable pie. Again, your church is not far from those percentages would be my guess. The studies most startling revelation was that Baby Boomers would only be the top donor group for five more years. They are entering into their retirement years and this will impact giving.
The bottom line take away is that our core giving base is growing older. Younger generation have so far not stepped up to stop the decline in giving. We know it is happening and we know why. What we don’t clearly know yet is how great the impact will be. We also don’t know if the current rate of decline in giving can be reversed.
My second aha revelation was that we are in the midst of a shift in church attendance. Attendance is declining. We all knew this right? We knew that about the overall population of Americans. What I think a lot did not know is how attendance is declining even among our core members.
Generis’ white paper entitled, “The Big Shift,” pointed that out this summer. Listen to what Tom Rainer says of The Big Shift, “The brief book may be one of the most important books you will read. I mean it. Don’t put it down. Read it. Consume it. Devour it. Act on it.” If you have not read “The Big Shift,” you can download it at…
The big revelation is that your core, committed members are only in church about two times a month. I realized that was me! With work, family and travel I miss being in my church about two out of four Sundays a month and one of those I am chasing four and five year olds. Thankfully one of those five year olds is my campus pastors kid so he knows I am there.
Both of these “shifts,” will and already are impacting how we do church. It especially impacts giving. The challenge is getting church leaders to see this and to give the time to work towards meeting the challenges. We might know not fully how these trends and shifts will impact us. Yet we must stay aware ready to act.
What about the unknown unknown? They are out there. We know they are coming. We just don’t know what, when, where or how. Think about it. For those of us who are Baby Boomers did you ever think when you left seminary that people would be able to give through a telephone that they carried with them? Change is inevitable. It’s the unknown unknown.
This gets me up in the morning! I believe God has called me to help churches manage the storm that is approaching. As you know my mission is to, Reverse the decline in giving, one church at a time. I’m in my twenty first year of doing this. For the last six I have been serving churches like yours to help them be fully funded through The Stewardship Coach newsletter, blogs, webinars, seasonal manuals etc. Let me help you be fully funded this year. For information on how email me at Mark@CharisGivingSolutions.
Mark Brooks – The Stewardship Coach
Senior Generosity Strategist