Money and Giving
A Giving Strategy for Churches
Many churches struggle with balancing the books and with inspiring their congregation about giving. This eight point approach was developed in two large churches in the UK. It emphasises the importance of a vision and mission for the church that is understood and owned by the congregation. It also recognises that giving isn’t just about money, it includes time, talents, practical service and prayer. It’s written for:
-
Ministers and treasurers of local churches.
-
Other church leaders including members of the church council, diaconate, eldership or leadership team.
-
Stewardship advisers in denominations and local churches.
This resource provides a method for discerning a personal level of Christian giving. It is based on the author’s personal experience. It’s written for:
-
Christians considering the level of their overall giving or their giving to a specific cause.
-
Anyone providing Christian discipleship training.
Twelve tips for interpreting accounts
Looking at a set of annual accounts or monthly management accounts can be a minefield if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Here are 12 tips to get you started.
Fundraising for small Christian charities
Many small or new charities have no experience or expertise in fundraising and they don’t know where to start. Good fundraising consultants who understand the Christian sector are often expensive and reasonably rare. Often fundraising is the responsibility of a chair of trustees or CEO who has little or no previous fundraising experience. So this resource introduces readers to:
-
Methods of fundraising and types of donor and donation
-
Information to give potential donors
-
Initial actions to get you underway
-
The place of prayer in Christian fundraising
-
Signposts to more in depth fundraising resources and training.
​
A balanced portfolio for church mission support
This resource is to help churches review the balance in their support of mission activity beyond the church. It suggests a method for analysing and reviewing how a church budget is allocated across different types of mission and ministry: locally, nationally and globally. Often support of new projects or organisations are added without considering the overall balance of the “portfolio”. So here’s a way to help the mission committee, leadership team, church council, or diaconate (or a group by another name with this responsibility) to evaluate whether the mission portfolio has the balance they intend. It uses the same principle that you’d use with any investment ie that you don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
​
A balanced portfolio for personal giving
This resource is to help you review the balance of your giving, including to your local church and support of mission activity beyond the church. It suggests a method for analysing and reviewing how your giving might be allocated across different types of mission and ministry: locally, nationally and globally.
It’s so easy to add new projects or organisations to your giving without considering the overall balance of the “portfolio”. So here’s a way to help you evaluate whether your personal giving has an appropriate balance. It uses the same principle that you’d use with any investment ie that you don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
​