Creating a Generous Church Culture

I met with the pastor of a large church not long ago, and he explained to me his frustration with the amount of giving from his congregation. We discussed factors potentially contributing to this modest giving as well as ideas to help inspire people to step up with their tithe and beyond.

Then I asked him one simple question: “How often has your staff been intentional to personally thank each person who gives to the ministry of your church?”

He looked at me with a confused expression and then quickly had a moment of self-revelation. “I don’t think we’ve ever thanked our congregants personally for their sacrificial giving with any kind of intentionality,” he replied.

One of the biggest areas of focus for parachurch nonprofits is what they call “donor care”—keeping donors engaged through an intentional thank-you strategy so they continue to support the organization.

But when it comes to churches, often there’s a subconscious belief that the Bible says you should tithe and that’s all we really need to mention when talking about giving to our congregations. Unfortunately, that’s just not how people are wired. And so, expressing thanks is the missing piece in the giving experience in many churches.

Fortunately, it’s simple to implement, it’s not stressful to do, and it’s one of the greatest ways you can interact with the people in your congregation.

When you say thank you, it shows that you as a church:

• understand that people are giving sacrificially to support God’s work
• realize the ministry of the church cannot happen without their involvement
• are, at the core,  grateful people

Gratitude is one of the greatest spiritual characteristics that you can model to your congregation. It sets the church apart from the narcissistic culture around us.

If our church culture is not one of gratitude and is one of entitlement, that’s when we begin to hear expressions like, “All they want is my money.”

At the end of the day, people want to be appreciated. They have an innate desire to be recognized—not necessarily publicly—for their service and their giving.

When you feel appreciated by someone, it makes you want to pour more into the relationship. The same is true with our churches. If I as a congregant feel appreciated, then I want to give more of my time and resources to the work Jesus is doing through the Church.

 

Here are four ways you can begin to amp up the gratitude factor in your church:

Corporate thanks. I’m the first to recognize the value in preaching a series on giving. It’s critical that we talk about giving as a spiritual discipline and the spiritual rewards that come from obedience in this area. But actually saying thank you to the congregation from the pulpit on a regular basis helps people feel connected. You can do it in different ways. Maybe it’s through a video, maybe it’s through a testimony of someone who’s been impacted by one of the ministries of your church, or maybe it’s from the pastor or another church leader. No matter how you do it, make sure that the thank you focuses on how the giving of the congregation is making the ministry of the church possible. Just corporately saying thank you, and doing it when you’re together as a family on Sundays, can’t be done enough. It doesn’t get tired, especially when it’s genuine and from the heart.      

Giving statements. A lot of churches send out giving statements quarterly; some send them monthly. The frequency isn’t as important as being consistent. This shows that the church is aware that its people are giving, knows how much they’re giving, and is being a good steward of their gifts. But giving statements don’t have to be just records of financial transactions; they also present an opportunity to show gratitude. That can manifest itself in a lot of different ways, such as a testimony of someone coming to faith as a result of the ministry of the church or a thank-you note from the pastor or someone else in leadership. This is a great way to ensure that people who donate to the church understand that their giving made a difference.

Phone calls. Everyone on the church staff can make a phone call to say, “Thank you for your financial support of the church and the ministry it makes possible, and how can I pray for you?” That’s an easy phone call to make. People are often blown away that someone would call from the church to do nothing but say thank you. And as the entire staff gets involved in that, it creates an attitude of gratitude among the staff that will flow over to the congregation.

Handwritten notes. Today, getting a handwritten note from someone is such an outlier that it can be quite meaningful. It takes time to write a handwritten note, and people know that. If you don’t have the time or ability to write a separate note, take the giving statement and write a note on it.

By implementing just one more activity of gratitude with your congregation, you’ll be helping to create a generous culture at your church.