The summer always presents a unique set of challenges for the church. People spend less time in the pews and more time enjoying their favorite leisure activities. With the children out of school and so many people coming and going, it’s easy to see why attendance drops, engagement decreases, and giving seems to just taper off. Unfortunately, sometimes we miss the warning signs. But not to worry. This summer, tap into the passion of your people with some know-how to salvage a downturn in church summer giving and engagement.
Challenge
Challenge and stretch your congregation to adopt-a-ministry inside and outside the church walls that will advance the cause for Christ in your community and around the world. It may seem counter-productive to ask your people to give even more when summer giving is expected to be down. But the truth is, generosity leads to more generosity because people start giving to things they are passionate about. It helps them make the connection between their donation and the outcome. Giving outside the walls of the church will motivate your people to give generously inside them. Encourage your congregation to go and make disciples everywhere with their time, prayers, and finances.
Communicative
Studies show that the more you communicate with generous givers, the more you can count on them to support the church with their time and finances. Direct response email campaigns offer an effective and cost-efficient way to communicate strategic church initiatives with members and churchgoers. This platform and delivery method will emotionally connect you with your congregation and convert fence-sitters into generous givers and avoid the summer church giving slump.
Update
Update your congregation on financial matters that show how their giving fits into the big picture. Inform and inspire people with information and statistics, accomplishments, long and short-term goals, and prayer requests bundled with a response mechanism to make the report more interactive. When churchgoers see what you’re doing and where you’re going, they will respond more to the ministry’s needs.
Create
Create a Quarterly Giving Report to make it easier for people to keep track of their financial commitments to the church. The giving report serves several purposes, including how to salvage a downturn in church summer giving. It allows your congregation to:
- review their giving history
- plan and budget for the year
- align giving levels with priorities
- track giving progress
Share
Sharing testimonies is one of the most palpable ways to connect the dots between giving and the vision. When you show that someone was invited to a special summer event and got involved in a small group, then started coming to church, served, and in that process gave her life to Christ, there are a billion things you can point to as part of that experience. Everyone is a dot to connect. For example, the hot dogs served at the event, the curriculum in the group, the service team coordinator’s salary, the building in which services are held, and even the lanyard the attendee wore while she was serving were all part of her experience. And all of this was supported by the generosity and faithfulness of the people who gave.
Reminding people about their financial responsibility and commitment to the church this summer is just the tip of the iceberg. Now get out there and talk to your people about giving! It’s good for them, good for the Church, and good for you.
The ultimate playbook to soar this summer!
This year the summer giving slump will be real. It will be linked to the dip in attendance from people who still haven’t returned to church and the reality of families across the country finally being able to safely skip town. Meanwhile, your church is quietly suffering the consequences. But it doesn’t have to be that way
Cal joined the ACS team in 2004 and is currently the Market Strategy Manager serving denominational ministry partners. He received a degree in Secondary Education at Southeastern Bible College. Cal went on to pursue graduate work at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. He has served on various local nonprofit organizations, including The King’s Academy, a Christian school in Florence, SC. And R.E.A.C.H., an educational resource group based in Florence.