Tag Archive for: christmas

How to Think About End-of-Year Giving

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Decorations are up, your Christmas sermon planning is in full swing, and in the midst of all the organizing and planning you have one more thing on your mind—end-of-year giving.

31% of charitable giving happens in December because for many donors this is the last chance to get their giving reflected on this year’s taxes, and for companies their fiscal year often ends in December.

Anywhere you look this time of year, it’s common to see organizations putting together one big push for donations before January 1. However, churches and church leaders can often feel deterred from talking about this topic too much for fear of being pushy, seeming ungrateful, or to focus on other important reminders during the holiday season.

While we want to be intentional about how we talk about finances, we also have a responsibility to think and talk about end-of-year giving in a way that honors our church’s mission and doesn’t let this opportunity go unnoticed.

Here are a few tips on how to approach end-of-year giving:

1. Talk about it.

There is a reason so many people and organizations have a big push at the end of the year. It’s not only the last opportunity to get donations in this calendar year, but this is also a major opportunity to practice a mindset of generosity. Around the Christmas season, we are surrounded by opportunities to “buy, buy, buy” that can shift our focus on what we don’t have rather than appreciate what we do.

But the true reason for the season is to celebrate the birth of Christ, recognize the hope we have, and practice giving generously out of gratitude of the gift we have received in Jesus.

You may have a fear that talking about giving in a public way may put undue pressure or an expectation on those who cannot afford to be generous. However, we have to remember that God works in everyone’s heart individually, and will lead each person individually. When we present the reasons giving matters in the ministry of the church, we can trust God to faithfully lead those in our congregation through how they should individually respond.

People can’t respond to a need if they don’t know the need exists.

2. This isn’t the only time to ask people to give.

While this is a great opportunity for giving, you can take some pressure off your shoulders by remembering that this isn’t the only time of the year that people can give. You have many faithful, monthly givers who donate year-round to support your ministry.

Take a deep breath and remember that this isn’t an all-or-nothing situation. It’s an opportunity we can leverage as much as possible and an opportunity to give people a chance to get involved with what God is doing in your church, but this isn’t the only time of the year you can invite your congregation to take this step.

READ: 5 Important Online Giving Statistics

3. Connect giving to a specific outcome.

What are people’s gifts going to be used for? People like to help you meet a specific need or fund a project. This also helps build excitement around your ministry and allows you to tangibly show people how their dollars help achieve the mission. You might consider connecting your end-of-year giving with a building project, ministry upgrade, or particular area of service so people can see something tangible their dollars will go towards.

There may also be years that you have a shortage in your budget from lower giving throughout the year. Make sure you communicate that need to your congregation. The majority of people won’t know you have a potential deficit if you don’t communicate it to them.

4. Incorporate storytelling into your messaging.

End-of-year giving isn’t just about soliciting donations; it’s a chance to celebrate what God has done through generosity in the past. This is an opportunity to talk about the heart of your ministry and even share some stories of the impact you have been able to have through generous giving in the past!

What stories can you focus on telling as you invite people to give generously?

READ: 5 Ways We Should Talk About Money at Church

5. 73% of church giving happens throughout the week.

You don’t have to push people to give only on Sunday mornings. In fact, many people do the majority of their giving during the week. This means that you should be including an opportunity to give in your emails, on social media, and even giving people a text reminder. These helpful reminders throughout the week with a direct link to where they can donate are a great way to lead people to take action whenever they are ready.

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The end of the year is a great opportunity to give people options to donate and practice generosity. As church leaders, we have a responsibility to talk about how people can get involved without guilting them into giving.

By following the tips above, you can start thinking about end-of-year giving in a way that is God-honoring and doesn’t let the timeliness of this season pass you by.

Do you need a church management system that can help you communicate with your congregation, organize volunteers, and lead efficiently? You can try One Church Software FREE for 14 days to see all the ways it can help you care for your members, empower your volunteers, and serve your community.

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6 Things to Keep in Mind for Your Christmas Service This Year

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Christmas is a time when there is hustling and bustling in stores, people are visiting relatives they haven’t seen all year (or longer!), and when it comes to church, you’ll likely see a few more new faces.

Whether it’s the sporadic member, the major-holiday-only attender, new guest, or even a relative of a regular attendee, this is a time of year when you are likely expecting additional people to connect with your church in some way. For many, this will be the primary time those individuals will connect and receive encouragement from a church in the year.

What an incredible opportunity we have!

As we enter this season, here are a few things we want to encourage you to keep in mind for your church Christmas service(s) this year:

1) Life is full of disruption and worry.

It wasn’t that long ago that we were all collectively navigating a global pandemic. For many, this year has been full of health challenges, work stressors, economic fears, and so much more. Those who participate in your Christmas services are likely carrying stress and worry. The best way to support your community this holiday season is to make sure your church is a place where they can find stability and hope.

2) Be sure you have a first-time visitor follow-up process.

After new visitors walk out your door, do you have a plan to connect with them? Invite them back? Take some time before new people arrive to make sure you have a clear follow-up process. This is important to have set up year-round, but it’s doubly important around the holidays. And if you already have a follow-up process, take some time to review it before your Christmas services.

3) Don’t be afraid to approach Christmas traditions with innovation.

Think back to 2020: Churches had to consider how to reach people when they couldn’t gather together in a physical space. As a result, many churches got creative with ways to connect with their community and offered additional resources to promote connection. While in-person gatherings have returned to their usual capacity, that doesn’t mean you should forgo a fresh approach this year.

Online resources, livestreams, video calls, and group study guides are a great way to reach a wider base of people than you may be able to with a physical service alone.

4) Make sure you are engaging people outside of Sunday.

We have a tendency to focus all our efforts into our Sunday service or Christmas Eve services, but what about the other six days of the week? Instead of only focusing on the service, plan ahead to have encouraging emails, text messages, weekly resources, or even some Christmas cards throughout the holiday season. Also, consider how you can be a special blessing to people around this season. If there is someone that doesn’t have family around to celebrate Christmas with this year, invite them to an event, go caroling at their house, or do something special to remind them they are valued and supported.

5) Don’t wait until next year to review how your Christmas service went.

If you don’t take the time to do this right after your church Christmas service, then it will likely be 11 months before you consider it again and, by that time, you won’t remember. By taking the time to review what you did well and what still needs improvement while it’s all fresh in your mind, you’ll be that much more prepared for next year!

6) Let the Truth of this season impact your heart, too.

It can be easy to get wrapped up in decorating, planning the message, and making sure that the service is just right that you forget to let the truth of Christmas impact your own heart. This is the time of year that we remember the incredible truth that Jesus came to earth as a humble child, fully experiencing our humanity, to freely offer us salvation, redemption, and hope. Don’t merely focus on communicating this truth to others; be sure to meditate on it in your own life and walk with God.

This Christmas, remember that the most important thing you can do is to share the Good News with others. That our voices might join in with the shepherds, wise men, and angels in saying, “…I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people…” (Luke 2:10 ESV)

Merry Christmas from all of us here at One Church Software!

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An End-of-Year Checklist for Church Leaders

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Holiday decorations? Check. Christmas sermon written? Check. Choir and band ready to perform? Check. Community outreach? Check.

If you are someone that likes end-of-year checklists, you probably have one similar to the one above. Planning and preparing for the Christmas season is one of the busiest times of the year for church leaders. And you likely spend a large part of this time getting ready to share the hope of this season with your regular churchgoers and new guests.

But after the lights and candy canes are put away, there are still a few things that need to be done that can be easy to forget about.

As you prepare to celebrate with your family and look back on the year, be sure to set aside time to do these items that should be on every church leader’s end-of-the-year checklist:

1) Review your 2021 goals

You (hopefully) took some time to make them at the beginning of the year, so how did you do at achieving those goals? Were there some you didn’t reach or accomplish? Don’t just breeze past them; instead, take some time to review why. If you had too many goals or not enough help in achieving them, that will be important as you set new goals for 2022. It’s even just important to review all that you did in 2021! Celebrate how far you’ve come and the impact your church has had!

2) Evaluate your communication systems and where you can improve.

This is a great time to honestly evaluate how well your church is communicating. What’s working? What’s not? This doesn’t just apply to how you communicate with your church at large, but also how you communicate with your teams. Do you utilize software that helps track and notify team members that are volunteering or supporting a certain ministry? If you already do this, take some time to ask your teams how they feel it’s working and if you need to do anything differently.

3) Thank your faithful givers.

The end of the year is a perfect time to be able to effectively thank not only your regular members, but anyone that has given to your church. Make sure to include updates on special giving campaigns, missionaries, local ministries you support, and what the impact of their giving was in the last year on your church checklist. Saying thank you is so important to let people know that they are making a difference. This may be included with people’s yearly giving statements or it may be in addition to it.

4) Check to see if anyone is in need.

Christmas can be a hard time of the year for some. If they don’t have family, live far away from them, or have maybe experienced a loss this year, Christmas can feel lonely and isolating. Take some time to think about those in your church. Is there anyone that you haven’t seen around in a while that your church should reach out to? Is there someone that has lost their job or had health issues?

5) Give yourself time to rest.

Like really rest. It seems like the last two years have flown by and many church leaders have been working non-stop to adapt how we have done church during this time. Have you taken the time to rest and be still? Even if you’ve already taken some time to do that in the past, this should be a regular habit that is practiced and included on your church checklist.

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As we celebrate Christ’s birth and close out 2021, we hope you plan some extra time to take care of these end-of-the-year tasks, and also to rest and spend meaningful time with family. Leading a church and organizing all of these things takes a lot of work. But we know that Christ is the one that will take our faithful efforts and cause them to bear fruit in 2022.

From all of us here at One Church Software, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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