Lent 1 - Wednesday - Why People Give Money to Non-Profits But Not to the Church

I woke up this morning to the news that a prominent family in our community recently gave a donation of 50 million dollars to one of the local hospitals in our area for life-saving drug research. That is an awesome and wonderful gift that will assist in research to cure devastating disease and extend life. But it does raise interesting questions for those of us in the Church business that are competing like never before for an abundance of charitable dollars.

Lynn Schaller who has been helping congregations grow and thrive for decades wrote a book entitled The New Context for Ministry. In it, he speaks directly about the changing attitudes in charitable giving. He writes: “The new face of American philanthropy is distinguished by an unprecedented level of competition for the charitable dollar. For well over 90 percent of all Christian congregations this means that they will NOT be able to compete” (Nashville: Abingdon Press, page 161). Those are strong words from a guy who has been in the trenches of congregational ministry for a long time.

This change of attitude about giving began in the fifties when the Church was the predominant charity in most communities. The appeal was simple: “You should give.” And people opened up their check books and wrote the Church a check. But here is the key: sixty years later too many of our churches are still using the same appeal. Today, the response is very different. People are reacting to our request with a question – “Why should I give to you?”

Numbers tell the story. In the mid-eighties according to Giving USA religious institutions received 53% of all charitable contributions in America. During the 1990’s that number fell to 40%. By 2007, the number had decreased again to 32%. The institutional Church now competes with over 1.8 million non-profits each year for charitable funds. The statistics prove that religion is no longer the charity of choice. In fact, we are losing the battle!

The Church must be encouraged to get back onto the playing field and aggressively compete for these dollars. Most leaders in the Church are ill prepared for this battle for during their studies at seminary little or no education was provided for this important component of our ministry. While that fact may be very true, it can no longer be used as an excuse. The Rector of parish is in all actuality the person who sets the vision and head fundraiser of that vision for the congregation.

Clif Christopher in an insightful book entitled Not Your Parents’ Offering Plate writes: “Donors are saying to our churches today that you have to earn our gifts. No longer can you just preach a sermon on tithing and think that members will give 10 percent to the church. They will hear your message that tithing is what God wants them to do, and then they will go home and decide to give the church 2 percent, the youth center 2 percent, the homeless shelter 2 percent, and their college 4 percent. They will then look you right in the eye when you say that it should all go to the church, and they will ask you, ‘Do you not believe that Jesus is working in the youth center and the homeless shelter and with our college students?’ If you are not prepared to compete with over one million non-profits, you will lose” (Nashville: Abingdon Press, page 7).

Church leaders in the 21^st century will have to embrace the concept that competition is good for the whole. It should drive us out of our mediocrity and into the world making our churches and our communities a better place to be. Competition means raising the bar and demanding excellence in all that we do in the Church – exceptional worship – outstanding preaching – first-rate programming – extraordinary giving to justice ministries.

Can you hear the whiners already wailing: “We can’t do that because our church has no money!” Your group is already in Schaller’s ninety percent. You might as well throw in the towel because you have forgotten to live the promise that….

All things are possible with God!

Begin with exceptional worship that costs little or nothing: train your worship leaders, be consistent from week to week, and demand accountability. I am currently worshipping with a community whose liturgies are captivating and engaging. The members of the congregation know the “dance” because there is consistency from Sunday to Sunday. We gather with the expectation that something is going to happen that day – that the Spirit will be present in our midst. The worship is truly exceptional.

Outstanding preaching is free! The pastor has to simply do his/her homework. How much time does your priest/minister spend in preparing to share God’s Word? Do you know? Do you care? Encourage your pastor to spend more time in study and prayer for your community will reap the benefits each and every Sabbath day.

Do you have members in your faith community who have talents and amazing life-experience? If the answer is yes than you have the potential for first-rate programming. The best formation programs that I have experienced over the years are not when a talented or notable speaker comes into the community sharing information with a group of interested souls. The memorable programs have been local folks sharing their faith, speaking about their lives and how they have experienced God in those events, or communicating a profound truth in a Bible Study. What made the difference? They prepared themselves. They were accountable to the group. They confidently spoke about God and how God made a difference in their lives. The talent is right there in your congregation, it must be encouraged, mentored, and nurtured.

If you begin to do those things well and allow God to assist you in the process, I can assure you that over time things will begin to change in your congregation which will then lead to extraordinary giving. But there must be consistency, accountability, and real leadership.

Here are two questions to ask your leadership team and an idea to share:

• In what ways has our church experienced changes in the competitive environment for our church in our community?
• What are some of the ways our church has changed as the times have changed?
• Invite the executive director of one of your community’s first-rate non-profits to come and talk to your stewardship committee about how they do fund-raising and how they relate to their donors? (Not Your Parents’ Offering Plate, pages 8-9)

Clif Christopher believes that there are three reasons people give to an organization:

• A Belief in the Mission
• Regard for Staff Leadership
• Fiscal Responsibility of the Institution

He writes: “People want to make the world a better place to live. They want to believe that they can truly make a difference for the better. There is embedded in us, it seems, a desire to finish our work on this earth with a sense that we amounted to something. To sum it up, people want to be part of something that changes lives” (Not Your Parents’ Offering Plate, page 13).

That was the mission of Jesus – changed lives! That is the mission of the Church – changed lives! Churches are losing the battle because we have forgotten the mission. Churches and denominations have embroiled themselves in issues, controversies, scandals, and ministries that have nothing to do with the mission of Jesus – changed lives! “When a local church consistently shows its constituents how lives are being improved through its ministry, then that church gets supported” (Not Your Parents’ Offering Plate, page 15).

When I have been invited to speak at a Church program or with a leadership team of a local congregation, it is a fairly safe bet that somewhere in the conversation I will say: “It’s not about you. It’s not about me. It’s all about Jesus.” That is why the Church exists. We are to be about changing lives for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If your parish, congregation, denomination, or faith community is not about that mission, please clear out of the way and let others be the leaders. As Clif Christopher reminds his readers: “We are running out of time and losing our donor base by not doing our job” (Not Your Parents’ Offering Plate, page 17).

Christopher believes that the second reason people give to non-profits is the regard that the donor has for those who lead the organization. He writes: “People realized a long time ago that it was not the Mayflower that sailed across the ocean to America; it was the pilgrims who did the sailing. It was not the bat that hit the home run to win the game; it was the batter. It was not the hospital that performed the operation to save your life, but the surgeon. In the same manner, they have learned that the church building or program is not what is changing lives; it is the people leading the church and those programs that make the difference. When they have confidence in those persons to perform, gifts follow. When they do not, those gifts go to people in whom they have confidence.” (Not Your Parents’ Offering Plate, page 21).

Later on his chapter Reasons People Give, Christopher addresses the third reason: Fiscal Responsibility of the Institution. He writes: “People do not give to sinking ships. They give to ships that are sailing strong and give every indication of reaching their destination. When people invest in non-profits, they do not want to waste their investment….Charitable institutions today are being held to a different standard than even a few years ago. Donors feel the same way about the church. More than ever they are holding the church accountable for wise use of funds and looking for solid performance with the funds already given. We must be very careful in the message that we send out, to ensure that the do not convey that we are not fiscally sound, when often times we are.

“The Church is the only non-profit I know of that seems to believe that the more you cry that you are sinking, the more people will give to you. The exact opposite is true. No non-profit I know of would ever send out a donor letter stating that they are running a horrible deficit and they just want donors to help balance the budget. They know that such a letter actually discourages giving rather than motivates it. A non-profit board will deal with the budget matters in a board meeting but never publicize such to its donor base. The church goes out of its way to do just that.

“In the non-profit world…Harvard University leads all universities in endowment giving year after year. Do they send out a message that they are dying on the vine and must have one more contribution to stay afloat? No, they say, ‘We took your money last year and did great things with it. If you will give us more, we will do more great things.’ And people give and give to them. People want results and these intuitions give positive results” (Not Your Parents’ Offering Plate, page 28-29).

Clif Christopher’s book is filled with great wisdom and learning from his work in the church as a pastor and as the founder of Horizons Stewardship Company. I suggest that my readers purchase a copy of this book for your pastor/priest, the chair of your Finance and Stewardship committees. Let them in turn purchase copies for their ministry teams. It might be the best $11 you will ever spend. Click here for more information.

I believe with all of my heart that the Church has a better message than anything Harvard University can muster! Our message is about changed lives that our happening each and every day as people discover the transforming love of Jesus Christ. We need to share those stories with folks. Celebration and the articulation of the Good News is the reason for our being. Jesus is alive and lives are being changed. Do you have a story to tell?

On Friday I am going to paint a vision for the Church that I hope will inspire and motivate people who have 50 million dollars and people who have 500 dollars to embrace and join in a mission – the mission of Jesus – a mission of changed lives. I hope you will return and reflect with me.

Love One Another - Brian