Leading Ideas from The Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., United States for Wednesday, 19 August 2015: Crafting Better Commitment Campaign Messages | Inspiring Generosity with a Thank You Letter

Leading Ideas from The Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., United States for Wednesday, 19 August 2015: Crafting Better Commitment Campaign Messages | Inspiring Generosity with a Thank You Letter

Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Crafting Better Commitment Campaign Messages by Ann A. Michel

Many churches have a one-size-fits-all approach to their annual stewardship appeal. Everyone in the congregation receives the same “Dear Friend” letter inviting them to prayerfully offer up their tithe to the church for the coming year. While this approach is simple and easy to execute, it’s generally not the most effective or meaningful way to communicate with people about their giving.
This approach ignores the reality that in every church there are people at various points along the journey toward becoming faithful stewards. Some may be life-long tithers. Some have given faithfully for years. Others have never made a financial contribution, much less a pledge. Approaching these different kinds of givers with the same appeal just doesn’t make sense from a spiritual or a developmental perspective.
When planning a commitment campaign, I generally think about several different categories of givers, each needing to hear a slightly different message.
Most generous givers or tithers. In every church, a small percentage of generous contributors provides a very significant proportion of what is given. These givers, above all else, deserve to be thanked. In all likelihood, they are the most prone to increase their giving, so it’s important to acknowledge how important their continued generosity is in sustaining the church’s ministry.
Pledgers with room to grow. These givers, too, deserve to be thanked. But they also need to hear how growing in giving will help them mature spiritually and connect them more meaningfully to God’s work in and through the church. Explain to them why it’s important to give in proportion to their income as they grow toward the goal of tithing or sacrificial giving.
People who contribute to the church but do not pledge. These givers also deserve to be thanked, of course. But the message they need to hear is why it’s important to make a pledge — not because the church needs their pledge to build the budget — but because a pledge is a promise to themselves and to God that helps them be more faithful in the spiritual practice of giving.
Non-contributors. As shocking as it may seem, every church has a substantial cohort of people who don’t give at all. It makes little sense to ask these people to begin by giving ten percent of their income, or even by making a pledge. People almost invariably give before they become pledgers or tithers. So invite these people to support the church with a gift. Let them know of the good work their giving will support. Don’t shame or belittle them. Assume they are part of your church for a reason, and they just need a little encouragement to get started.
New members. If someone is new to your community and being asked to make a commitment for the first time, this is a wonderful opportunity to explain to them why church members are asked to pledge and how the commitment process works. The message can be welcoming and invitational in tone.
In addition to composing letters along these lines, it can be helpful to keep these categories in mind if your campaign plan involves group gatherings to discuss commitments. People won’t find it a bit odd to be in a meeting with other people whose relationship to the church is similar to their own, and they will appreciate hearing a message about giving that makes sense given their situation.
Yes, this means that the pastor or someone else needs to be paying attention to who’s who, where they are spiritually, and what they give. In fact, the need to communicate with people about their giving in meaningful and appropriate ways is one of the best arguments in favor of allowing responsible people proper access to giving records. SeeShould a Pastor Know what People Give?
And yes, this approach takes more work. But it’s well worth it. Your church members are much more likely to think seriously about their giving to the church when they receive an appeal that meets them where they are, both spiritually and in terms of their giving history.
Ann A. Michel is associate director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership and teaches stewardship at Wesley Theological Seminary.

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Inspiring Generosity with a Thank You Letter by Cesie Delve Scheuermann

How often have you opened up what looks like a form letter and read, “On behalf of blah blah blah, I want to thank you for your generous donation.”? In principle, there’s nothing wrong with this. And believe me, it’s way better to receive a boring thank you letter than to receive nothing at all.

But what if you got a letter with this opening: “What a friend you are to us! Once again you have honored us with a gift that is making a difference in the lives of people.” I recently received such a note from my alma mater.

While I’ve supported the college over the years, I am nowhere near being a big donor. And that’s what made this letter all the more surprising. The school’s director of annual giving had me at “What a friend you are to us!” There was no ask. It was all thanks. And the final cherry on top was her hand-written note, “Thank you for your amazing 20 years of supporting Westmont.” Wow. I hadn’t realized that I had been giving for 20 years. But someone took the time and recognized this milestone.

How many faithful stewards do you have in your church who have given decade after decade? Have you taken the time to recognize them? It doesn’t have to be some big hoop-dee-do. A simple, yet heartfelt, “thank you” really is sometimes all that’s needed to make someone feel noticed, appreciated, blessed, and happy to be a raving fan.

Cesie Delve Scheuermann is a consultant in stewardship, development, and grant writing and a lay leader in the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. This article is adapted from a post on her blog Inspiring Generosity and used with the author’s permission. 

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Quotable Leadership:
Small church members are motivated to preserve or enhance the well-being of their church because they find in that context what is most meaningful in their lives.[Anthony Pappas]

Learn 50 Ways to Improve Your Annual Stewardship Campaign

This free resource from our popular 50 Ways series provides effective strategies for improving your stewardship campaign. Topics include: plan carefully; structure your campaign to acknowledge unique giving patterns; know what motivates people to give; ask in effective ways; follow-up; and more. 

Read and download this 50 Waysresource today.
The Right Question
Leaders do not need answers. Leaders must have the right questions.
In planning for another year, whether for program or budgeting, it is easy to design those plans modeled after the most recent year. Consider instead taking time to think about the lives of those you seek to serve for the implications of that planning. Some possible questions include:

• What has changed in the lives of our members in the last three to five years?
• What changes are they facing in the next three to five years?

Want more Right Questions? Check out “Right Questions for Church Leaders, Volumes 1–4.”
Editors: Lovett H. Weems, Jr., and Ann A. Michel.

Production: Carol Follett
Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary.
4500 Massachusetts Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20016 United States

(202) 885-8757

lewiscenter@wesleyseminary.edu
lewiscenter@wesleyseminary.edu |
Lewis Center for Church Leadership

Wesley Theological Seminary

4500 Massachusetts Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20016
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