Year-End Giving
The end of the calendar year is an opportunity for churches and nonprofits alike to encourage giving both with those who haven’t yet given throughout the year and those who’ve been blessed financially and are able to make an extra year-end gift. Americans are particularly poised to give at the end of year, as Thanksgiving and Christmas call us to practice gratitude, other-centeredness and good will. This is coupled with December being an ideal time to maximize tax advantages (God calls us to be generous and good stewards!). Many churches and nonprofits raise a significant portion of their annual budgets in the month of December.
Giving in the Time of Coronavirus
You may be concerned about asking people to give in a year when so many have been hard hit by coronavirus and its impact on the economy. The reality is that the pandemic has been financially hard for some, but not for all. We encourage you to check out the Auxilio blog article called Encouraging Generosity that has two resources:
An article that explains the K shape curve of the pandemic. For those able to work from home, they may be unaffected or even more financially solvent as a result of the pandemic (salary has stayed the same but spending has gone down). Others who have lost jobs, had to scale back hours or pay for childcare are struggling and may be in need of the church's help financially.
A guide on how to encourage those in your community for whom giving isn't currently practiced. It may be a new concept to them. It may be they've never been asked, they’re struggling financially or they may not know how to start.
Unprecedented Opportunity
With the unparalleled impact of coronavirus, there may be extraordinary need for mercy this season. Your church or nonprofit could be the hands and feet of God by providing financial resources to your community - meeting physical needs through the generous giving of your members. Even if your own church or organizational budget is healthy right now and you don’t feel a need to make a big fundraising push, you have a real opportunity to provide much needed resources to your community. Consider putting this vision before your congregations at year-end and even setting up a special mercy fund to meet needs. Auxilio can help our clients set up and manage such a fund.
Giving as Worship
Not just at year-end but often and regularly, we encourage you to talk about giving as an act of worship - as a response to all God has done for us. When giving-as-worship is a regular part of a church’s dialogue, a year-end giving push becomes a natural outworking of this aspect of discipleship. Whether you make a year-end ask through a letter, an email, by verbal invitation or a combination of approaches, the weeks surrounding Thanksgiving are an ideal time to tell the story of how God has been at work in your church, organization and community and to inspire people to respond in gratitude and with faith.