Developing a Strong Stewardship System

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Developing a Strong Stewardship System
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Goal

• To develop and cultivate first-time giver into
  lifetime stewards and generous donor.

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For where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also.Luke 1234
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Myth

• The unchurched dont want to hear about money.
• Truth
• Unchurched people are not afraid to talk about
  money. Only Christians will have a problem with
  money issues.

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Focus for this seminarMONEY!

• If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try
  missing a couple of car payments... Anonymous
• Every day I get up and look through the Forbes
  list of the richest people in America. If I'm not
  there, I go to work... Robert Orben
• Money can't buy friends, but you can get a better
  class of enemy... Spike Mulligan
• Money can't buy you happiness but it does bring
  you a more pleasant form of misery... Spike
  Mulligan
• I made my money the old fashioned way. I was very
  nice to a wealthy relative right before he
  died... Forbes

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Focus of this Seminar

• Regular church giving.
• Not about Building campaign
• Not about Fund raising campaign
• Stewardship as discipleship.
• This is a full-on discipleship issue
• Never seen a disciple who isnt a giver...
  Randy Alcorn
• Being a fully resourced church.
• Ministry is expensive!
• How do we set appropriate budget?
• Every dollar you need to do ministry is in the
  pockets of your people.
• Satan wants to keep money issues in the dark.

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We can talk about everything in the church but
money!

• Major assumption
• It is impossible to become a fully developed
  follower of Jesus unless you become a fully
  developed steward of personal resources.
• Minor Assumptions
• Our members are poorly trained on issues of
  financial stewardship. Most dont get ideas from
  church.
• There is a difference between stewardship and
  donor development. (Not a campaign!)

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What is A Stewardship System?

• Begins when an identified person gives a
  first-time gift and seeks to move them in a
  three-step process.

First-time giver
Regular Giver
Tither
Extravagant Giver
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
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Clarification

• Not everyone moves at the same pace.
• Many will move through these steps rapidly,
  others will not.
• People will move in and out of the process.
• Definitions of these steps will vary from church
  to church. Set your own numbers.

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5 Types of Givers

• Non-givers - High percentage of attendees
• Dont give because they havent been told Why.
• First-time
• Regular / Systematic Givers
• Tither - proportionate givers
• Extravagant Givers - Goes beyond the tithe.
  (Every Christian should move here)

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Step 0Cultivating First-time givers?

• First-time givers are recognized an identifiable
  gift is given.
• If you are not using offering envelopes you will
  never be able to intentionally move people
  through the giving process.
• Dont be ashamed of building intentionality.

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Education is key!

• Preach on it at least four-times a year.
• Two important times of the year.
• Jan - Budgeting and debt
• Sept - Managing money
• Short personal testimonies about giving.
• Find good givers and let them share
• Find those who have found peace through giving
• Giving challenges at least twice a year.
• Challenge first-time givers
• Challenge regular givers to give at another
  level.
• Provide ongoing resources
• getting out of debt CDs and etc...
• Create a giving brochure

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Help people know that the church is supported by
its members.

• Life change happens through everyones giving.
• Baptisms, Salvations, Community outreach.
• Giving is about life-change not stuff!
• Celebrate the purchase of things as a way to
  enhance life-change.

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Educate people on multiple options for giving.

• Weekend Worship - Dont Take offering. Give
  offering. - (70 give this way)
• Envelopes in bulletin every week.
• On-line - (Paypal)
• Send giving envelopes home.
• Make envelope self addressed/stamped.
• Many will take it home and put it in their bill
  stack and pay it when they pay monthly bills.
• Automatic bank drafts

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Why Multiple ways?

1. Cultivate new givers
2. Give options to those who forget to give at
   weekend service
3. Help those who are gone for extended periods of
   times.

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Check giving records every week!

• Its your responsibility to know.
• It may help you find potential problems with
  regular attendees.
• Helps you adjust monthly budgets.
• Allows you to track giving with topics and
  seasons of the year.

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First-time Follow-up

• Follow-up with every firt-time giver.
• Send a thank you letter and another envelope to
  give again.
• Explain what you money did. (Cast Vision!)
• By wednesday of every week.
• Email to givers
• Thank you packet
• Letter
• Auto-debit form
• Financial teaching CD.
• giving envelope
• postcard on present teaching series.

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On-going follow-up

• Quarterly giving statements
• Thank you letter - With Vision
• Postcard on present series
• Financial CD
• Auto-debit enroll form.
• Giving envelope
• Giving encouragement letter to all those who
  havent given lately.

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Step 1Cultivating Regular Givers

• Educate - Give tools and understanding.
• On the first day of every week, each one of you
  should set aside a sum of money in keeping with
  his income, saving it up, so that when I come no
  collections will have to be made... 1 Cor 162
• Utilize an annual giving challenge. (2 to 3 month
  challenge)
• Put a commitment card in the bulletin
• Follow-up with those who accept the challenge
• Layer the challenge to help people move in the
  process.

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• Provide one stewardship small group each year.
• Good Sense
• Crown Ministry
• David Ramsey
• Randy Alcorn
• For every person involved involved in a giving
  small group giving will increase by 1000 per
  year.
• Use membership class to support the importance of
  giving.
• Use a membership covenant that includes giving. -
  (Dont be shy!)
• Regularly remind people of the importance of
  giving.

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• Monthly Newsletters about good things going on in
  the church.
• Thank everyone for being generous.
• Annual Budget meeting. Vision Cast.
• Look for those who are stepping up to a higher
  level of giving and send out a personal letter to
  thank them for their generosity.

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Step 2Cultivating Tithers

• If you get the first-time system in place, this
  comes natural.
• Educate regular givers why they need to tithe.
• Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that
  there may be food in my house. Test me in this,"
  says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not
  throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out
  so much blessing that you will not have room
  enough for it... Mal 31o
• Tithing is an act of worship. (Full tithe! Dont
  teach tithing through increments or steps.)
• Challenge attendees to test God by tithing.
• Consider that no one really knows what to do.

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Leadership Issues

• People wont do what your staff doesnt do.
• If staff isnt giving, they shouldnt be staff
  members.
• Teach your staff on tithing
• Hold every staff member accountable.
• Pastors, if you cant be a good steward of your
  own money, you cant raise up good stewards.
• Become a theological expert on giving.
• Decide to family finances under control.
• Decide to hold staff and family accountable to
  bring whole tithe.
• Make annual progress toward becoming E.G.

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Step 3Cultivating Extravagant Givers

• Move people to give sacrificially on a regular
  basis.
• Teach that the tithe is a minimum.
• Tithes go to the church
• Offerings are above the tithe to other
  opportunities.
• Do an annual special offering. (Christmas
  offering)
• Do one-on-one vision casting with extravagant
  givers. Throw an annual dinner for top givers in
  church.
• Dont be afraid to cast vision with big donors.

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• Continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of
  our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 38
• Command those who are rich in this present world
  not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in
  wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their
  hope in God, who richly provides us with
  everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do
  good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be
  generous and willing to share. 19In this way they
  will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm
  foundation for the coming age, so that they may
  take hold of the life that is truly life. 1 Tim
  617-19
• But just as you excel in everythingin faith, in
  speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and
  in your love for us see that you also excel in
  this grace of giving. 2 Cor 87

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