People Spots Online
Produced by James W. Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants
Provided as a service by New Life Ministries

Raising Funds

by James W. Moss, Sr.

It has been my observation that churches never have enough money. Obviously, if a majority of participants tithed, there would be no problem. Most people are shocked when they understand the tithe potential of their church. The following is a simple method to determine a potential tithe income for your church. Select a modest figure for the average household income for the people of your church. Multiply that number by the number of giving units in the church. Then multiply that number by .1 which then will give you the potential income if the people of your church tithed. The following is an example:

Smithton Church has an average household income of $35,000.00. This congregation has 50 giving units. 50 x $35,000.00 = $1,750,000 x.1 = $175,000. Simply stated, the tithe potential for Smithton Church is $175,000.00. The council was shocked when they heard this because the actual giving was $72,432.00.

It became obvious there needed to be some teaching about stewardship. It is truly more blessed to give than to receive. I do recommend a program called “Celebration Sunday” written by Herb Miller and published by Abingdon Press. This project emphasizes the need to give to enjoy the blessings of giving. That is contrasted with the need to give to fund the church.

Ultimately the church needs to be funded by the tithes and offerings of the people. Appropriate teaching will nurture increased giving. In the meantime there may be ways to encourage other giving.

Have a "Tithing Sunday." Encourage as many people as possible to tithe one week’s income for that one week. See what the offering is.

Project giving is the easiest way to raise money. List ten items in the year’s budget and ask if anyone would like to contribute for one of them. One of the items could be 1 month or 1 week’s total expenses for the church.

One church prepared quart jars with labels. The people were encouraged to place their pocket change in the jars and bring them to the church.

There may be a special offering at Christmas or 30 pieces of silver for Easter.

One church gave seed money. People received an envelope that contained either $1.00, $3.00, or $5.00. People were to invest their seed money in various ways and return the proceeds on the collection day.

Is there a special method that has worked for you? Please respond if so.

I am quite aware that giving the tithe is the prescribed method for funding the church. I also know that it is more blessed to give than to receive. But sometimes we have to work a little to help people enjoy the blessings of giving. But we may have to do some serious teaching on family budgeting and debt management from a Christian perspective to assist our families to reach the tithe goal.

_____________________

Read about Jim's seminars and books.

_____________________

August 28, 2006. Volume 9, Issue 6. People Spots Online is prepared by James W. Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants. It is provided as a service by New Life Ministries, www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org. Articles may be duplicated and reproduced in any way with proper credit. A new article is produced about every two weeks. To be added to a list to receive these messages directly by e-mail, send a request to churchconsultants@yahoo.com.

Raising Funds

Top of Page