ASSEMBLIES OF GOD
SIDEBAR: Ten Action Steps to Increase Generosity
by Kregg R. Hood
• Preach a series each year on stewardship. Include one positive sermon on tithing.
• Make giving online and by text message convenient.
• Send contributors a one-page letter each quarter with a year-to-date giving statement. (See the related sidebar, “How to Write a Quartely Giving Letter.”)
• Share video testimonies from your congregation about how biblical stewardship involves all your resources — not just giving money.
• Use illustrations on stewardship in all types of sermons.
• Teach giving in your New Members class.
• Schedule special offerings (above the tithe) for events, outreach, benevolence, missions, etc.
• Offer regular classes on biblical financial wisdom (especially getting out of credit card debt).
• Develop relationships with people who have significant potential to make giving a major ministry (not as fundraising but “faith raising”).
• As appropriate for their faith development, consider a note, lunch, or visit with people who give $1,000 or more for the first time in any given week. Do the same with those who have recently started giving consistently; are among your highest givers; or have made significant changes in their giving. (Increases or decreases may signal important life situations.)
Remember, your goal is faith raising, not favoritism. Giving is a ministry. For more ideas, visit kregghood.com/premium-resources/.
— KREGG R. HOOD, Naperville, Illinois