Typically, nonprofits receive 30-50% of their yearly funds from end-of-year outreach letter responses. Churches similarly see a bulk of their donations come in from September through December thanks to the holidays, and it’s vital to many faith organizations that the year-end call to offering is one church members easily respond to. If your leadership team is looking for ideas to boost their end-of-year church giving, here are some ways you can inspire generosity.
Plan a Year-End Campaign
Prepare for the end of the year before the last quarter approaches. There are a lot of churches that do this well— often adjusting their annual year-end giving campaign as early as September. Planning will give your leaders and pastors the consistency to carry out your church’s vision in the final weeks of the year.
Having a plan will also encourage widespread generosity throughout your congregation, as people are often seeking to make meaningful contributions amidst the hustle and bustle of holiday promotions.
Share Giving Testimonials
Stories of how this year’s donations have positively impacted the community sets the stage for your church members to continue giving into the new year. When groups of people can witness the results of giving in good faith, it’s moving for all.
Share some testimonials of what your ministry has done with generous donations, how your church has helped the community, and the many ways the love of God was shared thanks to church giving.
Deliver a Sermon Series
As the year comes to an end, a large number of individuals are getting ready to improve their goals, habits, and integrity for the upcoming year. People of faith seek guidance on how they can include their spirituality in worthwhile New Years' resolutions and want to know what steps they can take to ensure they start the new year with greater responsibility.
Creating a sermon series all about giving as a spiritual discipline is a necessary and encouraging way to strengthen your church. It’s a way to equip your community with the tools they need to support spiritual practices going into this new chapter.
Receive Donations for Various Ministries
There is much benefit to receiving donations for specific ministries throughout your church. While many guests enjoy placing an envelope in the offering basket on Sundays, others prefer giving to ministries they’re directly involved in or wish to support.
If someone wants to give to your church teen outreach program, create ways that make it easy to do so. Or, for example, if your office receives an influx of calls about how they can give to the missionaries who travel abroad, start accepting online gifts if your church doesn’t already.
Announce on Social Media
Using social media to ask for donations might seem daunting at first, but many people enjoy seeing what their church is up to while scrolling their feed. With the convenience of the internet, faith-based communities can remain connected even during times when there might be social distancing regulations in effect.
Posting holiday announcements or sharing year-end fundraiser goals with your followers can lead to an abundance of online donations. By making a donation link available in your social media profiles, it’s easy for followers to click-to-give in response to your posts and stories.
Throw Fundraisers and Events
Events are a natural part of the holiday season and the end of the year. Bringing people together with a celebration promises meaningful connections and greater opportunities to reach all types of givers in your church.
Host a church fundraiser event for the end of the year, whether in person or online. With the continuing health and safety measures since COVID-19, it might not be as easy as it was in years past to gather face-to-face. But with online giving tools, fundraisers can last weeks or months at a time with great success.
Send Churchwide Emails
No matter what the size of your church is, utilizing an email newsletter is another way to encourage year-end giving. Similar to a Christmas newsletter, end-of-year donation letters help to inform the congregation about how the year went, remind the community of their collective efforts, and share specific needs of your church.
In this type of email or letter, your church leaders can include:
- Fond memories of various ministries this year
- Accomplishments of the church
- Needs for the upcoming year (such as building repairs or new large-print Bibles)
- Donations received throughout this year compared to last year
- Ministry goals for the next year
- Gratitude to anyone who gave this year
- What to look forward to next year
There are so many ways to utilize an email list for your church. At the end of the year, don’t neglect the chance to spread the churchwide-inspired call to give for all who attend, whether newcomers or frequent visitors.
Broaden Your Church Giving
Perhaps your church leaders are looking for new ways to accept donations, whether from the pews or online. Making it easier for people to donate to your church is essential, as most people have gone digital today. If your church doesn’t have online giving, get started so you can go into the new year with greater generosity in your church.
For a more in-depth Year-End Church Giving Guide, we’re providing a free resource that walks you through twelve ways you can ignite giving through the rest of this year. In it, you’ll get access to:
- Email templates
- Ministry landing page outlines
- Social media prompts
- Push notification suggestions
- And more
Download your free guide HERE and start improving your end-of-year giving.
