Home Outreach Leaders Articles for Outreach & Missions 7 New Rules for Raising Money in the Church

7 New Rules for Raising Money in the Church

You can actually talk about money quite regularly without overdoing it. It might look like something like this.

  • Once a week – Take 60 seconds right before the offering and share a quick story or connect the dots for people. You don’t have to preach an entire sermon or make the whole day about it to properly highlight generosity. Our friends at Fully Funded have a comprehensive stewardship program that includes 52 giving scripts.
  • Once a quarter – Preach a sermon on money, or at least devote a significant amount of time during a sermon to the topic.
  • Once a year– Take a few weeks to talk about whole-life stewardship. Giving is certainly a part of this, but so is saving, spending, debt, volunteering, leadership, time and many other topics related to being a wise steward of resources.

Why is it important to clearly ask people to give? Because stewardship is a part of the discipleship process. Jesus said our hearts and our treasure were connected. They influence each other.

Why are we asking? Because stewardship is a part of discipleship. Heart and money connected.

Rule #2: Leaders must go first.

When it comes to generosity, leaders go first.

Really, this is a much bigger principle and it applies to much more than generosity. The bottom line is that leaders set the tone for the rest of the church. I’m talking about the pastors, staff, elders, deacons, small group leaders, Sunday school teachers and key volunteers.

If people in official or unofficial leadership roles are not living generously and supporting the church at a high level, the rest of the church will not pick up the slack.

This is why pastors in debt struggle to lead a congregation to financial freedom. We’ve got to get our own financial house in order first.

If you’re leading in a church, your mindset is of the utmost importance. If you’re leading the church with a scarcity mindset or a broke mindset, you’re going to struggle. This mindset has very little to do with a bank balance and everything to do with our perspective.

Our own mindset might be the biggest growth barrier we are facing.

If you church needs a financial reset, you may not need a capital campaign or a big, public emphasis. It might be smart to start with the leaders and slowly work to change the culture.

Talk to your leaders before you talk to your church.