Leaders in faith: Budget for giving

Posted October 13, 2009 at 11:40 am and filed under Faith.

By Gordon Duncan

Gordon Duncan

Gordon Duncan

Church and charitable giving was down nearly 6 percent in 2008, according to philanthropy.com, and because of this many nonprofits and most churches are struggling with the change in giving patterns.

At a recent prayer gathering of pastors I attended, 66 percent reported difficult or dire financial circumstances. Apparently, times are tough all over.

Many churches have trimmed their budgets, cut programs and even canceled future building expansions. Others resolutely stick to their original plans as if a change would demonstrate a lack of faith. A few cannot change their budgets in any practical way because of loans and other commitments, leaving some churches on the brink of shutting down, building foreclosure or property seizure.

Church response has been varied. The simplest (and perhaps most effective) reaction has been to inform congregants of the need and the possible plans or necessary changes if budgets are not met.

Others resort to guilt or poor biblical interpretations. Watch enough late-night TV, and you will hear such language as “sowing seed gifts of faith” to God (the idea of sending money into a church or ministry to demonstrate faith). This then becomes manipulative language to raise money while promising that God will return their seed gifts of faith with personal wealth.

Though I find the latter approach to increasing donations repugnant, the bottom line for whatever approach a church takes is this: Giving reflects the heart. Whatever a person cares about is what that person spends his money on. To make it personal: Whatever you spend your money on is what you care about.

If a person wants to give to a church or a charity but can’t because there is no room in the budget, the things in that budget are what the person cares about. If a person’s budget includes giving before making purchases, then that person values giving.

There are, of course, other avenues of giving, such as the giving of time and the use of talent. These are just as important as the giving of money. They too reflect the heart in the same way that money does, but none of them replace the other.

The giving of all three (time, talent and tithe) reflect the heart. Excluding giving in one reflects the heart’s priority.

For example, to give money but not time says, “My time is too important to give away.”

To give talent and time but not money says, “My money is too important to give away.”

Either way, whatever people choose to give in whatever quantity will always reflect what they care about. If a church — or any organization, for that matter — wants to increase giving, then they must increase the value of that organization to people’s lives.

Gordon Duncan is pastor of Sovereign King Church.

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3 Responses for “Leaders in faith: Budget for giving”

  1. Melissa Brown says:
    October 14, 2009 at 8:06 am

    Thanks for the insights. Please note that Philanthropy.com (The Chronicle of Philanthropy) reported inflation-adjusted results from Giving USA”s annual estimates of charitable giving. For 2008, religious giving is estimated to have increased slightly (1.6% adjusted for inflation, or 5.5% before that adjustment). This year, though, we are hearing that things will be different.

  2. Your Tithe Expert says:
    October 14, 2009 at 12:05 pm

    Well said.

    The “sowing seed gifts of faith” is just unacceptable. There is no justification for exploiting people spiritually and financially.

    Peace & Blessings!

  3. Provender says:
    October 15, 2009 at 8:00 pm

    Manipulative leaders will always tap into the reality that many folks will feel guilty for whatever they spend time or money on outside of church.

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