Over the last several years, I’ve been exposed to a number of projects that are related to giving, fundraising, stewardship and generosity for the church and ministries.
It’s an critically important topic. It means life or death to many organizations. In fact, 86% of churches are at or below budget. (WHAT????!??!?!?!?).
And generosity is widely misunderstood and at the same time understandably confusing to many of the pastors and church leaders we encounter.
What does “generosity” mean to you?
In fact, that’s probably one of the first questions we need to get answered and have some common language and understanding around in order for us to make any tangible progress:
There are numerous data points that have been popping out at me over the years that point to the real need for more education and awareness of the opportunities and new approaches available to bridging the gap.
There’s also many resources becoming available that are aimed at helping pastors make the pivot from a obligation / guilt perspective of doctrine to one that is life-serving and based on grace and flourishing.
I have so much more to say about the state of generosity across the church, but when you add in the complexity of both digital technologies available (and needed) today as well as the shift in expectations and habits of the upcoming generations, the situation becomes more urgent than ever.
So instead of just whining about it, let’s do something about it.
Today, I’m publicly sharing with you the seed of an idea. What if there was a clearinghouse for educating and supporting church leaders regarding building a culture of generosity.
…starting with educational resources and encouragement around digital giving! Let’s start very practical since you’ll get the most lift if we can help more churches adopt more ways to receive giving and donations. Offerings, tithes, support for existing or new programs, fundraising for community programs beyond just the church.
There’s so much that could happen if we help some of the 300,000 churches across North America get up to speed in a very practical tactical way regarding generosity.
So the first piece of the puzzle will be: The Generosity Labs Podcast.
I want to interview pastors and church leaders who have “made the leap” and taken on the task of setting vision and adopting digital giving methods and practices. Hearing from peer pastors that are a couple of steps ahead will hopefully help inspire and encourage and prod and kickstart more pastors to follow suit and explore digital and online giving for their own community.
Check out the trailer we pulled together for the first part of the project below.
A new podcast exploring digital giving through a series of interviews with those that have gone ahead and done it:
There’s oh-so-much-more that I want to share with you. But that’s it for now.
