To Develop Generous Disciples, Understand Why People Give

by: Rick Warren

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If you want your church to grow, you must learn how to motivate believers to invest their resources into the kingdom for ministry and for facilities. It is a key responsibility of leadership. Whoever writes the agenda must be able to underwrite the agenda. If you’re going to form the vision you also have to be able to fund the vision.

A lot of pastors, a lot of elders, lot of church leaders have a real hangup about asking people to give. They allow personal insecurities and personal fears to limit the ministry. You don’t need to be embarrassed about asking people to give. There is nothing greater than the kingdom of God. There is no more significant cause than the church.

I am very much against fundraising, but I am in favor of teaching people to give.  Fundraising is what I call collecting money from other people in return for a product, service, reward or recognition. But in giving, we simply challenge ourselves to give out of our own resources for spiritual reasons. The result of fundraising is that funds are collected.  The results of teaching people to be givers is that funds are collected and disciples are developed.

And to develop generous disciples, you need to understand why people give.

1.  People give when they trust the leadership.

John 10:1-11 says, “The sheep listen to the shepherd’s voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. He goes on ahead of them and his sheep follow him because they know his voice but they will never follow a stranger. In fact, they will run from him. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd.” Study after study has proven that in the hierarchy of giving, people give first of all to people they believe in. Then they give to purposes. Finally they give to programs. That means that the most essential elements in teaching people to give are relational, not functional.

Even if you use a consultant to help you raise money, you as the pastor still need to be out front. Because the person who asks for the giving needs to be the person with the most credibility. And if you are a Pastor and you are not the most trusted person, you have a leadership problem and you’re not ready to teach people to give yet. You need to be the most visible because the person who is the best qualified to ask for money should be the person whose the most trusted.

2.  People give when they catch a vision, not when they see a need.

The Bible says, “Where there is no vision the people perish.” Did you know that Ivy League schools usually receive the largest endowments? And they are the schools that need the money the least. Why? People give to success. They give to vision. They don’t give to needs.  That’s why in fifteen years we have never had a bulletin with our financial reports in it along with how much we need. Why? Because bills do not motivate people to give. People give when they catch a vision and they get the big picture.

You must be very clear about what your vision is. At Saddleback, we’ve never had a vision for a building, but rather for what the building can help us do. We’ve never had a vision for raising money, but rather for what the money can do. Emphasize the lives that will be changed as people give – the marriages that will be saved, the broken people that are going to be put back together, the people who will break addictions, the changed lives that will happen. That’s the vision!

3.  People give to experience the joy of generosity.

It feels good to give generously – it really does. A person who doesn’t understand that has never given generously. The happiest people in the world are the most giving people. Guilt never motivates people to give. Giving that is motivated by guilt only lasts as long as the guilt does. So you never use guilt to motivate people to give. You use joy to motivate people to give.

I absolutely do not accept the health and wealth theology, which teaches that God wants everybody to be rich. But the fact is, there are more promises in the Bible related to giving than any other subject. You cannot out-give God. If you’re going to be Christlike you’ve got to learn to give.

4.  People give when they are inspired by models.

We learn best by watching models. That’s why a testimony about giving is a thousand times more effective than a sermon on giving. Models motivate us. Giving is contagious. So I encourage people to write down and send me their testimonies, how they decided to give, and what they were giving.

5.  People give when they are involved.

Paul told the Philippians, “I thank God because of your partnership in the gospel.”  The fact is those who are most involved in the campaign will be those who sacrifice the most. One of our gauges of involvement at Saddleback is how many people have completed our CLASSes (and you can get our CLASS material here). And the more CLASSes people have completed, the more involved they are, and the more they tend to give. The average gift in our church from an attender during one of our giving campaigns was about $7000. For the people who had gone through class 101, the average gift was $8500. The average of gift for people who had been through class 201 and 101 was over $11,000.  And the average gift of people who had been through 101, 201 and 301, which usually indicates they are actually involved in the ministry of the church was over $15,000.

6.  People give when you ask them to give.

James says, “You have not because you ask not.” The Bible says ask and seek and knock. God asks people to give. The fact is we’re doing people a favor when we ask them to give because they grow in faith, they grow in love, they grow in sacrifice, they grow in commitment, they grow in character as they learn to give. They will be blessed in return. Never say no for anybody. Your church will be hurt more by those who would have said yes and were not asked than by those who were asked and said no.

7.  People give when you make it possible for them to give.

2 Corinthians 8 says, “For if the willingness is there the gift is acceptable according to what one has not according to what one does not have.” That means you need to make it possible for people to give in as many ways as you can. Teach people how to want to give and they’ll figure out how.

Teach people that they can either give by reason or by revelation. Giving by reason means this – I look at what I have, I figure out what’s reasonable and I commit that amount. It doesn’t take any faith to give by reason. I just figure out what can I afford to give. Giving by revelation means I determine my gift by praying “Lord, what do You want to give through me?” This requires faith. When you give by revelation, you’re committing an act of worship and saying, “How much am I willing to trust God?”

8.  People give when their gifts are appreciated.

The whole book of Philippians is just a thank you letter from Paul for their offering, for their financial support. Figure out seven ways to thank people for their gift – a card, a call, a banquet, etc. A little appreciation goes a long way in encouraging people to be generous for the long haul.

> Read more from Rick.

 Would you like to learn more about developing generous disciples in your church? Connect with an Auxano Navigator and start a conversation with our team.

Tags: Generous Disciples, Resourcing, Rick Warren, Why people give

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4 Lessons of Financial Health for the Pastor

by: Todd McMichen

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I’ve had the privilege of founding two non-profit organizations, one for-profit company, and spent time as an employee of several multi-million dollar organizations. I also run the finances for my family. As I ebbed and flowed through these different financial environments I began to recognize patterns about how money grows and is invested, or on the flip side, how it quickly becomes wasted via expenses. While each of these environments may have shared the common goal of year-end profitability, the mindset, perspective, and specific objectives varied greatly.

Here are four key gleanings about financial health that apply specifically to the local church and Senior Pastors in particular.

1. Senior Pastors need the PRIORITY that is often modeled by the President of a Non-Profit Organization

The NPO leader has two very clear objectives every day, keep the vision clear and develop resources. No one can develop large amounts of resources for an NPO like the senior leader. The truth is that most employees would never have it cross their minds to help with this effort. They are too busy executing their department tasks. Whenever I find a Senior Pastor that is both the lead giver and the lead developer of gifts I find a church that is experiencing financial break thru.

2. Senior Pastors Need the FOCUS of a For-Profit Company Founder

The founder and owner of a for-profit company wakes up each week with two objectives in mind, keep the vision laser focused and produce more revenue than expenses. As the owner of a company you measure success by happy clients and positive cash flow. Every single expense is seen as either an investment that the owner is willing to take, perhaps even in exchange for a temporary pay reduction, or it is seen as wasted money. I know the success of the church is not measured by dollars, but discipleship. However, I also know it is sin to mismanage God’s resources. Being a wise steward, which is the call of God, involves both discipling generosity and being tenaciously obedient with the resources. Senior leaders do you know the eternal value of each dollar your organization raises and expends? Whenever I see a church with this kind of laser focused perspective, I find a church that is experiencing financial break thru.

3. Senior Pastors need the PASSION that comes from being the provider in the home

This is where the message can get serious. Most men wake up driven to succeed financially, provide well for their families, and enjoy the fruit of their labors. Great men care greatly for the provision and protection of their families. As a matter of fact it is intuitively engrained in the DNA of men. Unfortunately, it is common for me to find Senior Pastors who feel this way about their church, but do not connect the dots with the personal involvement in the financial management and leadership of the church. Many pastors have a general knowledge of financial matters, but not a passion for the financial success of the organization they lead. We would never allow our families to live in financial weakness without working towards a concrete solution. Example, most families would not raise their annual family budget 5-10% and ask their family to have vision and pray for growth. Yet, the average church practices this kind of principle every year.

4. Senior Pastors need the generosity CONFIDENCE that comes from Scripture

God’s Word is very practical, specific, inspiring, and replete with financial wisdom. I find that break thru financial churches are led by a senior pastor that has a high view and breadth of knowledge regarding the Bible’s principles of stewardship and generosity. Even if they lack the highest level of accounting and financial business practices, knowing and trusting Scripture allows them to experience overflow. This is why I put together a simple guide to help pastors gain confidence, a practical tool to lead their staff, and pathway to develop the spiritual discipline of generosity in the disciples you lead. Leading a generous church is totally possible and it has nothing to do with church size, location, income earning, or style. It has everything to do with priority, focus, passion, and confidence.

For additional reading, here are a couple of real life case studies:

Harvest Church, Billings, Montana
Main Street Church, Toledo,Ohio

For more practical tips and inspiration, check out my book, Leading a Generous Church.

> Read more from Todd.

Would you like to learn more about Generosity and other issues related to financial health? Connect with an Auxano Navigator and start a conversation with our team.

Tags: Condfidence, Financial Health, Focus, Passion, Resourcing, Todd McMichen, priority

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5 Best Practices for Funding Your Mission

by: David Putman

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Every Lead Pastor is responsible for financing the mission.  As a Lead Pastor you have to own it.  We can delegate a lot of the responsibilities to the financial team, business administrator, or executive pastor, but at the end of the day the buck stops with you.  The degree in which your church is funded lands squarely on your shoulders.

At the same time, many Lead Pastors shy away from this role.  It’s almost as if they feel less spiritual if they think and talk about issues related to funding the mission. Because of this, it’s not unusual for churches to go under-funded or for significant ministry opportunities to simply never happen.

We could all use more funding.  Vision simply has a way of always out pacing our resources.  I’m convinced that we can be better funded with a little intentional effort.  Here are five best practices for funding the mission that I’ve observed and practiced over the years.

They talk about money.  Sometime during the 80’s we got the idea that we shouldn’t talk about money.  We went to great lengths to avoid the conversation.  We even invited people not to give when we passed the offering plates or baskets. At the same time, leaders who finance the mission don’t back away when it comes  to talking about money. They recognize that it’s their responsibility and they are intentional about talking to their teams, staff, and entire congregation.  Not talking about money doesn’t overcome the challenge of financing the mission, it only intensifies it.

They are conservative operators.  They expect God to do great things, but at the same time they realize they must live within their means.  This often plays out in three common ways:

1.  They set their budgets on what they know, not on what they assume.
2. They keep their staff percentages well below the norm.
3.  They have a system for monitoring their budget regularly.

They help others win financially.  They understand that if the people they shepherd win, the church wins.  They are intentional about systems being put into place that teach people how to budget, save, and get out of debt.  I am convinced that the number one way of financing the mission is a long-term financial ministry.  This should be the first thing we staff and fund as a church, and not the last.

They understand the importance of focused campaigns.  They understand that a capital campaign is really not a capital campaign, but a spiritual initiative.  God uses these times of focused intensity to disciple His people, create movement, and fund his mission.

They are accountable and they communicate. They openly thank people for their sacrifice.  They connect their giving with real life change and ministry.  They are financially accountable to the body.  They create trust.  They are over- the-top in communicating through some kind of end-of-the-year report.

Here are five practical applications, based on these best practices, you can apply this year.

1. Preach at least one series on giving.
2. Budget on 90% of your income and keep staffing to 35% of total budget
3. Launch a financial ministry that includes regular classes on getting out of debt, saving, and giving.  Include financial counselors.
4. Schedule a capital or generosity campaign.
5. Present an over-the-top end-of-the-year report.

We would love to help you win in these areas.  For your generosity and campaign needs don’t hesitate to reach out to us, the Auxano Team (www.auxano.com), or email me at davidp@auxano.com.

> Read more from David here.

Tags: Best Practices, David Putman, Funding the Mission, Resourcing

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A Church Plant Moves Out of Storage

by: Mike Gammill

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(Mike Gammill is one of our Lead Navigators at Auxano. He recently completed a campaign with San Marcos Community Church in San Marcos, TX. The Vision Clarity impact and unique Campaign story will inspire you.)

In the summer of 2013, San Marcos Community Church was in the church plant doldrums. As a twelve-year-old plant they really weren’t a “plant” anymore, but their base of mission and worship was still a leased facility. They did own land a couple of streets over. They owned a building too, but it was a metal prefab building and was, literally, in storage. Their dreams of permanent place were in storage too.

Twelve years in, the church had hit a plateau and energy was on the decline. “Trying to put on Saul’s armor” were the words the Senior Pastor used when we talked about most of the solutions available to him. He resonated with our Vision Clarity process, because we started with understanding their unique God-given ministry DNA, and then, from there, navigated them through growth obstacles with vision instead of hype, busyness…or a building project.

We started their seven-month vision clarity process in September of that year. The Senior Pastor quickly made a tough decision that paid dividends in spades: he consolidated all weekly ministry programs into a weekly prayer gathering. This prayer gathering became the central nervous system to a revival that broke out shortly after. Church attendance began to increase and a second service was added. Giving began to increase and the Holy Spirit challenged leadership to step up their commitment to – literally – lay the foundation for their permanent facility.

Then, in November, the call came from their landlord that could have disrupted everything. They had 90 days to find a new place to worship (the state of Texas was turning the building into a highway). Rather than seeing this as an obstacle, church leadership saw this as leading from the Holy Spirit. In addition to finding a new place to live, the time had clearly come to launch a capital campaign in the next three months. They needed to raise capital to construct and occupy a permanent church in San Marcos, Texas, a city where it’s easier to open a bar than a church.

The Holy Spirit inspired urgency, along with an increasingly healthy centralized prayer gathering that helped them to overcome a too-short time frame. On Palm Sunday 2014, the congregation made commitments that totaled over 2.5x their 2013 budget. General giving also increased over 30%. In the end, they blew past their goals and greatly increased the generosity level of the church. All this, and their mortgage in 2015 may be less than their lease was in 2014.

Meanwhile, God demonstrated his faithfulness when he led the church to relocate to a nearby dance hall and bar that had closed its doors. When God builds his church, nothing can stand in the way.

>> Meet Mike

Tags: Generosity, Mike Gammill, Resourcing, Vision Clarity, Vision Pathway Process

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A 5-Part, Vision Centered Systems Model for Your Church

by: David Putman

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Over the past few years I have consulted with a number of fast growing churches to help them get unstuck.  Here’s what I’ve learned:

• The church is a living organism designed to grow.
• Growing churches grow.
• Growing churches get stuck.
• Growing churches are often one big decision from getting unstuck.
• These big decisions are often predictable.

As a result of this work I’ve put together a little model that has help me in working with growing churches.  Represented in the model below are five areas to which every church, regardless of model or context, must pay attention.  Let me give you a brief overview.

 Vision

At the very center of this model is the Vision Frame developed by Will Mancini.  Pastors of growing churches do the hard work of vision. This work comes first and forms the vision frame of any growing church.  They recognize that God has given them a unique vision.  They understand this vision frame consists of five irreducible questions of clarity.  These questions include:

•  What are we doing (mission)?
• Why are we doing it (values)?
• How are we doing it (strategy)?
• When are we successful (measures)?
• Where is God taking us (vision proper)?

These leaders understand that vision is more than a statement.  Best practices among visionaries are:

• They have spent hours in prayer and scripture seeking God’s heart.
• They have taken their team through a healthy process to discover God’s vision for their church.
• They have crafted a culture, shaping language to articulate their unique vision with absolute clarity.
• They value the “law of the outsider” and have consulted with someone who can help them navigate this unique journey.
• They focus on implementing the vision frame over time.

Leaders who lack in vision ultimately end up getting stuck.

Leadership

Churches often get stuck when the churches growth outpaces that of the leadership.  This is why it is so important that we understand in order to grow the church, we must grow the leader.

There are five areas that every Senior Leader must grow.  They are:

• Visioneer – Ability to discover, to communicate, and implement vision.
• Communicator – Ability to communicate God’s word in a gospel-centered, passionate, and relevant way.
• Team Leader – Ability to discern leadership, develop a leadership pipeline, develop new leaders, and execute ministry through others.
• Funder of Mission – Ability to create a culture of generosity and raise capital for big endeavors.
• Vitality – Ability to grow personally, emotionally, spiritually, intellectually, and professionally over the long haul.

Discipleship

As the church we have one and only one mission.  It’s a disciple-making mission.  Growing churches have a systematic process for accomplishing this mission. We often refer to this as disciple-making assimilation.  Disciple-making assimilation is different then church assimilation systems.  Church assimilation systems often focus on church membership.  Disciple-making assimilations systems focus on the quality and quantity of disciples.  It ultimately answers three questions:

• What is a disciple?
• How are disciples made in this context?
• What are the measures of a disciple?

Environment

Space is important.  I wish it wasn’t.  It would make our work and lives much easier.  At the end of the day when a church runs out of space or has a poor environment it causes growth to slow and often time stop growing.  I often get inquires from new church planters wanting help for their lack of growth.  Many times it’s simply hindered by their meeting environment.

Many of our church buildings were built during a time when Christianity was the dominant worldview in the US.  That is no longer true.  We must become much more intentional about our environments if we are to reach people who begin their journey with their backs toward Christ and the church. Our partners at Visioneering Studios understand this.  I first encountered them at a conference during an Architectural Evangelism presentation.  We (Mountain Lake Church) were well into our design phase of a new worship space.  We were so convicted about the importance of space and environment that we ditched our project and began from scratch.  Growing churches that resolve the space and environment issues most often explode in growth.

A healthy practice is to utilize a Guest Service Perspective.  This service is designed to have a consultant who is trained in space and environment issues come in and do a kind of secret shopping experience in your church context.

Finances

A lack of funding is one of the best ways to kill a good idea.  The same is true for churches and ministry.  This is among the top two or three issues I deal with in helping fast-growing churches.  Vision most often out paces our resources.  Without exception, I watch young churches hit the financial huddle sooner or later in their ministry.

This happens due to a number of reasons.  They are:

• Failure to disciple new and existing disciples in generosity.  Somewhere along the way we bought into the lie that people won’t come to your church if you talk about money.
• No practical tools for teaching people how to get out of debt, budget, and give.  The number one tool for increasing a churches financial health over the long haul is a consistent financial ministry for the people, by the people.
• Lack of healthy financial systems in the church.  Churches consistently spend inordinate percentages of their income on staffing and facility-related issues.  A balanced budget with appropriate checks and balances goes a long way.
• Lack of communication about church finances.  People often feel in the dark when it comes to church finances.  We ask them for their money, but we refuse to tell them how God is using it.
• Failure to conduct discipleship-oriented capital campaigns.  Churches make two common mistakes when it comes to raising capital for specific needs.  First, they often fail to hire an outside consultant.  Research consistently demonstrates that a consultant makes a huge difference when it comes to a campaign.  Secondly, they conduct a poorly executed campaign.  When conducting a campaign you must go all in.  A well-done campaign can compel a church into the future, enabling you to overcome the barriers that come along with lack of funding.

As a part of the Auxano Team we are eager to serve you and your church as you deal with those natural barriers of a growing church.  Don’t hesitate to contact us.  We offer a number of on-site consulting services.  They include: Vision Pathway, Resourcing, Leadership Pipeline, Communications, and StratOps.

Read more from David here.

Tags: David Putman, Leadership Pipeline, Resourcing, StratOp, Systems, Vision Frame

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