If we were consulting you to help fund the mission and vision of your church in 2010, here are the top 10 things I would say you must do in 2010:

1. Install giving kiosks in your lobby – Contact me here and I will get you one.

2. Teach a three-week series on personal finances

3. Teach a four-week series on Biblical generosity

4. Develop 52 creative Mission Moments INSTEAD of offering times

5. Send thank you notes to first-time givers

6. Do an overnight retreat with key giving leaders and volunteer leaders to add value to their life

7. Create at least one “ask” that allows people to give over and above what they are currently giving for a short time

8. Outsource your bookkeeping Click here to do that

9. Learn about “planned giving”. Yes, people are giving HUGE gifts because they plan it in their will!

10. Increase volunteer opportunities. The more people are involved, the more people give.

1.  Ask in person

Letters and emails are great but it is too easy for the donor to say no.  Looking someone in the eye and sharing you vision works better.

2. Care about the person

I have been asked for money many times.  When the person raising money talks about “their deal” the whole time, you lose interest.  Ask good questions of the donor and try to figure out what makes them tick.

3. Be simple

Complicated pro-formas are stupid.  The donor doesn’t need to know everything!  Just tell the donor what they need to hear.  Too much information distracts from productive conversation.

4. Make the ASK!

I have sat with church planters that ask me for money but never ask me for money.  MAKE THE ASK!  You have to ask, “will you support our church plant financially?”  Leaving a conversation without a direct ask is pointless.

5.  Meet with husband and wife

If you are meeting with a married couple, ask them together.  There is great power in them experiencing the conversation together.

Thanks to Guy Walker for this great video.  Guy, is this an ARC Church?

When I consult with churches, it is hilarious to me when the Senior Pastor thinks that ALL of the staff/team are giving back to the church consistently. Some people think this is not right to do but I personally believe in checking the staff giving records. Why? Experience has led me to believe that not everyone gives back to the church. If you don’t think it is a big deal that your staff gives back to the church, you need a wake up call. Jesus was clear that where we put our money is what we value.

3 Ways to Check Staff Giving In A Healthy Way

1. Tell your them expectations

When you hire someone tell them that you will check their giving records annually. This will help people know it is an expectation. DO NOT assume they know. If you haven’t told them you are going to do this, set a new expectation this January for the next year.

2. Set reminder on your calendar

Set up a reminder to check the giving records on the first week of January. I would be looking for consistent giving, not amount. You can’t judge if a family is giving a tithe but you can know if that person that is working for you is giving 10%.

3. Take action

Have a plan ready if someone isn’t giving to help them start. DO NOT just beat them up. Listen to them and see what their issue is. You will learn a lot in that conversation.

If they are giving faithfully, thank them sincerely for their faithfulness. I would ONLY give raises to people who faithfully give.

What have you learned about monitoring staff giving? Do you agree or disagree with these thoughts?

Jesus went across to Mount Olives (PGA TOUR), but he was soon back in the Temple (CHURCH) again. Swarms of people came to him. He sat down and taught them. The religion scholars and Pharisees (CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY) led in a woman (TIGER) who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.

Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, “The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone.” Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.

Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. “Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?”

“No one, Master.”

“Neither do I,” said Jesus. “Go on your way. From now on, don’t sin.”

John 8 (The MSG)

The last sentence says it all for me! Jesus doesn’t condemn us or condone sin.  He loves us deeply.

Thoughts?

I have to say that a highlight of my year has been working with the staff/team at Granger Community Church. It was a blast getting to work with some of the sharpest leaders in the country for six months.  I primarily worked with Kem Meyer and Tim Stevens.  These guys created a killer giving strategy called “Three Ways To Give”.

It is important to create a BRAND around your generosity. Check out Granger’s site and contact me here if you want to know how we can help create a brand for your church that will increase generosity.

Many churches are looking to convert people into givers in their church too quickly. Are you looking for a “what can I get out of you” approach to giving or an ongoing relationship? This post by Seth Godin speaks to this idea.

The first transaction

Do you really expect that the first time we transact, it will involve me giving you money in exchange for a product or service?

Perhaps this is a good strategy for a pretzel vendor on the street, but is that the best you can hope for?

Digital transactions are essentially free for you to provide. I can give you permission to teach me something. I can watch a video. I can engage in a conversation. We can connect, transfer knowledge, engage in a way that builds trust… all of these things make it more likely that I’ll trust you enough to send you some money one day. I can contribute to a project you’re building, ask you a difficult question, discover what others have already learned.

But send you money on the first date? No way.

The question then, is how much time and effort does your non-profit/consulting firm/widget factory spend on pre-purchase transactions and how much do you spend on trying to simply close the sale?

How do you think this post relates to churches getting people to give?

If I have learned one thing in church finances, it is this: People give when urgency is high. It usually works if a pastor stands up and says, “If you give $100,000 today we will be able to rehab this single mom’s home!” I have seen the power of urgency work in getting people to get off the sidelines and into the game. However, I have also seen pastors get addicted to the ability to be able to make an urgent ask and get an answer.  When you abuse the power of urgency it strips the meaning and ultimately will make your people non-responsive.

Three ways to prevent you from poisoning your church’s generosity are:

1. Plan on one big ask a year

You really have about one great opportunity a year to make a big, urgent ask. More than that will not go well with your people. I suggest Pre-Summer or Mid-Fall. I would always ask when attendance is at its peak! You will lose some people, but so did Jesus when he told the rich young ruler to go sell his stuff THEN come follow.

2. Avoid the “This weekend is the biggest weekend ever” talk

Yes, I know every weekend is the most important, but when you use that language all the time, people can get numb to your urgency. Try hard to reserve your hype for special times, especially financially. If you are begging for money because “we HAVE to have it for this need or that need”, it will burn people out.

3. Ask your non-lead team for feedback

I would circle up with some administrative staff and people who aren’t into the whole “money” thing to get their perspective. Ask them if you should press more or less into the urgency of funding the mission. They will often times give you a sober perspective that is healthier than people who look at numbers all the time. Small niche surveys work well too.

Bottom line is this: Be careful when asking with urgency, lest you poison your people.

Yesterday we talked about what to look for in an assistant. Today we are going to talk about what the assistant can do to lighten your load as a leader.

I think one of the biggest mistakes I see people make with assistants is make them in charge of everything. Lack of clarity will not work well with an assistant. Here is what Renee, my assistant, does day in and day out.

1. Calendar

Let your assistant run 100% of your calendar. Renee runs my personal and professional calendar. Every appointment is scheduled through her and I can’t schedule anything without her permission. This is important because a hybrid calendar is usually a mess. You have to just LET GO and trust them to do this. If the assistant messes up, use it to teach them how to do it right.

At first, close ministry friends and family made fun of me for getting emails from my assistant. They accused me of being “big time” and stuff like that. Over time they realized that their life is 100% better when she runs my life. My family’s life is 100% better when Renee runs my calendar. Why?

The very first thing we did is establish priorities of what I would and would not do. For instance, I will not travel for two nights in a row more than one time a month. Well, I am tempted to all the time because of opportunie,s but Renee says, “Casey, I don’t think that is a wise choice.”   I try to talk her into letting me do it and then she ultimately wins!

Bottom line, let the assistant have control of the calendar. Set priorities and make it work.

2. Communications

My assistant does about 80% of my communications (phone calls/emails). I frankly HATE email! I hate typing as well. Renee and I have created a system where she runs my inbox. She either responds, places an action on my calendar or deletes stuff that is pointless. This has been a work in progress but we got it down pretty good now!

Recently Renee started running all of the blog posts and web communications for us as well. The key is to give up control of the details.

I could teach on this for hours but the bottom line is this: If you are going to have an assistant, you have got to give up control!

Have you had success or failure with using assistants? Share your insights so we can learn together.

One of the greatest joys in my life is a lady named Renee Weber. I have worked with Renee, in some capacity, for the last seven years. Renee is currently my assistant and is the best one in the country! If there were an assistant olympics, she would kill your assistant. 

This post is not our typical financial post, but I believe this will help any leader lead better. I am going to break this into part one and part two. Today, I will describe what to look for in an assistant. Tomorrow, we will look at how to maximize your leadership through an assistant.

Renee is the best assistant because:

1. She can think, not just do

Leaders, quit looking for someone that is “just” administrative. Pushing paper and thinking are two different things. Renee isn’t a HUGE strategic thinker, but she understands how I think. She does understand the bigger picture. I don’t just tell Renee what to do; she tells me what to do. A great example is my calendar. I say “yes” to EVERYTHING! Renee knows that when I am too busy during a day, I completely shut down. She makes me have big empty spaces on my calendar, so I can think and make up stuff to do. If she was just a doer, I would always be packed out! Renee also knows how I like to travel, which hotels I like to stay in, what I want on my calendar appointments, etc. She is a thinker, not just a doer.

2. She is likable

Renee protects me, my family, and our organization and people like it! Have you ever dealt with a rude assistant? When an assistant is rude to me, it makes me question whether I like everyone else in the organization. Renee has a very gentle personality and charm that makes people love her and our organization. I have had many people call and interview Renee to try and figure out her secret sauce. She is just likable.

3. She is quick

She responds quickly to people and lets me know who to respond to quickly. There is nothing worse than having an assistant that you THINK is getting stuff done but they aren’t. Her organizational skills are a 10!

4. She doesn’t try to please me

This may sound weird, but Renee doesn’t do things to please me.  She is trying to serve with me.  This means that she can tell me “no” if I am giving her too much too quickly. Renee has a backbone. She is not just someone that I tell what to do and she does it! She helps me prioritize the work I give her.

5. She cares about my family

Bottom line is that Renee wants me to win with my family. She keeps my wife in the loop and helps me make her and my daughter part of all my days.

6. She is flexible

Renee can change on a dime. I love that! When looking for an assistant make sure they don’t hate change or let it stress them out.

7. She is calm

I am emotionally up and down and she is level-headed all the time. I need that!