Giving &amp; Fundraising

The Envelopes, Please

By Daniel Schantz I have enjoyed a lifelong romance withÂ envelopes. When I was just a boy, my preacher-fatherÂ supplied me with several boxes of leftoverÂ offering envelopes to play with. I have beenÂ in love with envelopes ever since. About the size of an index card, these littleÂ envelopes gave me much pleasure. We lived in Springfield, Ohio, at the time, the city where I was born. My cousins lived there, too, and on Saturdays we held a secret club meeting in a dusty corncrib, organized by my oldest cousin, Carol. She appointed herself president of the club, but the purpose of the

May 13, 2013

How a Harley Store Became a Home

By Kent E. Fillinger What do you get when you combine an empty Harley-Davidson store with generous giving? No, this isn”t a bad joke. The answer is a growing church. LifePointe Christian Church, located in Elk Grove, California, launched on February 23, 2003, with a nucleus of about 60 people. It initially met in a local school on the edge of town. The church soon was averaging more than 200 in attendance, and after a few years was averaging more than 300. Then there was some stagnation, said senior pastor Chris Delfs, even though “the congregation loved the church and

December 3, 2012

Four Verses for Four Purses: a Teaching Outline About Giving

Fiscal health is a strength of the church I serve. A reason for this is how we challenge people to give. This article is a sample teaching outline for pastors on the theme of giving. For more help, contact me through the church website, www.wschurch.org, or via Twitter @EddieLowen. By Eddie Lowen Some contemporary innovations are nothing short of incredible: High-definition television has made football and golf so much more enjoyable to watch. GPS (global positioning system) navigation has transformed travel. When did you last see someone with a folding map? Smartphones are amazing (my iPhone 5 came today!). I

November 29, 2012

Good Gifts After Black Friday

By Mark A. Taylor I have a friend who works for a well-known benevolent organization not affiliated with any church, but providing a much-needed service to families in crisis. And at Christmastime, she sees the gifts pour in. People drive up every day in December with carloads of clothes, games, and food. But one donor stood out in my friend”s memory. The woman approached the front desk holding her daughter”s hand and carrying an armload of goodies. “We would like to meet the family who will receive our gifts,” she told the receptionist. “I want my little girl to experience

September 11, 2012

Giving It Away

By Darrel Rowland Mounting a successful fund-raising drive is challenging enough for any church, especially in these difficult economic times. But two churches not only carried out smashing one-day giving campaigns earlier this year, they turned around and gave it away””all $176,000 of it. In fact, most of the money went to places not even associated with the church. Leaders of both churches say your congregation should try it, too. Launched in 2005, Forefront Church in Manhattan began an annual giving event called Celebration Generosity in 2009. That first year, members chipped in about $27,000 for various social service organizations

September 10, 2012

Generous Churches

By Kent E. Fillinger “Generosity needs to be a thread woven through the fabric of the entire congregation,” said Leadership Network development director Chris Willard, “because generosity is a cultural issue.” Here”s how four churches are creating a culture of generosity among their members.Â In their new book, Contagious Generosity: Creating a Culture of Giving in Your Church, Chris Willard and Jim Sheppard define generosity as “a lifestyle in which we share all that we have, are and ever will become as a demonstration of God”s love and a response to God”s grace.” Willard is the director of generosity initiatives

September 8, 2012

Giving Up!

By Alan Ahlgrim Picture this: Your church launches a new campus with a state-of-the-art, 70,000-square-foot building on 30 acres””just before the economy implodes in the greatest recession most of us have experienced. Meanwhile you are fighting for the church”s life in a lawsuit that costs you $2 million to win. This creates a loss of momentum that results in staff reductions and the departure of many members to another congregation nearby. What do you do in such a situation? Alan Ahlgrim, pastor of Rocky Mountain Christian Church in Colorado, faced all those challenges and more. As he shares in this

September 20, 2011

Indiana Church Shows Knack for Winning Grants

By Jennifer Taylor In the last four years, Jamestown (IN) Christian Church has received 14 grants totaling more than $110,000″”including one used to learn how to write grant applications! The congregation, located about 30 miles west of Indianapolis, began researching the process in 2003 and was awarded its first grant in 2007. JCC has received grants for a variety of uses, including beautifying its 17-acre property, building a shelter house for public use, and maintaining its food and clothing pantry. In 2010 the church received a grant of matching funds from the Indianapolis Center for Congregations to hire a design

August 7, 2011

Meeting Others” Needs on Behalf of the Church

By Jennifer Taylor After studying Nehemiah and the offering recorded in its final chapters, First Christian Church in Champaign, IL, collected its own special offering as a response of gratitude for God”s goodness””then gave some of it back to FCC members. Senior pastor J.P. Jones and his team designated $20,000 of the offering for the local community and involved the church in giving it away. Each week for four weeks, a different group received $5,000 with instructions to use the money to meet the needs of others on behalf of the church. The team selected a variety of people

July 13, 2011

The Marriage of Resources and Passion

By Bert Crabbe One of the greatest growing challenges for church leaders is to figure out how to put the resources of older churches into the hands of younger ones. And when I say older churches, I mean those that have a building but don”t have enough people or income to keep the lights on. And when I say younger churches, I mean those that are bursting at the seams but can”t yet afford to own property. And yes, I know just because a church is older doesn”t mean it”s dying, and just because it”s younger . . . you

April 28, 2011

Runners Raising Money for Haiti Mission

Three men named Mark are raising money for Northwest Haiti Christian Mission by starting at the back of the pack in the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon and collecting pledges for every runner they pass.

March 3, 2011

Church Raises Funds to Send BibleSticks to Soldiers

Granby Christian Church completed a fund-raising campaign to send BibleSticks, digital audio players with the New Testament, to U.S. soldiers serving in Afghanistan.

January 26, 2011

Mark A. Taylor

Calculating Our Generosity

Mark A. Taylor reflects on Evangelical generosity, missions giving, and the broad impact Christian churches and churches of Christ make through support for ministries around the world.

January 19, 2011

Preacher, Crew, to Climb Volcano

Greg Nettle and a RiverTree Christian Church team are climbing mountains in Ecuador, including Cotopaxi, while raising $100,000 for ChildReach Ministries and Compassion International.

December 24, 2010

Church Offers Year-End Offering Opportunity

Inspired by a heartfelt note, 2|42 Community Church invited members to give unwanted gold jewelry through “The Original Christmas Gift” year-end offering.

December 23, 2010

Mission & Evangelism Giving & Fundraising Stewardship & Generosity

Churches Provide Mission Opportunities at Christmas

Two Indiana churches created Christmas giving opportunities that connected holiday generosity with practical support for local and global mission partners.

October 8, 2010

“˜Give 10 for 5,000″²

Central India Christian Mission is asking supporters to give $10 in October to help provide 5,000 Hindi Family Pictorial Bibles for children and illiterate adults in India.

July 11, 2010

Jennifer Taylor

Making a Difference at the Coffee Center

Two church-connected coffee efforts show how fair-trade and direct-trade relationships can support farmers, strengthen missions, and help congregations fund meaningful work through everyday purchases.

January 30, 2010

Jeff Faull

Guaranteed Returns

Jeff Faull challenges believers to see difficult economic times as an opportunity for kingdom generosity, wise stewardship, and public examples of giving motivated by pure hearts.

May 24, 2009

John Plunkett