Churches rely on donations to keep their doors open and their ministry going. Giving back is also a large part of the Christian faith, with the Bible speaking often about the importance of giving to the Lord.
“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” – 2 Corinthians 9:7
This makes fundraising not only important but necessary for your church.
In this ultimate guide to church fundraising, we’ll cover several tips and tools you can use to raise more critical funds to support your ministry and, in turn, honor God.
Types of Church Giving
First, let’s take a look at the different types of church giving.
- Tithes – A portion of property (usually a percentage of one’s income) that is given up to God, most often through recurring donations made to the church.
- Offerings – These are typically seen as gifts to the church on top of tithing and are collected during worship services.
- Mission Funds – Collected to support various missions and ministries of the church, such as a local food pantry, an area church camp, a specific mission trip, etc. These may be ongoing or presented as a special offering.
- Capital Campaign Contributions – Gathered to raise funds for a major project, typically for building a new church facility or expanding or repairing existing buildings.
Next, we’ll dive into how you can boost giving across the board through engaging church fundraising tactics.
Effective Church Fundraising Tactics
There are all sorts of fundraising ideas out there for churches. Here are just a few to get your creativity flowing –
- Recurring giving – Make tithing easy by introducing recurring donations, allowing members to set an amount and time interval that they can change anytime.
- Giving kiosks – Set up a giving kiosk in your church lobby, encouraging congregants to give an offering using their card or smart device – no need to remember to bring cash!
- Church pledge drives – Through church fundraising appeals, ask congregants to make a pledge to contribute a certain amount by a set time.
- Special events – Bring your church community together for an evening or day of fellowship and bring in funds through ticket sales, raffles, silent auctions, and more.
- Peer-to-peer fundraising – Encourage your church members to fundraise on your behalf by creating their own fundraising pages to share with friends and family. This tactic is ideal for mission trip fundraising, capital campaigns, and more.
Feeling inspired? Now let’s talk about a few methods that will help you ensure these church fundraising tactics succeed.
Tips to Raise More for Your Church
Fundraising isn’t always easy, but it’s a must. There are several best practices you can use to ensure you are collecting the funds you need to sustain and grow your church.
Talk about giving
Make giving an integral part of your church’s culture by talking about it often. Include discussions about giving during Bible studies, church-sponsored events, and especially during worship services.
Share Bible readings about the importance of giving and speak about how it benefits both the giver and the receiver. During sermons, further expand upon these teachings.
“Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” – Luke 6:38
Also, be sure to talk about why your church needs these funds. Be transparent about how the money will be used, such as for church programming, building maintenance and upkeep, spreading awareness about your ministry, and more. It’s important that you build trust with your congregants so that they feel confident you will properly steward their gifts to the Lord.
Demonstrate impact
You can also show transparency and build trust by demonstrating the true impact of the gifts your members have made to the church.
One way to show impact is through data. Share how many Sunday school students your church served this year or the number of stained glass windows that were able to be purchased or repaired. Talk about the number of new members your outreach has brought in, or if attendance numbers have increased.
You can also demonstrate impact through storytelling. Ask a church member if he or she will testify to the benefits they have reaped from either giving to or receiving from the church (or both!). They may share their story in written form or by speaking during a service.
Create connections
Relationship-building is also critical to establishing donor trust in any nonprofit, but this is especially true for church fundraising. Community is important in the Christian faith, so you must facilitate a culture of true connection and fellowship within your own church.
Take steps to create strong connections with church members through one-on-one conversations during fellowship time, periodic phone calls, and segmented outreach with targeted messaging. Get to know congregants on a personal level and you’re sure to see those donations increase.
In addition, provide several ways for congregants to get more involved with your church. This may include volunteer opportunities, small groups, youth programming, and more. Those who feel truly connected to your church are more likely to give – and give more.
Don’t forget to ask
Whatever you do – don’t forget to actually ask for gifts to your church. Your congregants may feel inspired to make a difference, but they won’t know exactly how to do so if you don’t tell them.
Set time aside every worship service for offerings to be made. Even if you don’t pass a physical offering plate, encourage church attendees to give what they can and share how they can do so.
For specific projects or missions, you may choose to make your ask during a special presentation during worship. Also, plan out time for an appeal during your next trivia night, festival, or other fundraising event. Sending an appeal letter to your congregation asking for contributions to your ongoing capital campaign or to complete a pledge is another impactful option.
Make it easy to give
Back up your church fundraising outreach by making it as easy as possible for congregants and other supporters to give. You may lose out on donations if it’s difficult or time-consuming to make a contribution.
There are several ways to ensure giving is easy for your supporters, boosting your fundraising and growing your church.
Offer more than one way to give
Your congregation is likely filled with people from all walks of life, generations, and backgrounds, which means giving preferences may vary greatly from person to person. Providing multiple ways to make a gift, including traditional methods like cash or check as well as more modern options like online giving forms, text-to-give, and on-site donation kiosks, will boost your church fundraising efforts.
Ensure giving is quick and simple
No matter what giving options you provide, strive to make each one as quick and simple as possible. Ask for only the most important information, provide easy-to-follow instructions where necessary, strive for as few clicks as possible (when giving online), and employ the use of digital wallets and other swift payment methods.
Accept non-cash gifts
Encouraging church members to contribute non-cash gifts enables people to give back, even if they aren’t financially able to do so. Ask for art supplies for your Sunday school, canned goods for your food pantry, or hats and gloves to send to the local homeless shelter.
You may also choose to accept gifts of stock or cryptocurrency, enabling donors to give more, even if they don’t have sufficient liquid assets.
Next up, we’ll provide more details about the tools that can help you efficiently and effectively fundraise for your church.
Church Fundraising Tools
There are several church fundraising tools you can put to work for your ministry. Here are some of our favorites.
In-person giving
Many of your congregants may still choose to bring a cash or check offering to your weekly service. But others simply don’t carry these anymore. These cashless in-person giving options offer a great solution to this challenge!
Text-to-give
With text-to-give, your church members simply send a quick text and receive a link to your online giving form. This is ideal for church fundraising because your congregants won’t even have to leave their seats to give! Print your text-to-give code and number in your church bulletins, display it on screens, and be sure to mention it during worship.
Text-to-give is also an ideal fundraising solution for churches offering televised or virtual services – simply scroll your text-to-give information across the screen!
QR codes
Want another easy way for congregants to access your online giving form? Post QR codes linking to the form in your bulletin and on signs around your church. Consider adding a printed QR code to the side of a traditional donation box for those who don’t have cash on hand.
Giving kiosks
Flip that traditional donation box on its head with a giving kiosk! These kiosks enable your supporters to swiftly and securely make a gift using a credit or debit card – and some tools even allow them to give using their smartphones and smartwatches.
Online giving
With more and more supporters preferring to make gifts to their favorite nonprofits online, it’s critical to offer digital giving tools like these as part of your church fundraising strategy.
Online donation forms
Create a simple-to-use donation form that you can link to from all of your outreach, enabling supporters to give using credit cards, direct deposit, or even digital wallets.
Through your donation form, you should also provide an easy way to set up and manage tithes and other recurring donations. Plus, allow your church members to give in memory or honor of someone as well as choose where their money goes through designated fund options.
People-powered fundraising
Online fundraising tools like peer-to-peer and crowdfunding empower your congregation to spread the word about your ministry, boosting awareness and bringing in new donors. Employ features such as goal thermometers, donor walls, social sharing buttons, and more to reach your goals faster.
Event ticketing
If you host events of any kind, selling tickets online makes it easier for your church members to reserve their spots and simplifies the planning process for your church. With the right event ticketing tool, you can ask for donations on top of ticket sales, set ticket sale limits and deadlines, request additional details like t-shirt sizes, check your guests in upon arrival, and so much more.
Your Turn
Ready to tackle church fundraising? We know you’ve got this! Use the tactics, tips, and tools presented in this guide to confidently and effectively bring in more gifts for your church.
Looking for powerful features and services that will help you take your church fundraising to the next level? Donorbox MinistryMomentum offers an innovative suite of fundraising tools designed with churches in mind. Sign up today and start raising more for your church in less than fifteen minutes.
