Boost Church Donations With Five End-of-Year Power Moves

Whether you are preaching about tithing, giving to a cause your church supports, or extra giving to meet your annual budget for next year, the five power moves below can help boost your church donations. We are sharing straightforward ways you can ask for donations that will lead to a windfall of blessings. We believe if you are clear with your mission along with the financial costs of accomplishing it, you’ll inspire your members to open their hearts.

5 Power Moves to Boost Donations for Your Church

1. The Matching Challenge

In this strategy, your church will challenge donors to match other donor contributions. Partner with a local business to match funds that your church members donate. Brainstorm a list of businesses that share similar missions, are owned by church members, or value your church’s contribution to the community like donut shops, car dealerships, etc.

Another option is to join forces with another church to fundraise via a challenge for a shared cause in your community. Ready to start your matching challenge? Because 30 percent of all annual giving in the U.S. occurs during the last three months of the year per Nonprofits Source, a matching challenge will double your chances of getting more than a fourth of your annual donations this month.

Instead of their usual annual auction, dinner, and trivia night, St Andrew’s Church partnered with a local business to host an online auction and an Uno’s Dough Raiser. Uno gave 20 percent of all profits to St. Andrew’s.

 

2. The Show of Appreciation

Recognize and thank your donors. Appreciation leads to more engagement, right? Yes! According to Tom Ahren, author of the fundraising book What Your Donors Want…and Why, “Research has shown that first-time donors who receive a personal thank you within 48 hours are four times more likely to give again. Yes, thanking in 48 hours equals a 400  percent improvement in renewal rates.” Charitable behavior, whether motivated by a spiritual purpose or not, increases with recognition and appreciation.

At Givelify, we are continually inspired by the generosity of donors around the country who give daily, weekly, or monthly to their places of worship and favorite nonprofits. On GivingTuesday alone, over 18,000 donors supported causes they care about with Givelify. We appreciate and honor both the organizations that provide care to their community as well as their generous donors!

Are you ready to do more good in the world?

3. The Show and Tell

Show and Tell isn’t just a game for elementary school! Host a live streaming event to showcase the tangible results of giving. Tell the stories of how your church or nonprofit has helped individuals and families in your community throughout the year. In fact, with social distancing, we recommend you live stream a virtual event using our Givelithon feature. Red, Black & Love, Inc., a nonprofit organization committed to supporting the educational aspirations of students in the southeastern portion of North Carolina, recently surpassed its giving goals with a Givelithon.

Red, Black & Love, Inc. was formed for the purpose of providing monetary assistance to deserving graduating seniors as they prepare to attend college. All funds raised at their annual White Party are used to fund awarded scholarships for the following school year.

Like many organizations, the pandemic made having their in-person White Party impossible this year. Instead, this November they hosted a virtual event using Givelify’s Givelithon tool, a real-time donation display. They projected it on a screen or monitor, and donors can see their photos and names displayed when they give—and where their money was going. Without the ability to have this event, the organization would have nothing to give deserving students that otherwise would not have the finances to attend the college of their choice.

The Givelithon tool was a wonderful alternative as it allowed Red, Black & Love, Inc. to cast a wider net to donors from multiple states, and it also allowed participants to actually see their donations tallied thanks to the event leaderboard. The organization and its donors were able to watch their numbers and progress bar grow throughout their campaign.

They able to exceed their goal of $5,000 and raise $7,000 (and still counting!) from the virtual event. Also, by using Givelithon, they were able to publicly recognize and thank their donors for giving.

4. The Community First

When you put the most important needs of your community first, it’s not hard to ask for help on behalf of others. If part of your mission includes the betterment of the community, your ask won’t feel like begging at all. Instead, it will show your commitment to your calling. Create giving envelopes for specific needs in your community. For instance, toys for kids, coats for the homeless, food drives, and more. Make sure to add announcements about your drives and giving challenges with links to your organization’s website, social media accounts, and live stream events.

With the Trending Cause feature on the Givelify app, you can gain even more committed donors. Do you have a cause you’d like to promote on Givelify? Sign up your organization today.

5. The Icing

In football, “icing the kicker” is a move that calls a time-out right before the kicker makes his play. This power move is definitely NOT that kind of icing. It’s the icing-on-the-cake kind. Your donors get the opportunity to make a positive change in the world with their donation, AND they get the unique tax benefits that come with giving in the year of Covid-19! Check out our post on the new tax laws included in the CARES Act passed by Congress as a way to provide relief for charitable organizations. Remind donors about the tax benefits of church donations and other charitable giving. If that’s not the icing, then at least it’s the cherry on top!

Communicating Your Strategy is Half the Battle

By using these five power moves, you set yourself up for a wave of giving and a boost in church donations. Set yourself up for a win by first signing up with Givelify. With the free Givelify Analytics Dashboard, you will have access to powerful tools for end-of-year fundraising success.

• Customized branding
• Customized fundraising campaigns
• Analytics of giving trends
• Multiple administrator Accounts
• Givelithon events…and more!

Asking for donations can be empowering when you use simple giving strategies to maximize end-of-year and new year giving.