Love Means More Than Chocolates and Flowers With Church Giving

Tuesday, February 14 is Valentine’s Day, a uniquely American holiday where we’re bombarded with ads urging us to purchase gifts of love for that “someone special” in our lives. Church giving helps ensure that showing love means more than buying cards, chocolates, flowers, and jewelry.

Here are a few ways to tap into this loving spirit and increase your church giving at the same time.

Set Up Special Offerings

Special offerings can highlight groups and campaigns that have special meaning or significance to your members. You can create custom campaigns in your Givelify dashboard so they appear in the mobile giving app. Your members can make offerings to those campaigns during service (or anytime).

Does your church have a women’s group? Set up an envelope for it and encourage the husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers to show their love for the women in your church by making a special love offering. They may be planning something special for Valentine’s Day, but no love lasts longer than the support your church provides.

Do you support a particular group in your community that is in need? Create an envelope for your food pantry, children’s after-school program, or whatever community service program you’re involved in. Remind your members that showing love to their local community is easy and beautiful with church giving through Givelify.

Update Your Givelify Profile Image

If your church is like most, the cover image on your app profile is a photo of the building. While this is a great way to help people know they’re giving to the correct organization, there is an opportunity to make it work for you.

Prior to services, create a love- or Valentine’s Day-themed graphic and upload that as a temporary cover image. That way when your members get out their phones to give during offering time, it’s another reinforcement of why they’re giving.

Work Love Into Your Service

Outside of church, your members will be surrounded by Valentine’s Day messages of love and romance. Bring that spirit into your church with a love-themed service. The act of giving is a loving thing to do, and when your members are swept up in the feelings you’ll evoke they’re likely to give a little extra to show that love.

Love for one’s spouse, children, family members, and their community are themes you can draw on. People like to feel appreciated, and whether or not they have a significant other everyone has someone they love. Your members come to church because they love God, your pastor, and your message. Direct that feeling into your service and offering and everyone can express their feelings through stewardship.

More Ideas

While it’s an older post from 2011, ShareFaith Magazine has some wonderful ideas for incorporating Valentine’s Day into your service. Ideas like flowers for the women, and providing free or low-cost child care for a parents’ night out are all great ways to help your members celebrate the day with a love gift.