Getting into the Spirit of Year-round Stewardship

We're just past the midpoint of both the summer and the year, and church leaders like you stand at a crossroads for stewardship.

The work you’ve done this summer to get your congregation into the spirit of cheerful giving is behind you, but there’s more work ahead for the second half of the year. So this is an excellent time to think about how the work you’ve done can also help in the future.

As you’ve considered ways to increase your congregation’s summer generosity, think about how they’ll fit into your plans for two big giving seasons — your annual stewardship drive and the Christmas holidays — just around the corner.

It’s never too early to think about your pledge drive, especially if you want to achieve better results over last year. How will you make it easier for your members to increase their generosity?

When you’re delivering messages about your ministry’s accomplishments, also let your congregation know that they have multiple ways to fulfill their pledge commitment or act on a generous impulse. One excellent option is text giving because it offers members and guests the opportunity to immediately give in a simple, secure way that’s familiar to them.

Staggering statistics about texting

It probably comes as no surprise to you that most of your members carry smartphones, and that the text message app is the most widely and frequently used on them. Among Americans, the numbers are simply staggering – 97 percent of us send at least one text a day, and together we send more than 6 billion – an average of more than 69,000 messages sent every second of every day.

It may surprise you, though, that a lot of those texts are sent by adults of all ages. Over 80 percent of U.S. adults spend an average of 23 hours a week texting, making it their most common smartphone activity. The most active among them are millennials, who exchange an average of 67 texts a day, and women, who text 14 percent more often than men.

Great fit for year-round activities

There’s something going on at your church every day of the week, and members and guests are often moved to contribute when they’re taking part in activities and events other than services. Adding a text giving option would allow your church to capture the generosity of your members and guests whenever and wherever they are moved to give. In an active church community, this could meaningfully grow stewardship throughout the year.

Download our infographic, Everyday Opportunities for e-Giving, to see the many opportunities members have to fit text and other electronic giving options into their busy church schedules.