WHO MIGHT GIVE HOW MUCH?How much to give is a decision based on several factors. These include each individual’s:
How these factors work together varies. Understanding that particular mystery is less important than being attentive to clues about these five giving decision factors. Giver discernment is the process of deciding who might be inclined to give how much to what ministry. As part of the process, it is helpful to group the discernings into several groups in order to issue the most effective invitation to give. Potential givers to a capital campaign tend to fall into three or four groupings. The smallest group will include those individuals and foundations willing and able to give substantial gifts. What constitutes a “substantial” gift will vary but a commonly used definition is $5,000 or more. For purposes of convenience, we will call these Witness Gifts. The second group includes those individuals capable of gifts ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. This group will be slightly larger than the Witness Gifts group. The third group will be those whose gifts will be in the $500 to $1,000 range. The fourth group is the largest and includes those whose gifts will be less than $500. We have a very peculiar attitude towards money in the church. Though we need this resource for our work and know that many people find real joy in giving it, it can be difficult to talk about. A discussion of who might have large sums of money and whether they might be willing to use some of it to support the work of the congregation can feel awkward. There are several companies who, for a fee, will put a list of names through their databases of individuals, their spending and giving patterns, and estimate amounts they might be likely to give. Whether to use this type of service is another leadership decision. In most congregations, the constituency is well known, making this type of service unnecessary. Conventional wisdom in the charitable fundraising culture in the questions of “who should ask whom to give how much” is based on the principle of “peer invitations to give.” The underlying assumption of this theory is the belief that many potential givers base their decision about the amount of their gift upon knowledge of how much their peers are giving. Further, if offering workers are peers in giving ability, it is easier to obtain maximum potential gifts. Usually, peer invitations are the most socially comfortable arrangement for both the potential giver and the offering worker. The principle of peers asking peers is not a class system in a shabby disguise. It acknowledges the principle of empathy. The conversation we want to have with every potential giver is not “how much will you give?” Rather, the question we want to engage is, “How is God calling us to use the resources with which God has blessed our lives?” It just makes sense to try to put people with someone with whom that conversation has a chance of taking place. Peer relationships are not the only way to make those match-ups but it is a place to start until we improve upon it through wisdom and experience. Adapted from The Alleluia Fund: A Guide for Dioceses and Congregations |