Church Executive SEPT / OCT 2019 DIGITAL ISSUE | Page 34

Maximizing
year-end giving
Strategies for using technology to encourage giving all year round
B. Louie Cordovado
President
Nuverb Systems Inc.
Kacie Frazier
Church Success Lead
Kindrid
Define ‘year-end giving.’ What months of the year are we referring to?
B. Louie Cordovado: Year-end giving refers to giving during the last two
to three months of a church’s fiscal year — usually October to December.
Beyond giving, year-end is also a great opportunity for pastors to thank
donors and connect with their community in a meaningful way.
Kacie Frazier: Year-end giving is the most charitable time of year when
churches see generosity at its peak. Often referred to as the “season of
generosity,” year-end giving kicks off in November on the National Day of
Giving (#GivingTuesday) and runs through the entire month of December. Cordovado: Year-end giving shouldn’t be as important as giving
throughout the entire year. Having to encourage people to donate at the
end of the year, means a church hasn’t created an attitude of generosity
the rest of the year. Sadly, most churches don’t do this, so they’re 'forced'
to try to catch up near year-end. So, for most churches, year-end giving is
important because they need it to meet their budget.
Troy Pollock: For most churches, year-end giving is considered October
through the end of December. What are the most common challenges related to year-end giving
in churches?
How important is year-end giving in most churches? Pollock: Churches put a lot of pressure on reaching a budget number the
last few months of the year and oftentimes forget to share and show how
gifts and participation are helping impact the lives of others. In fact, a lot
of churches struggle to engage with their communities in general. We
know there’s a huge gap between those who are active participants (the
roughly 20% who are giving their time and resources) and the average
member (the roughly 80% of attendees who’d like to be more involved but
aren’t sure how to engage). Recent research shows that more than 90% of
people who serve also give, so we know that closing the participation gap
naturally drives generosity.
What if churches focused more on nurturing their communities
throughout the entire year, in order to ease the pinch/pressure on the EOY
giving season?
Frazier: Year-end giving is crucial for churches because it allows them
to close out the year on budget and provides a nice boost in finances to
start the new year. In 2018, December accounted for 17% of overall giving
to churches, and a good portion of that happened in the last three days of
the year.
Pollock: While the holiday season welcomes a time of family,
community, celebration and traditions, year-end can also be stressful as
it’s the last big push to hit budget numbers and encourage gifts to help
sustain and grow ministry efforts. In fact, a large percentage of annual
giving occurs in December, with nearly 10% occurring on the last three
days of the year, specifically.
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Troy Pollock
Chief Ambassador
Pushpay
CHURCH EXECUTIVE | SEPT / OCT 2019