Perhaps you've thought: “We do not have any major givers in my church.” The truth is, you do have major givers in your church. They just might not be giving much to your church.
Here's a short list of reasons why some pastors feel they have no major givers:
- You do have major givers. It's just that they give where they believe their giving has a larger Kingdom impact. They are loyal givers to your church to a very limited point. Your high capacity givers do not have a giving problem. They have a giving-to-your-church problem.
- You do not know who a major giver is. As a pastor, maybe you cannot imagine giving at high levels and assume that others row the same boat. Some givers have surplus cash flow and can give from assets. Don’t let your financial position cast a shadow on what others can do.
- Pastors do not take the risk to engage high capacity givers. Fearing favoritism, some pastors believe that they cannot handle working with these types of givers. Scripture says that pastoral leadership demands coaching those with worldly wealth. As a pastor, seek to disciple higher capacity givers just as you would disciple younger leaders or worshippers.
- High capacity givers intimidate pastors. Their wealth, marketplace leadership, lifestyle and looks can make anyone feel sub-par. Are you going to allow the things of this world to diminish your pastoral leadership? Higher capacity people need pastoral care and leadership. Some may well be the most needy and lonely in your church. Dive in. You will find a very welcome relationship.
- Guilt. A church leader can ignore stewardship until a capital campaign demands interacting with higher capacity givers. Don’t weary your potential major givers by ignoring them! Knowing how to engage with and discipling higher capacity givers will bring about a healthy giving culture among these givers.
- Laziness. Some pastors either believe that higher capacity givers simply ought to give to the church or presume upon them. At Generis, we get opportunities to study church data closely every week. Merely teaching about tithing or giving rarely gets traction. Be the pastor who will work to engage with a healthy relationship with higher capacity givers.
- Higher capacity givers are not asked to give (so they don’t). I saw this recently when a pastor engaged with a person who had surplus money to give. A two-hour conversation yielded a $100,000+ year-end gift.
- Higher capacity givers are not asked to give their wisdom. Surplus givers have surplus funds to give because they are bright, innovative, entrepreneurial and deal with budgets that dwarf your church income. Yet they may shy away from church leadership because they feel spiritually inadequate or have time constraints.
- Pastors possess the wrong idea of who the high capacity givers are. Not everyone who talks the big game gives accordingly.
Here’s a true story: a client pastor listed who he believed were the top ten givers in the church. He chose not to know the giving details of anyone in the church, but the looming major project demanded that we engage on this level. Shockingly, six of the ten gave nothing in the last two years. Two on his list were indeed in the top ten, while the other two barely cracked the top fifty. Not only was he presuming on the wrong people, but also ignoring the actual top ten. No wonder the church had a giving problem.
Don't worry, each of these problems are solvable. Generis is here to help. There is no reason why you cannot disciple higher capacity givers and free financial resources for the Kingdom.
What is your top reason from this list? Can you add another?