Issue No. 10 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting is all about The Donor Bucket—but maybe we should rename it "The Heart Bucket." Brian Kluth writes, "No church ever has a money problem, only a faithfulness problem." Share these thoughts with your team at your staff meeting this week.
Are You Raising Budgets or Are You Raising Generous Givers?
How does your organization or church meet your annual budget? If you ask the wrong question, you'll get the wrong answer. A better question is "How do you inspire your donors to be generous givers?" Brian Kluth’s new 89-page booklet, 40 Day Spiritual Journey to a More Generous Life, is a bargain at any price. Order at least 500 copies for your staff, board, key volunteers and loyal donors.
Over the 40-day personal study, your donors will encounter more than 200 Bible verses on giving, and more than 50 incredible and memorable quotations, including:
- "You've heard of prayer warriors. What about giving warriors?" (Randy Alcorn)
- "People go through three conversions: The conversion of their head, their heart and their pocketbook. Unfortunately, not all at the same time." (Martin Luther)
- "There is no advantage in being the richest person in the cemetery." (Saint Anonymous)
Kluth, former president of Christian Stewardship Association, has packed Bible readings, inspiring articles, weekly worksheets and excellent discussion questions into this remarkable donor tool. I highly recommend it.
Visit Brian Kluth’s Maximum Generosity website.
Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions:
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1. Are we guilty of trying to raise our budget versus seeking to raise up a generation of generous givers?
2. Are you rich? To find out how your income compares to everyone else in the world, go to: www.globalrichlist.com. Discuss what you discovered!
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Insights from the Management Buckets Workshop Experience
If my mailbox is anything like yours, there must be a workshop out there titled, “Extraordinary Ways to Bore Your Donors to Death!” Here’s what pastors, CEOs, and development directors have learned at the workshop:
#6. "Now it's time to take the offering" is without question the most boring sentence in the giving world. Keep using it at your church.
#5. When you send mail, be sure your outer envelope has the most vanilla-looking graphics and colors—compared to the other junk mail your donor receives.
#4. When you telephone donors (or prospects), stick to the written script—even when those rude donors try hard to interrupt your monologue.
#3. Make sure your direct mail response device is really boring and includes lots of bureaucratic mumble jumble and hard-to-understand giving categories (unrelated to the donor letter).
#2. Whatever you do, don't personalize your communiqués, especially for gifts under $100. Make your donors step up to $1,000 or more before you show any personal interest.
#1. Always talk about what interests you—not what might interest donors. Donors love being bored by your rhetoric, your anecdotes and your ego. Keep up the good work!
In our Management Buckets Workshop Experience, we showcase the best practices and the Hall of Fame entries for “Most Boring Donor Letters” in The Donor Bucket discussion.
Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions:
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1. Here are the last three "thank you" letters we've sent out. OK, everyone, critique them with a vengeance!
2. Let's brainstorm 10 ways to bless our smaller donors—not just to upgrade them, but to bless them.
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Download the Management Buckets brochure
