How to Adjust When Church Giving Increases

Episode #291
January 6, 2017
Rainer on Leadership Podcast Logo

Podcast Episode #291


Today’s episode may be a dream for many church leaders. But often, more money for churches can lead to more problems for churches if not handled well.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

  • Today’s podcast episode may be about the dream scenario for many pastors and churches.
  • Faster growing churches tend to have lower per capita giving.
  • Giving patterns of families often follow life stages, so determine if increased giving is ongoing or temporary.
  • I prefer the lag approach to church staffing rather than the lead approach.
  • High cash reserves can discourage giving and show a lack of faith.
  • Low cash reserves can indicate a church is not prudent or not planning for the future.
  • In many churches, we erroneously treat the previous year as the base for what will happen the next year.

The nine responses to increased giving that we cover today are:

  1. The surprising place where many churches get in trouble
  2. Find out why
  3. Ask for an age breakdown
  4. Determine if ongoing or temporary
  5. Be careful before adding personnel
  6. Check reserves
  7. Be exceedingly careful with one-time gifts
  8. Make certain next year’s budget is accurate but conservative
  9. Postscript: Faith or prudence?

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Resources Mentioned in Today’s Podcast