“I have at the ready for you your 2022 Generosity Calendar. This calendar is merely to get you thinking and dreaming for the coming year. It highlights some of the things that can be done to really get your congregation or organization celebrating generosity.”

It’s that time of year! What were the top posts of 2021?

Why is this year-end letter so important? Here are the 2021 stats from Neon:
- 31% of annual giving occurs in December
- 12% of all giving happens in the last three days of the year

There is a lot of talk in many church circles about how we don’t have the resources we used to have in the past. We talk about fewer people, fewer churches, fewer dollars. But if we re-examine our perceived limits and our assumptions about how resources are supposed to be used, then something remarkable and beautiful comes into view: we aren’t broke at all but have enormous resources at our disposal. - Mark Elsdon

“I don’t know about you, but I always find that Thanksgiving grace is a bit tricky.”

“I can almost guarantee that you will feel terrific if you steal (or borrow – which sounds less like you’re breaking one of the Commandments) this year-end letter.”

“ You know what you do is important.
You know what you do is necessary.
You know what you do is life-giving.
And you know it takes money to make it happen.

So, when you write your letter asking for financial assistance for something you feel passionately about, don’t bury the lead.”

“The first sentence of your thank you note can either be ho-hum or it can immediately grab a person’s attention and make them want to continue reading.”

“I’m getting a feel for what you pastors have been going through. And, I’m a nervous wreck.”

If you’re getting ready to send out your quarterly statement, opportunity awaits. Go ahead: send your people the more formal for-tax-purposes-only sheet of paper with all the numbers. But then, on another sheet of paper that they see as soon as they open the envelope:
Thank people for their sacrificial gift.
Tell them a story about your ministry that will make them feel great.
Think like them…what could you say that would make you feel invested in your congregation?