Raising money in the church isn’t that hard if you don’t care how you do it.

Some years ago I was working in Detroit and happened upon a large suburban church advertising, via flashing front lawn marquee, its “Annual Casino Night.”  The parking lot was packed.  They’d turned their parish hall into a veritable Christian gambling den, complete with blackjack, baccarat, a roulette wheel, and five card stud.  The joint was jumping.

I located the pastor-croupier and asked what was going on.  “Isn’t it fabulous?” he enthused.  “We do this every year and raise our entire budget in a weekend!”

Gimmicks still abound.   A church not far from me is giving away free gas cards to everyone who pledges!   The mind boggles at what might be next.

Thankfully, the national stewardship conversation seems to be shifting from “raising the budget” to “changing the culture of giving.”  This is a good thing.  But it requires “balcony thinking,” i.e. getting a good look at mission, ministry and calling from up above the weekly demands of budget and cash flow. 

Balcony thinking is strategic.  It moves past the tactical “what, when where and how” of annual budgets to the one question which drives generous giving – “WHY?” 

Balcony thinking transforms stewardship from an annual “budget emphasis” to a continuing holy conversation among the people of God. 

Balcony thinking shifts the center of gravity from the church’s needs to God’s call.   No longer is the appeal, “the church needs your money.”  Now we beseech one another in Christ’s name, “Come be a fully formed follower of Jesus Christ.  Grow in the grace of giving.”

Churches doing balcony thinking about stewardship evidence the following “best practices.”

1. They are unafraid to talk about money.  Indeed, they talk about it regularly, as Jesus did.  But  they don’t assign money talk to clergy only.  They all accept it as essential to the dialogue of faith.  And they do it year-round.
2. They do vision-based budgeting, relentlessly evaluating each initiative to see if it continues to support their larger purpose.  This kind of balcony thinking requires great courage, because an overriding ministry vision often requires painful decisions about programs, staff, partnerships, and other ministry tools.  But that same vision can birth new, exciting initiatives of brave, bold Christianity.  Truth is, people love giving to exciting visions.  They are less wild about funding sentimental institutions committed to scrapbook nostalgia.
3. They assume accountability.   Church membership is a voluntary covenant of mutual responsibility.   Church leadership is limited to those who take that covenant seriously.
4. They realize they’re not the only Christian ministry in town.  Rather than bemoaning the “competition” for the tithe, they are wise enough to recognize that a rising tide lifts all boats.  Every time my church passes the offering plates, all the loose cash and coins go to a local ministry caring for people in need. We call it the “noisy” offering.  Rather than siphoning funds away from our mission, we believe all that noise prompts a deeper spirit of giving among the faithful.
5.  They recognize that wise management of congregational resources includes knowing not only where the money goes, but from whence it comes.  Though they value and practice confidentiality, they are not paralyzed by an archaic devotion to secrecy which prevents them from careful forecasting and strategic stewardship analysis, not to mention the ability to thank those stewards whose sacrificial giving keeps the church financially strong.  (Recently during lunch with a United Methodist pastor friend he lamented one of the difficulties of shepherding an increasingly aging congregation.   “John,” he said, “last year I buried $150,000.”  My friend wasn’t being pastorally insensitive; he was demonstrating balcony thinking about Christian stewardship.  He knew that the standard practice of comparing tithes and offerings year to year had blinded his leaders to the truth that their current donor base would cease to exist in five to seven years.  Out of that conversation I developed the concept of a donor “age map,” by which client churches could create accurate forecasts of their financial futures and avoid the unhappy surprises visited upon my pastor friend. )
6.  They eschew a “one size fits all” approach to stewardship education, recognizing that different people, particularly different age groups, respond to different appeals.  And they especially believe that stewardship is too important to be left to adults, so they teach their children well.
7.  They plan and budget for stewardship development, setting aside at least 3% of undesignated receipts for the singular purpose of growing and sustaining ongoing financial support for the church’s total mission and ministry.   

I still bear on my soul the scars of that long ago Pledge Sunday when the finance committee chair stepped to the pulpit and said, “This is the time of year I dread the most.”

It need not be so.  There is a better way.  Come up to the balcony, and see.