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Almost every parish can use more money. Financial resources are not as
hard to come by as one might think and can be increased at the
church through effective messages offering ways for Catholic
parishioners to fund parish ministries. Take a look at your current
efforts and you may be surprised at what typical church
communications say to parishioners.
Many parishes
report the weekly collection in the bulletin, but who in the pew
really cares what you collected? What motivates parishioners are
human results not financial results. Report on how many families in
need were assisted by parish ministries. Report on how many families
have returned to Mass through evangelization efforts. Report on what
children in the school or in religious education programs have done
in serving the mission of the parish in the community. Parishioners
want to feel good about giving and positive messages about the
parish related in human terms will motivate increased giving.
Here are
ten ways to increase funding at a Catholic parish.
Ask
parishioners to:
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Use their
offertory envelopes!
Sometimes a reminder is helpful. Be aware though that you may be
giving out too many envelopes. People hate the nickel and dime
approach. Concentrate your efforts on asking for significant
amounts but do so less often.
-
Consider
using automatic electronic payment for offertory.
Electronic funds transfers are growing in popularity. With
electronic transfer of funds, even if a parishioner is away on
vacation or unable to come to Mass on a particular week, their
budgeted offering is still made.
-
Donate part
of their tax-refund to the parish.
You can even make this an annual appeal to parishioners. They
didn’t miss it when the government had it, they may not miss it by
giving a portion to the church.
-
Remember the
parish in their will.
The single best way to assure resources are available in the
future for the parish is to suggest graciously, but often, that
people remember the church in their will.
-
Reallocate
Money.
Ask parishioners to give the funds saved from something they
decide to give-up for Lent (smoking, fast food, sweets, etc.) as a
donation during Lent and even beyond.
-
Give
something tangible when they say or think “thank God.”
That way they can also provide a tangible gift that can be used
toward God’s work in return for the blessing they acknowledge they
have received.
-
Have a
garage sale.
Most people have garage sales to get rid of junk, not make money.
Parishioners can be asked for proceeds to be donated to the parish
and they can ask their neighbors to join in providing items for
the sale.
-
Give a
portion of an unexpected windfall to share their blessings.
Remind parishioners they are never lucky, but always blessed.
-
Consider an
easy increase in giving.
Ask each adult increase their sacrificial giving by just $1 a day
for God’s work through the parish. Just $1 for each
day adds $365 per adult and $1 a day is an easy
sacrifice for most people.
-
Bring a
friend to Mass who hasn’t been to church in awhile.
How will this increase funding? Who cares? The point is that
asking a parishioner for help through a simple task and not just
for money can have an amazing affect on the parish. Imagine if
everyone listened, acted, and brought a friend. Attendance would
double from just a simple request. If their friends rediscover
faith and start coming back regularly, rest assured the offertory
would be incredible.
Being
accountable for donated funds is also important. Publishing a
parish financial statement than can be understood by an average
parishioner is a must. The parish itself must also be a good steward
and look for ways to save funds without hurting the operation of the
parish in any way. Communicating with parishioners through e-mail, a
web site and other technology enhanced procedures can cost the
parish much less than just using traditional printing/mailing
procedures. The savings can be use for additional communications.
The key is
to be creative, be accountable, and ask for increased giving not
with apology but with joy and enthusiasm. Your infectious zeal for
creating financial support for the ministries and outreach of the
parish will have a positive affect. Remember, you are not asking for
funding for yourself, but rather for the greater good of the faith community.
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