CULTIVATE GENEROSITYHOW TO GROW A CULTURE OF GIVING IN YOUR CHURCH

“The key to developing a culture of generosity rests on inspiring and mobilizing participation.”PHIL LING

Gyve is an online and mobile giving platform on mission to help churches build a culture of generosity. The Gyve system meets people where they are in their generosity journey and creates environments to encourage movement through the four different stages of donor development and generosity growth.

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INTRODUCTION

65% of Americans donate to charitable organizations, yet church financial contributions are on the decline. People are giving, they just aren’t giving to the local church.

Why are only 20% of church attendees contributing financially to the church, and only 3% giving in relation to their income? Why are 97% of church attendees giving more to the cable company than the mission of God?

RECENT DATA SHOWS:

• 20% of church attendees contribute financially • Of that 20%, 3% give in relation to their income • On average, 15% of attendees contribute 51% of the church’s

financial resources • Regular church attendees, attend 1.7 times a month

When we focus on asking our community for money instead of inviting people to take steps in personal generosity, we perpetuate the issue of a decline in church giving. Instead of passing buckets to maintain momentum, we need to engage with the spirit and start focusing on intentionally helping our members grow in giving. We need to create environments to allow people to experience the sense of purpose that occurs through communal giving, and the joy that comes from trusting God with their resources.

We need to shift how we talk about finances and focus on cultivating a culture generosity, instead of collecting contributions. Giving is NOT about fund transfers, giving is about heart-transformation.

People contribute to what they believe in. When shifting how you talk about generosity, think “show” not “tell.” We need to show our people what they are missing and present them with opportunities to grow. We need to regularly provide real and compelling reasons why giving to the local church matters to them personally, only then can we move from maintenance in giving to momentum in giving.

In order to build a culture of generosity, we first need to understand the flow of generosity growth and the environment in which it is cultivated.

GIVING TO THE CHURCH IS BIBLICAL.Why are so many missing the lesson?

RADICAL

RELATIVE

REGULAR

ROOKIE

THE

GIVINGLADDER

ROOKIE GIVERThe Rookie Giver is a first time or sporadic giver. The Rookie attends service, but has not yet partnered financially with the mission of the local church. The Rookie may drop cash in the bucket if it is on hand, but they do not have a pre-planned action for giving.

REGULAR GIVERThe Regular Giver is a conscious giver who includes giving as a consistent part of their budget. The Regular Giver sees the vision and has intentions to contribute a consistent amount on a regular basis.

RELATIVE GIVERThe Relative Giver not only sees the vision, they are fully bought-in on the mission. The Relative Giver views giving in proportion with spending and has shifted their perspective to categorize giving as an essential part of their life. The Relative Giver gives regularly and in line with their income. (Currently only 3% of givers can be classified as giving 10% or more of their income to the church.)

RADICAL GIVERThe Radical Giver is a driven giver. A consistently Radical Giver has completely revamped their frame of mind when it comes to living generously. They are often giving from a true passion or calling. The Radical Giver dictates their spending and lifestyle around giving, not from the typical reversed perspective.

THE GIVING LADDER is a tool used to categorize the four different stages of giving. It consists of four rungs: Rookie, Regular, Relative and Radical.

We have a passion at Gyve to help leaders transform their church culture into one that is joyfully generous. The Gyve program is designed to nurture each of these stages independently and to promote growth by moving individual givers up the rungs of THE GIVING LADDER.

A generous church has a compelling vision.A generous church has a clear and compelling vision that is regularly communicated to its people. Whether your church is in a fundraising campaign, or you are maintaining your operating and outreach budgets, people must know where their contributions are going and why. Before you can call people to sacrifice financially, you first must give them a vision worth the sacrifice.

Your vision cannot be about what you are doing. In the book The Generosity Tsunami, Phil Ling says, “What you are doing is not a vision – it’s a strategy to fulfill your vision. If your vision is building an expansion to your facility it probably won’t inspire true generosity because the focus is the what instead of the why...Our vision must be clear to give potential donors a clear understanding of not only the project, but why the project matters…. If the vision should be clear, it should also be crisp...Your vision should be concise. Not only should your vision be clear and crisp, but most importantly it has to be compelling. Does it connect with the heart? Is there a reason why I should buy in?”

Your people need to understand why their donations matter.

A generous church has a generous leader.

If you want your people to grow in generosity, you need to set a path for them to follow. You need to live generously, both personally and as a church, and then you need to talk about your generosity. After you cast the vision in a way that creates a desire for people to accomplish it, you must show people you are in it with them.

If you as a leader are not personally living a generous life, the first step to shifting your church’s culture is by taking your own next steps. Make some changes, take some risks. Experience the life transformation of personally giving to the bigger mission in a bold way. Blaze the trail.

People give to what they believe in, and as leaders it is our privilege and responsibility to set the precedent to live generously, and inspire others to do the same.

A generous church gives generously. One of the most profound ways to lead a generous church culture is by generously and impactfully donating church resources.

This step is hard, especially if you lead a church operating on a tight budget. But to truly shift the generosity culture of your church, it is critical. If you want your people to engage in radical generosity, you must lead them.

To cultivate generosity in your church, you must show generosity in your church.

Find a local cause and give to them, serve them, and then tell your church how their generosity made an impact. Be the church the community notices.

A generous church shares generosity stories.Be a storytelling church. Great stories show an audience why giving matters and inspiring stories cultivate generosity and help move people through the rungs of the giving ladder.

Far too often we fall short in sharing the impact people are making with their contributions. By building stories into your regular generosity moment each week, you can show people the tangible difference their generosity is making. Tell stories about specific ways your church has blessed individuals, the community, and beyond. Acknowledge the church’s generosity is not possible without its congregation’s generosity. Then invite people to take their next step in personal generosity, knowing their resources are making a significant impact.

A generous church creates environments to grow generosity.Generous churches give regular calls to action for people to take next steps in personal generosity. Inviting people on mission with your church is an important part of building a generous culture. This is done by creating environments to cast vision, tell stories, and challenge attendees to take action.

To truly inspire a call-to-action, great challenges should be accompanied by great leadership. During an extremely sizable community center expansion project campaign, one pastor inspired his congregation to stretch the parameters of giving by pledging to give 20% of his income to the project during the duration of the campaign. His reasoning was simple: he was boldly asking his church community to give 10% of their income to help fund this endeavor, a concept that can be shocking to someone new to the idea of income-based generosity. This Pastor had been giving all his life. It was part of his normal budget, and he didn’t feel the sting of it anymore. So, to experience what his first-time givers were experiencing, he joined them. He inspired them. He led them.

He didn’t stand on stage and share his sacrifice, so people would pat him on the back and praise his generosity. He did it to sacrifice with his people. He was not bragging or boasting in his decision, he was leading by example. Challenging people with clear calls to action, and leading through personal example, will help grow people from Rookie Giving, to Regular Giving, to Relative Giving, to Radical Giving.

The first step in cultivating a culture of generosity is showing generosity.

SO HOW DO WE INSPIRE AND MOBILIZE ENOUGH PEOPLE TO SHIFT A CHURCH’S GENEROSITY CULTURE?It’s really a lot simpler than it sounds...

INSPIRE

The Big Give is a generosity event and can be used as a way to kick-start a culture of generosity within your church. This epic generosity opportunity speaks to people at all stages of the Giving Ladder; it entices those new to giving to give for the first time, and encourages those already giving to take next steps in personal generosity.

ACTIONThe Big Give is simply giving away 100% of financial contributions received for one weekend. Practically speaking, the church will budget to “live” on 51 weeks of contributions instead of 52. The Big Give is an excellent way to create excitement about giving generously, and has resulted in increased contributions after the event, time and time again.

The Big Give is an opportunity for people to see the church trusting God to care for its basic needs and be generous with its resources.

The Big Give is an event, which means your planning team should market and create hype for weeks in advance to create a successful weekend.

Choose where to give.Select a few organizations to receive The Big Give funds then spend time each week leading up to the Big Give talking about the different organizations.

• Give Locally: Find an impactful non-profit in your community that could REALLY benefit from a sizeable gift.

• Give Globally: Connect with an overseas organization or give a specific amount for a specific need to your current global mission.

• Give Intentionally: Give to another church in need or a new church being planted. This displays unity between churches.

• Give Wisely: There isn’t a one-size-fits-all method. If your congregation is smaller, pick one organization to bless with the full gift. What is most important is that your congregation experiences a BIG visual impact.

PrayEncourage your congregation to pray about their gift. Challenge them to ask God to stretch their resources and hearts to give from a place of sacrificial generosity.

ResourceEquip your congregation with handouts and information about the organizations who will receive their gifts.

ChallengeBe bold. Tell your congregation you are praying for them to give in a way they’ve never given. Tell them you are praying to be blown away by their generosity. Tell them you are praying this offering will overshadow any other week’s offering, and you’ll be giving it all away.

FeatureHighlight the Gyve one-time giving feature.

The Big Give is an impactful event and a great way to introduce people to generosity using the Gyve platform. Gyve’s one-time giving option is ideal for generosity events. While you are leading up to the event, talk about the app and how it is used to transfer funds from individuals to the church. Entice your congregation to download and use the one-time giving feature to drive your Big Give event.

ShareIn order for the Big Give to make a big impression on your community, it is essential to communicate acknowledgment in participation, gratitude and impact. Tell Big Give stories and show your congregation how they changed lives locally and globally. Record your leaders presenting the funds collected to the receiving organization and share it with your congregation. Ask the organization to write you a response and then share it with your church. Big Give stories inspire people to give again and again.

THE BIG GIVE

2|42 Community Church in Brighton, Michigan held a Big Give challenge when implementing the Gyve platform. In one weekend they raised and donated $351,000.

The Big Give should not just be any weekend offering; it should be the biggest offering ever.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

GYVE FEATURES

Inspiration is a great way to begin cultivating a culture of generosity. But when you partner inspiration with engagement, your church will become a generosity force. Gyve is designed with inspiration and engagement at the forefront and is built with robust and easy-to-use features to help you fully engage everyone in your church no matter where they are in their generosity journey.

GYVE’s Round-Up FeatureOne of the most significant ways to impact your church’s generosity culture is to find ways to engage with people who attend church but do not contribute financially.

There are several reasons why people may attend church without financially contributing. Some people live beyond their means and are strapped to keep up with their spending. Some feel the church does not need their money because things appear to be operating smoothly without their contribution. Still others may have given to a church in the past, and experienced a misappropriation of their funds. These reasons can be addressed and overcome by providing small, easy and transparent, next steps in giving.

Gyve’s Round Up feature is ideal for engaging the Rookie Giver. The round up is a low-risk giving opportunity for those new to giving, and does not require a large financial commitment to start. Users can turn everyday spending moments into giving moments by simply using Gyve to

round up purchases to the nearest dollar, and donating the difference. For example, a $3.12 coffee purchase would be rounded to $4.00, and $0.88 would be collected and donated.

Round Up giving creates an environment which lowers the giving threshold. First time givers, cash-strapped givers, and those hesitant to give to the local church are allowed the opportunity to “test drive” generosity with a low-risk investment. Since the financial commitment is so low, the participation percentage is quite high.

The round up feature is not just for engaging the Rookie giver. The Gyve round up feature allows churches to engage their entire congregation in communal generosity. People are intrinsically designed with a desire to be in community, to be engaged, and to belong, we all want to be a part of something bigger than ourselves.

To continue moving members up the Giving Ladder, many churches have strategically leveraged Gyve to strengthen their culture of generosity by giving away 100% of funds contributed through the Round Up feature. When everyone contributes a little, it turns into a lot. Churches have paid rent, bought cars, repaired trailers, purchased groceries, and provided scholarships all with the change donated through the Gyve round up giving feature.

Gyve is designed to help your church be resourced to meet the needs of your community. You will show your people just how much their money matters and at the same time, you will help those struggling with mistrust in donating to the church by demonstrating the impact their generosity is making. When people start feeling and seeing the impact they are having, they give even more. They become Regular givers.

“We’ve seen a 62% growth in first time givers in the first 4 months using Gyve.”Dave DummittLead Pastor2|42 Community Church

GYVE’s Recurring Giving FeatureGyve’s Recurring Giving feature cultivates generosity by simply providing people with an avenue to maintain their regular giving, even when they miss weekend services. An average church attendee only attends a weekend service 1.7 times a month, and when the average attendee goes on vacation, so does their generosity.

The people in your church need to be equipped with tools and resources to help them remain committed. Online and mobile donation collection allows people to give anytime, anywhere; church attendance is no longer required for contribution.

Statistics show churches utilizing a mobile giving platform increase their giving by 34%. This is accomplished by allowing givers to set up regular and recurring gifts and allowing donors to give when paid. With mobile giving, giving occurs every day of the month and at all different times of the day. Recurring gifts can be set up weekly, biweekly, and monthly and there is no limit to gift amounts.

The Gyve recurring giving feature provides a way for Regular and Relative givers to maintain moment in giving and for churches to receive every intended donation.

GYVE’s Communication FeatureCommunication is key.

Telling impact stories each week from the stage during the generosity moment is an essential part of cultivating a culture of generosity, but communicating outside of weekend services, most notably, acknowledging and thanking donors for creating round up and recurring accounts is vital. Gratitude inspires people to continue taking next steps in their generosity journey.

Gyve provides a way for you to communicate with your donor base outside of weekend services. Our backend portal allows you to share stories, video clips, encouragement, praise, and thanks all through our built-in communication system. The portal allows you to filter giving history data and target communication and marketing to specific groups of givers.

Rolling out a new generosity platform is no small task, but Gyve is committed to partnering with you to make the transition smooth, effective, and efficient. Rollout ignites a wave of generosity, and momentum around giving, allowing leadership to support the change, and helping your church gain new givers during the launch.

Cast VisionThe leadership team at Crosspoint City Church in Cartersville, Georgia developed and delivered a video that cast the vision of how to use Gyve and why the upcoming year would be the most generous in their church history. They outlined the specific areas where generosity would be used, and invited people to join the mission. The signups percentage that followed proved a clear vision is imperative.

Start with leaders

Staff

Start with staff. Introduce the Gyve platform and ask your leaders to download the App and start using the round up feature immediately. By familiarizing your staff initially, you will have a force of people ready to help explain the download process, answer questions and facilitate the ease of use with the program. Gyve does not charge signup, cancellation, user, or minimum processing fees, so there is no risk in conducting a soft launch with your staff.

Non-Staff Leadership

Once your staff has been using the app, engage with non-staff leaders in your church (small group leaders, elders, deacons, board members). Invite these key leaders to begin using Gyve to generate momentum for the community wide launch to come.

Top Donors

The leaders and top supporters are often one in the same. These are the people who have the highest commitment to your church. They feel ownership and pride in your building, they are called and mission focused. Engage those committed to your cause up front and secure their support.

Top donors do not want to feel like they are investors in your mission, rather they want to be partners with you in God’s mission.

Be sure to approach top donors in a businesslike fashion. Share your vision then request feedback and support. Ask them to join you and help you spread the idea of creating a culture of generosity in your church. Solicit and use their feedback. Include them in the

GYVE FEATURES

“Churches who engage in a mobile giving platform increase their giving by 34% simply by adding the mobile feature”

ROLL-OUT

Consistency is KeyThe last and most important aspect to your rollout is maintaining consistency after your launch. Don’t assume everyone has heard the message about Gyve and is on board with the new plan. When building a culture of generosity, talking about generosity in consistent, visible ways each week is essential. Create weekly moments to talk about generosity, share impact stories, encourage Gyve downloads, and invite people to join you in the mission of generosity.

At our core, we want to help people experience the peace which comes from trusting God with their finances. Everything we design, develop, offer and produce is to help God’s people take next steps in generosity. Please join us in building a culture of generosity in the local church and community.

Recurring and Large-Gift Donors

Before you publicly rollout Gyve to the entire church, invite your recurring and large-gift donors to begin using the app. This empowers your core generosity community to be on the ground floor of a new development. This step will provide the quickest transition of consistent donations.

Contact recurring givers via telephone or email. Simply explain the switch to Gyve, and include download links for the Apple App store, Google Store, and Gyve’s download instructions.

Be sure to include a church wide launch date for the new platform and an explanation enticing your committed givers to lead out for the rest of the church. This strategy allows you to gain support from the 20% regularly giving before strategizing to include the remaining 80%. This will enables you to include giving stats and percentage of committed members during your full launch.

Remaining Community

When rolling the Gyve platform out to the congregation, spend time during each service explaining the transition and casting vision around building a culture of generosity. Explain the round up feature and how the church plans to use the round up donations to bless the community. Get people excited about generosity. A congregational launch should last 4-5 weeks.

The Gyve team is committed to your success and will help you develop a detailed rollout plan to fit your culture and community. A rollout package filled with videos, handouts, slides, images, email templates, and much more is available to equip you with your launch.

ROLL-OUT

In the first 4 months switching to Gyve, 2/42 experienced an 18% growth in overall giving and a 62% increase in first time givers. They jumped from 900 users on PushPay to 1,600 on Gyve, immediately. Currently, 2/42 has over 2,500 users on Gyve.

For more information on or to implement the Gyve platform, please visit www.gyve.io.

To contact us, email info@gyve.io or call 517-798-4273