Traditional foundations are hurting. Grants are becoming harder to come by. Government, institutional, and denominational funding streams are either about to shrink or are already shrinking. The organizations who depend primarily on these types of funding streams are hemorrhaging as a result of it.

How we fund our churches is changing. Moving forward, the most instrumental person in funding the church is the…

PERSON in the PEW. (Not the PERSON in the PULPIT.)

So what’s the solution to the shrinking pie? Change your ingredients, so you can make a BIGGER pie. (Stop talking about the way we used to make pies and about how much better pies used to be “back then.”)

What if you cultivated a culture of generosity in your congregation so compelling that people decided to become their own foundation (intentionally looking for ways to strategically invest their excess)?

Why a foundation? BECAUSE foundations exist to GIVE AWAY money and to fund things that match its identity and actually accomplish something.

If that sounds like a lot of work on the part of the church leader, it is…A LOT…of work. If that scares you, go find something else to do.

As the practice of generosity grows in your church, people will intentionally stop growing their lifestyle spending and start growing their habits of giving. This is a game CHANGER when it comes to church funding.

In fact, E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G would change.

Stop waiting for someone else (e.g. “Mr. Denomination”) to fund your church.  Inspire the people in your pew to become their own foundation and invest in your ministry.

(By the way, if you can’t inspire others to give to your church, it’s time to polish that resume because you’re done.)