The Association of Fundraising Professionals recently published their predictions for individual giving in 2010. The publication provides a low-growth and a high-growth model. Much of the research is based on assumptions. Nevertheless, better data leads to better, more informed decision making. It’s worth the read.

I was struck after pages of research and charts to read a conclusion that acknowledged there is an element of individual giving that cannot be quantified or measured. It transcends research and can only be explained by deep urges within individuals to participate in and contribute to society for reasons well beyond reason and understanding.

Conclusion
Although our IGM estimates short-term changes in individual charitable giving, it assumes that the deeper motivations for giving continue to operate at the individual and household level. Giving depends on the capacity to give. Nemo dat quod non habet—no one (can) give what one does not have. However, much of our work on philanthropy over the past 25 years has emphasized the moral and spiritual aspects of the supply or donor side that also mobilize financial philanthropy. So many of the dynamics of giving for individuals depend not only on financial capacity, but also on the level of urgency, meaningfulness, identification and gratitude that donors feel.

This conclusion made by people who are skilled at crafting empirical research recognize there are limits to what we can measure about why and how people give. Perhaps this should give church leaders reason to pause and remember that giving is rarely a financial decision; it is most often a reflection of our spiritual maturity and a response to communication that fosters “urgency, meaningfulness, identification, and gratitude.”