If your church that has experimented with technology and capital campaigns, I’d love to hear more about what worked and what didn’t (if you’re brave enough to share).

P.S. In case you don’t get the magazine, here is my joint editorial conversation with Ron Keener on church giving.

Josh is a financial planner who has built a consulting firm around the idea of helping people discern and accomplish their life plan. His speciality is not just helping you invest money but also gain clarity about what it is you want to do with that money.

Josh is a believer who is passionate about helping others not only increase their generosity and decrease debt but understand what to do with the other 90 percent. This eBook is one I looked for when I graduated from college but couldn’t find. It spells out all the dimensions of money in a way that provides context and balance for those looking to gain their first financial foothold and those looking for a more specific, mature financial strategy.

I strongly encourage you to download the eBook and consider how Josh may be able to provide a fresh perspective as our culture seeks to make sense of the new normal of money.

What steps are you taking to implement a balanced financial plan for your life?

Only read this eBook if…

• You are serious about year-end giving.
• You are looking for a tactical approach.
• You want proven advice.

Don’t read this eBook if…

• You think people will just give to your church.
• You refuse to talk about money.
• You are satisfied with the status quo.

Now is the time to start preparing. Are you confident you’re doing everything you can to maximize this season of giving? If not, download this free eBook to guide you through the process.

1. Stewards can be generous. Generous people aren’t necessarily stewards.
2. Stewards don’t own what they manage.
3. Stewards know they will be held accountable for what they do with what they’ve been given.
4. Stewards are rewarded based on the results they achieve or the impact they’ve made.
5. Stewards act out of concern for the owner of the property they manage.
6. Stewardship is the beginning of discipleship.
7. Stewardship carries with it a long history of meaning and application.
8. Stewardship prevents me from becoming consumed with cultural norms.
9. Stewardship is multi-dimentional: time, talents, treasure, temple, and testimony.
10. Stewardship balances our worldview between “ourselves” and “everyone else.”

Let’s keep using the words stewards and stewardship. I think they still has a lot of life left in them. Agreed?

A study commissioned by Smart Money magazine and Redbook found that more than 70 percent of couples talked to their partner about money at least once a week. (Source link.)

I recently completed a review for a pastor that showed a spike in church giving every time he talked about money. He is someone who is incredibly uncomfortable talking about the subject. Honestly, it stresses him out.

Sometimes we have to ask oursevles what is more important: staying within our comfort zone or engaging people with an issue that is central to doing life as a Christ-follower.

If so many couples are already talking about the subject, why is the church silent?

1. 5 practical things churches can do to increase giving
2. 10 excuses pastors make about church giving
3. 18-second listeners don’t cultivate high-capacity givers
4. What will your church do differently in 2011?
5. Giving testimony [video]

It’s time rethink our approach to subject of money in church. If Jesus talked more about it than heaven and hell combined, perhaps we ought to make it a more central part of our teaching as well.

Warning: Churches who refuse to consistently deal with giving in a healthy way help fund outside organizations with money God intended to fund his church.

When was the last time you said “thank you” via phone, handwritten note, or in person? (Unfortunately, there isn’t an “app for that.”)

You could read a library full of books on how to cultivate high-capcity givers. Let me save you the trouble. The key is: listening. Are you creating an environment where you are listening to those individuals and uncovering what is most important to them? If you don’t, a very intentional development officer already is and will absolutely secure the gift that might have dramatically changed the financial trajectory of your church, no matter how big or small.

Are you an 18-second listener, or are you giving people the chance to express themselves without your preconceived notions getting in the way?

Let’s see what Tom Peters has to say about where we fall short in our listening habits:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwB7NAvKPeo]

Here are 7 things churches should measure regularly:

1. First-time givers. Every week someone should receive a report with the names and amounts of first-time givers. It’s very important to acknowledge all first-time gifts as they are an external reality of an internal commitment to your church. It would be rude, quite frankly, not to.

2. Giving habits that vary more than 10%. You should always be looking at a rolling twelve month average. If in any given month the difference is greater than or less than 10%, someone on staff should follow up. Changes in giving habits always reflect other realities — often very personal and perhaps spiritual — that might be “hidden” ministry opportunities.

3. 90 days of expenses and revenue and attendance and participation. Budgeting is a good tool and discipline to build into a church’s management process. However, we should be willing to adjust expenses within the year and well before it creates a significant variance later in the year based on current revenue patterns. Don’t wait until Q4 to adjust, or you may just create an unnecessary crisis. This information should be used alongside the attendance and participating habits of the membership. Almost always they tell the same story, only through two different perspectives.

4. Staff giving. If your leadership isn’t practicing generosity, you can’t expect the person in the pew to either. Monitor this closely as it could also reveal who is thinking/about to leave and who is truly “all in.”

5. Giving habits of those who complete membership classes. When a group completes a membership class or process, their habits should be measuring within 30 days, 90 days, 6 months, 9 months, and 12 month intervals. This will give you a good indication as to what to change or adjust to ensure your membership class is effectively assimilating new members or just fulfilling an organizational objective.

There are many, many more reports to consider. However, these are a core group that I recommend you start using today. The better you are at leveraging your ChMS as a ministry partner, the more strategic your decision making will become. Stop managing your church with your gut; it’s not as “dead on” as you may “feel” like it is.

For more ideas, check out Getting Disciple Making Right: 7 Ways Technology Helps Churches Win at Making Disciples.

How valuable is your ChMS to you?