Gifts with strings attached: Choir robes, but no choir

If St. Andrew’s church receives a bequest, it’s good news, right? Except the gift is designated for choir robes, and they haven’t had a choir in twenty years.

Bequests and donations are great; this post is about strings.

The choir robes gift will sit in the church books unused, unless St. Andrew’s undertakes to change the designation (contacting the donor or a legal process). A designated gift can’t be used for other purposes.

How can churches approach designated giving that avoids the choir robe type situation? It helps to tell good stories, stories about special projects and also about what happens when you make a ‘regular’ donation to the church. So much great ministry happens behind the scenes and those stories need telling too.

Don’t tell only one type of story

St. Andrew’s can encourage designated gifts to fund a special project like new freezers for the local food bank, while still funding the ongoing ministry of the church.

There’s a difference between the freezers and the choir robes: for the food bank project, the church decided together what project they wanted to support. In response to a current community need, the money flows through the congregation and out into the neighbourhood.

Designated giving can be wonderful: a special project introduces giving to kids and adults who are learning generosity. Designated giving stories are easier to tell:

“Thank you for your gifts to our recent special giving project to buy new freezers for our local food bank. We raised over $4,500 and we are so grateful we can help our neighbours.”

Show a photo of the freezer; maybe even plan a field trip! A follow-up project to help put food in the freezer could be fun too.

However, don’t let designated giving stories be the only generosity stories you tell. Tell stories about the less visible aspects of a church’s ministry and mission to avoid becoming stuck in entry-level generosity. It’s the ongoing generosity of the congregation that builds the community which enables special projects to take place. For instance,

We thank God for the faithful generosity of people at St. Andrew’s. Your ongoing generosity to the ministry of this church supports our ongoing worship, grocery gift cards, prayer support, referrals to community services, hospital visits and much more.

Regular giving maintains our building as a place of worship and hospitality. Our ministry extends beyond these four walls and blesses many people. Thanks be to God!

It couldn’t hurt to have a photo of a clergy person making a hospital visit or answering the phone. It sounds cheesy I know, but sometimes people forget that ministry doesn’t only happen on Sunday!

In our next post, we’ll look at how to encourage “no strings giving” for church bequests.