Why do Christian donors give? A poem from survey answers to that question

Has your church or charity actually asked its supporters to leave a bequest in their wills to support the good work of the organization?

Let me guess - good intentions but so many things to do! The budget needs money this year, not some year. Special events demand lots of time; reports are complex and time-consuming. There are structural issues. However, people who find asking for gifts in wills to be off-putting remains a big barrier.

Gratitude and generosity help us look beyond ourselves. What has God given me? How can I share? The authors are quick to point out that generosity is not a panacea; generous people can still suffer from anxiety and depression. But they are resilient.

Half of donors give more than $310 and half give less. $310 is the typical amount. I’m glad that StatsCan uses median here, because average gift would be skewed by a small number of really large gifts.

When I quote these figures in churches, I get questions like - people give $310 to their church or to all charities put together? This is the "altogether” total. Donors who give more in a month than most Canadians give in a year are bewildered: isn’t everyone as generous as they are? In a word, no.

Does your congregation ever talk about how members can leave a gift to the church in their wills? Christians can be downright offended when someone tries to talk about money or death in church!  However, Scriptures are full of references to both death and money.

I love the Psalms, not just the poetry and beauty of the words, but the honest emotions.  I heard Psalm 112 read aloud a few weeks ago and it struck me that this Psalm talks about how generosity continues beyond the life of the donor.

“I am unlike your white friends who have waited until they were rich and then help but have in proportion to my success, I have reached out and am helping others.” Madam C.J. Walker.[1] So begins this excellent book on Madam C.J. Walker’s life of generosity.

Walker and other black female philanthropists didn’t help only when they had free time or extra money; they always helped. Consistency. Walker was consistent in her giving, from when she had little to when she was wealthy.

Walker provides an excellent role model for generosity and breaks out of the narrow definition that philanthropy is something rich white people do. I’m grateful to Tyrone McKinley Freeman for telling her story so well.

While churches hope that donors like Stella carry on indefinitely, like the Queen, she is in fact mortal.  Have you asked Stella if she would like her legacy of caring to continue through a gift in her will?  She trusts the church.  Does the church trust Stella, believe that Stella is brave enough to have this conversation?  Remember that lots of charities ask Stella for money.  Will Stella know that the church would love to receive a bequest from her?  Ask.  Tell the story of what her gift will do.

Literally the stack of church and money books Lori brought to a class of ministry students.

"Young families can't give." Twice in a week I heard exactly the same statement from church leaders. I believe what they meant was "young families with housing costs, daycare fees and mouths to feed can't afford to give to the church." I surely hope it wasn't a theological statement excluding young families! Let me start with a story:

“We had so much fun giving that money away” What if a bequest policy at church was a joyful discussion of one final act of kindness?