Giving is such an important part of worship that it deserves words. Not just ‘the ushers will now come forward to collect the offering…’ and a cursory prayer, but a moment of genuine gratitude and celebration. Celebrate all the gifts, not just gifts from people sitting in the pews at the moment.

If someone has $40 in their wallet, they may give $20 - saving that second $20 for lunch the next day. Online gifts were $160. Lots of great examples and statistics here from Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

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

Generosity starts with a grateful heart.

How can churches say thank you? Sending a thank you card is an easy starting point. Here are eleven ways to use thank you cards.

If you give a wedding gift, you expect to receive a thank-you note.  It’s common courtesy.  If you don’t give a gift, you generally don’t get a thank-you note.  Obvious, right? However, in church giving often nobody gets a thank-you note.  Nobody gets thanked.  Really.  In many churches, donors get an annual receipt with no thank-you letter. But I’m proposing here that everybody gets a thank-you note. Here’s why: gratitude generally and thank-you letters in particular make a good springboard into generosity.

I help congregations with generosity assessments - looking at giving trends and congregational values. It's joyful, challenging and sometimes vulnerable work (for both me and the congregation!)

One of the big questions I ask churches is: "Are you two or three funerals away from disaster?"

This is a great article on ending well for congregations. Denial seldom helps congregations move forward; facing these questions guides future direction.

“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?

Is $20 enough to launch a capital campaign? Yes, yes it is, when the gift is given with eagerness and excitement. My devotional reading today told the story of a single mom's enthusiastic $20 gift to a church building project, a gift given as soon as she heard about it