Fewer donors are giving more. The number of people donating is down, the total amount of donations is up. This has been the trend for about a decade.

Only 18.4% of Canadians claimed a charitable tax credit on their 2020 Income Tax.

Is the church building project a good cause? Should we pave the parking lot or send the money to missions?
Without a common cause “nothing much happens!”

Giving is a spiritual discipline like prayer. Both are lifelong practices, and there’s always something new to discover.

Once you can write an offering prayer, you can write a thank-you letter. Both are grateful acknowledgements of everything we have received from God, and the blessing of being able to share with God’s people.

Deuteronomy 26, the lectionary for this coming Sunday, talks about sharing the first fruits of the harvest as an offering to God.

The first ripe tomato, the cookies fresh out of the oven, part of the first paycheque. When we share what God has given us, from our first fruits, we honour God.

At the start of the harvest, we don’t know what the coming year will bring. Will there be famine or hardship? Should we can those first tomatoes in a jar on the shelf?

Prayer takes practice. Sometimes it’s the hard times where we really lean into prayer, times when we cannot pretend to be in control of our lives any longer.
Generosity takes practice. I wonder if hard times are also an occasion to lean into generosity. Fear would make us hold on tighter, but perfect love casts out fear.

A practical workshop on joyful generosity

What are you grateful for? Do you have difficulty feeling grateful? That seems normal. The lyricist doesn’t tell us to tough it out or march onwards regardless of our pain. He suggests hitting pause…. I wonder if gratitude requires listening for God’s whispers of hope and listening means slowing down. Slow gratitude.

Here is a bit of encouragement for those who are working so hard at year-end to make sure their ministries, churches, organizations, and causes have the resources they need to continue making a difference. Thank you.

Let’s imagine your charity is behind budget. You’ll be cutting programs and laying off staff next year if more money doesn’t come in. What to do?

Don’t be afraid to ask for what you need. Be specific, like the man asking for three loaves of bread in Luke 11. Here’s my suggested steps to take before sending the email, and a template that might be a helpful starting point.

Most of our petty complaints are silly. I’m not talking here about lament when like Job we despair about suffering and loss. I’m talking daily small irritations: your partner interrupted you. You chose the wrong line at the grocery store.

Choosing to laugh about our petty complaints helps inject gratitude back into the situation