Um, Church, Here's the Memo You Missed

This is awkward, but your church missed a memo. Maybe it never got sent or, well, your church just missed it. Either way, what matters is you’re here now and I have a memo to show you.

Ready for it? Here goes...

Memo: Planned gifts enable your members to give far beyond the offering plate, for current and future ministry.

Stay with me here, because I want to explain why this memo matters. It’s about a powerful revenue source that reaches past the constraints of an annual budget. If there are any dreams for the future at all, this memo applies to your church!

Here’s the skinny. Last year, Christian ministries (not churches) received $4.25 million dollars in non-cash gifts through Barnabas Foundation. These were gifts of stock, commodities, real estate, business interests and more. 

During the same year, churches received only $500,000 in non-cash gifts through Barnabas Foundation. Ouch.

And when it comes to gifts from a will, the difference is even starker. Non-church, Christian ministries received $32 million in gifts from a will through Barnabas Foundation. During the same year, churches received barely a million dollars! See what I mean about missing the memo? Essential ingredients for expanding ministry-reach include non-cash gifts and gifts from a will. Non-church, Christian ministries get it. Churches, not so much. 

So, what can you do? Get the right tools to start promoting and receiving non-cash gifts and gifts from a will. Here’s what your church needs to get started:

• Generosity Today is the quarterly newsletter from Barnabas Foundation that’s designed to help generous believers give more effectively. Each issue contains inspiring stories, biblical-reflection and practical insight on how to give in smart and powerful ways. This is already being emailed to your church office (in PDF and email formats), so if you haven’t seen it, check with your office administrator.
• A Treasure Account through Barnabas Foundation makes it easy for your church to promote and receive non-cash gifts. It’s free, easy to open and when supporters make non-cash gifts they flow through to your church’s current, operating budget. 
• A Legacy Foundation through Barnabas Foundation provides all the benefits of a foundation for your church without the costs, complexity or administrative burdens of establishing and maintaining your own. It gives members the confidence to make a gift in their will because they know there’s a plan in place to steward it.

This gap between what non-church, Christian ministries are getting and what churches aren’t getting can be closed, or at least narrowed. And with help from Barnabas Foundation, your church can help change the game.

After all, now your church has the memo!