Do Special Offerings Work?
I’ve been writing about the importance of holding a special offering for Easter. The question first however is, do special offerings really work?
Yes!
In my experience of working with churches of all types and sizes, special offerings work IF, you do them right. If done incorrectly, a special offering could go very wrong. In this post, I will lay out the key ingredients that make up a special offering.
- Why Hold Special Offerings? First and foremost, Special Offerings give you the ability to recast your vision every time you do them. And that is important because dollars follow vision. When casting, I advise using the three C’s of vision. If you make your appeal clear, concise and most of all compelling, you WILL raise the dollars you need. So, the key, is to treat every offering as an opportunity to cast your vision, which is especially true for special offerings.
- What Constitutes a Special Offering? We must concede that we take up a lot of offerings! At least that is the view of the majority of your attendees. When I talk about special offerings, I am not necessarily talking about adding another offering on a weekend though that is sometimes necessary. I am talking about making your regular offering special. There are certain times of the year that gives us an ability to make the offering special.
- Which Days Can Be Used As Special Offerings? The answer is any day you chose! However, there are certain days and times of the year that make sense. For instance…
- Holidays – New Years, Super Bowl Sunday, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, Father’s Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.
- Special Needs – Think crisis relief offerings, mission appeals, appeals to fund specific ministries- like summer camps, etc.
- Catch up offerings – These are a last resort and should be used only if you are in a financial crisis. If you do your work every week then your need for a catchup offering should diminish.
- What are the keys to a Special Offering? Here are some keys for a successful special offering.
- Planning! You can’t decide on Saturday night to hold a special offering on Sunday and expect great results. The more you plan out the special offering the better chance you have for success.
- Vision! The more appealing the appeal, the better the results. Take the time to craft a compelling vision and you will see greater success.
- Execution! It is not enough to have a plan! You MUST work that plan through all existing platforms and tell your story.
So, bottom line…
To have a successful special offering and avoid an epic fail, you need to think ahead to other special days on the calendar and think of how you can make your “ask” appealing for those in attendance. With good planning, your church will reap the many benefits of special offerings!
Mark Brooks – The Stewardship Coach
P.S…
Click Here to find out how to use Easter for a special offering! https://acts17generosity.com/shop/say-yes-to-easter-giving/
