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According to Interbrand, Google ranks 7th among the most valuable international brands. Among the top ten, it was the only brand to have a double-digit increase this last year (25%).

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According to Millward Brown’s brand valuation, Google has ranked the top of the list for three years in a row; repeatedly described as the world’s most powerful brand in the world.

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According to Fast Company, Google is the 4th most innovative company in the world; losing its number-two spot this year to Facebook, Amazon, and Apple. That’s where we can look for next year’s presentation.

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YouTube, a Google company, is the top Web video site, with more than 1 billion daily views.

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Google commands 86% of mobile-search market.

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This company is only 12-years old. Founded in 1998.

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2009 $23.6 Billion in revenue and its stock price was up 106%

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Its search engine is so dominant that Merriam-Webster lists “google” as a verb.

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Google answers an estimated 40% of the 375 million queries thrown out on the Net each day.

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And of course, we would not be professional fundraisers if we did not note that Mr. Brin and Mr. Page were the youngest among Forbes list of the richest Americans; the two of them shared the number eleven spot in 2009.

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I really appreciate what Jeff Jarvis, author of What Would Google Do, says:

We are also seeing the dawn of a new economy; one best viewed and understood through the lens of Google, the one company that – by design or by luck – is built for the emerging world order.

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His advice was no less on point for great swimmers as it has been for me in my efforts to lose weight. Dropping the gym membership, purchasing a used treadmill on Craigslist, and consistently walking for sixty-minutes each day is really paying off. Some might expect twenty-one pounds to have required a more complex strategy when, in fact, all it’s taken is being consistent and always working towards getting a little better.

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The coach explained that there are always days when his students don’t want to get into the pool; and, for me, there are certainly days when I would rather skip the treadmill. But, without a doubt, extraordinary results come from being consistent on both our good days and our bad.

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I believe giving works the same way.

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I am not a big fan of expecting people to tithe when their previous giving experience has usually been limited to a red kettle or a coin box at the McDonald’s cash register. I prefer to see people begin giving just as I began getting on the treadmill and just like the swimmers practicing in the pool- with the determination to be consistent regardless of our circumstances and always striving towards getting a little better.

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So do we accept less than the tithe? Like it or not, we already do. We are fooling ourselves if we think people can simply go from putting next to nothing in the offering plate to giving a tenth of their income. Give me a break. The tithe is certainly a great benchmark, but it’s not the best place to start and it’s certainly not the place to indefinitely end up.

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I suggest that we ask our members to first commit to an amount that is comfortable, yes, I said comfortable — something they might not even miss — in order that they might simply become consistent. I believe their determination at any level will lead to extraordinary returns regardless of where they choose to start. Then we should also ask that they strive towards getting a little better — this might be each week, each month, or each year, as long as the consistency is there and the desire to improve follows.

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This week I read about a family doctor in Columbus, Ohio, whose original student-loan debt amounted to roughly $250,000 and more recently due to deferments, default charges, and compounding interest had ballooned to over a half-million dollars. According to the article, there is an estimated $730 billion in outstanding student-loan debt in our country and only 40% of that debt is actively being repaid.

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Here we have a person who by all appearances should be living a comfortable financial life. She is not exactly the unemployed, under-educated, or unskilled we might expect to be having money problems?

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What concerns me here is not the enormous amount of debt that this particular physician has or the impact it has on her personal finances but rather what our response would be in she came to us for help. Most churches are without a response because they don’t know the need is there, they don’t know how to recognize the problem, and quite frankly, aren’t expected to. Money is so taboo in so many churches that in order talk openly about these sorts of things would be highly out of the ordinary. And yet, I am confident there are endless numbers of individuals and families who wish they could share their financial lives with someone in the church. Unfortunately, if given the chance, most of us would not know how to respond.

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Knowing how to respond to the up’s and down’s of our financial lives is only one of many steps in eliminating the many barriers financial discussions in the church. Money Talks is a experienced intended to eliminate the fear and hesitancies of talking about money in the church. Money Talks can be used as a flexible retreat curriculum ideal for small groups, leadership teams, etc. For more information, contact me at jasonlewis@thefrankgroup.us

First-Time Analysis

In 2008, our organization received 61 first-time gifts.

In 2009, 31 of those 61 did not renew their support.

Therefore we had approximately a 50% renewal rate for first-time donors.

In 2009, our organization had 154 first-time gifts. Incredible increase compared to last year!

How many will renew their support in 2010?

Why this is important?

The costs (both in time and money) to acquire a new donor are much greater than the cost to renew an existing donor.

The first-time donor is typically the most difficult to renew. The repeat donor is much easier to renew for subsequent gift – this reflects a relationship that is being established.

A 50% renewal rate means we lose half of the people we work so hard to win each year. If organizations could simply maintain their existing support, regardless of the anticipated increase, they would be much healthier organizations.

What are we doing to improve our renewal rate?

We have adopted a 90-day cycle that identifies and solicits renewals from those individuals who have yet to renew. The 90-day cycle keeps everything manageable and consistent with the donor’s own giving preferences. It also prevents us from working with renewal groups four-times as large. Our newsletter, communications, special events, parties, etc. are all incorporated into the 90-cycle so that we can encourage renewal long before a donor lapses.

What are some of the challenges of renewal?

In our example, the 154 first-time gifts reflect a large number of capital campaign gifts; some of which you would not expect to renew within a single-year. For this reason, first-time gifts and renewals rates are most applicable to analyzing annual donor relationships.

Renewal rates sometimes overlook engagement of a non-monetary value. For example, donors who also volunteer their time and talent may not make annual contributions. Others may appear to have lapsed when in fact their financial support may come through United Way contributions or corporate gifts.

Some types of gifts are uniquely one-time only gifts. Examples would be memorial and honorary gifts. While there are certainly exceptions and steps to improve the likelihood, these types of gifts are especially difficult to sustain long-term.

Over the years I have seen some of the best, and worst, practices when it comes to encouraging Christian Stewardship. The best I refer to as the Five Disciplines of a Generous Church.

Encourage Giving

The most familiar of the fives disciplines is to Encourage Giving- it’s a no-brainer. The churches I talk to usually have this one covered. While pastors don’t necessarily relish the idea of a stewardship sermon, they, nonetheless, try to deliver on this expectation. Unfortunately, sermons are not especially effective if they are not delivered in conjunction with other disciplines that influence the church culture.

Empower Leadership

Abe Lincoln once said “If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six hours sharpening my ax”. Church leaders must be prepared to lead in stewardship. We are called to Be shepherds of God’s flock … not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 1 Peter 5:2-3 NIV

In his book The Chief Steward, Richard Borg admirably confronts church leaders who neglect their stewardship responsibilities. With experience as a senior pastor, church planter, capital campaign consultant, and leader in the Christian & Missionary Alliance Church, Borg insists that pastors are in the most influential position to disciple their flock in Christian Stewardship.

Expand Worship                                          

 The church is instructed to gather together with a broad understanding of worship which includes singing, praying, teaching, participating in communion, and giving.  In 1^st Corinthians, Paul tells the Macedonians that “just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us[a]—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. “ (1 Cor. 8:7)

In his book Speaking About Money, Mark Vincent describes “the person who encounters the saving power of Christ is motivated by a response deeper than obligatory tithing, goodwill toward others, or seeking more of God’s blessings… stewardship through worship is no longer something you do, it is something you become.”

Experience Generosity

We reference giving and being generous synonymously as if the two go hand in hand. Being generous describes the way in which we give- it reflects the heart and attitude behind why the gift was given. We can certainly also give grudgingly or with regret – these two giving experiences are very different.

In order to give generously, we must first receive generously. This begins with the understanding that we are the benefactors of the most generous gift of all – eternal life through the Jesus Christ. I encourage congregations to seek out opportunities to help one another and to share one another’s burdens. I also encourage them to give time and money to direct-service organizations in the community or directly to a families and individuals in need.

Ensure Integrity

Church leaders rarely understand how their behavior affects the confidence of their congregations. Annual stewardship campaigns are often driven by subtle fear and anxiety over the church’s budget. Many pastors are guilty of unnecessarily apologizing from the pulpit as if the message was wrong or sinful.

Just in the last week newspaper headlines read Pastor Allegedly Steals $50,000 from Non-Profit and another read Preacher Faces Federal Charges. This is not the first time people have encountered these headlines which leaves them hesitant to trust the church. In order to remedy this, the church must earn the trust of its congregation. Policies and procedures must be in place to ensure the integrity of those who handle money and other church assets.

I like what Dr. Steve McSwain, author of The Giving Myths, says… The Macedonians had every reason to quarantine the meager resources they did have. Instead, however–and this is what shocked Saint Paul–their generosity was outlandish…. Just as in Macedonia, this kind of outlandish generosity exists today… it isn’t because of sermons on tithing or the pulpit scolding of those who do not give. If your interest is in growing a spiritually healthy church, motivation for giving must come from somewhere other than guilt for not giving or shame for giving too little.

You can reach me @ e-mail.

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Unfortunately, economics is not included in the usual course load at most Bible colleges and seminaries; and, I would not have expected my friend to be familiar with the economic theories of intertemporal consumption. These theories seek to explain how we save and consume over the course of a lifetime and might offer some insight in the giving habits, or lack thereof, he was observing.

Lower Wages

It doesn’t take a Nobel Prize economist to convince us that wages peak for most people between 40-50 years of age. Young adults in their 20’s and 30’s, for a variety of reasons, simply do not carry home as much cash as older adults. Regardless of whether they are compelled to give 2% or 10%, this portion of a younger worker wages is going to be less. Churches typically observe this upward wage trend as giving increases among those over forty.

Living Expenses

About the time our wages peak, we also see a decrease in our living expenses. Our children begin to leave home, hopefully with their own student loans; and, our mortgage is nearing its final payments. In the last 10-15 years, this decrease in living expenses among baby-boomers came as no surprise to retailers, and mega-churches everywhere have been built on this additional disposable income.

Accumlated Wealth

The most substantial gifts ever made to an organization are typically the result of accumulated wealth. Six and seven figure gifts are not given out of income, they come from assets which do not accumlate over night and are typically given by those over sixty-years old. Fifty years from now, those young adults who don’t give enough will have paid off their mortgages, sent their children to college, financed their retirement, and accumlated a tremendous amount of wealth in their 401(k)’s. They will be financing the church of tomorrow.

This is not a list of reasons to excuse anyone from giving. What it is, however, is an observation that our ability to give changes over time and that the most substantial gifts are likely to come at the end of our lives. As church leaders, we must be careful not to interfere with this process – recognizing that at times our capacity to give will be less than other times in our lives.

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A couple of years ago Network for Good released a report which examined giving behavior in response to the December 2004 tsunamis, Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, and the Pakistan earthquake of October 2005.

The first finding was described as the impulse effect. They wrote: Disaster giving is impulse giving. People are shocked by the disturbing words and pictures that emerge from humanitarian disasters, and they want to help in that moment.

Another finding was that disaster giving follows a fast but fleeting pattern. The impulse effect spikes and drops within a short, two- to six-day timeframe. This sort of unstainable generosity would not surprise any church treasurer — post-crisis giving within the church quickly adjusts back to its usual lows in the weeks to follow and remains as such until the next crisis occurs.

At first you might ask, Whats wrong with that? So people respond to emotionally-charged appeals. As deserving as needs might be, implusive giving is not consistent with a Biblical definition of Christian stewardship; and, regardless of an amount, consistency is characteristic of Biblical Christian stewardship. (1 Corithians 16:2). We must teach our people how to respond to urgent needs without enabling them to become fast but fleeting givers.

One commentator writes:

It is a well-known fact that telethons that play on people’s emotions to solicit contributions often end up with donors who pledge impulsively but not deliberately enough to follow through on their pledge. Paul says that giving is to be based on a calculated decision. It is not a matter to be settled lightly or impulsively.

While I would never suggest that churches overlook needs such as those in Haiti, and I can certainly make a case for special appeals, it is my strong belief that churches should plan ahead for disaster-relief. We must recognize that disasters of this maginitude will occur periodically. As a church, we should reserve a portion of church funds so that we are able to respond in a timely manner without requiring a special collection. I would certainly invite the congregation to give specifically to needs as they arise, however, I would urge that these additional funds be recognized as above and beyond those already allocated for this purpose.

This post was originally published at ChurchCentral.com

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I am utilizing a generous list of resources which includes the following great books.

Clay Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody

Nicholas Carr’s The Big Switch

Seth Godin’s Tribes

Jeff Jarvis’ What Would Google Do

Ken Auletta’s Googled

Randall Stross’ Planet Google

John Battelle’s The Search

Anthony William’s Wikinomics

Don Tappscott’s Grown Up Digital

John Palfrey’s Born Digital

Doug Pagitt tells the story of a giant goose that hangs in his church- the goose is a metaphor for the Holy Spirit based Celtic tradition and is a reminder that everything is contextual. The Apostle John understood this as demonstrated by his unique telling of the Gospel.

Pagitt writes:

“John was telling the story of Jesus in a particular way so that story would make sense to a particular group of people living in a particular culture… He arranged and built the story of Jesus to connect with his readers… What is true for the Gospel writers is true for us: the gospel is to be told in a way that makes sense in our day and time so that we too can find life in it.” Source

Contextualization is tough for some folks; so rather than tackling something like absolute truth we can try something a little easier to swallow. Frankly, for some, tithing is as sacred as the virgin birth; so we won’t zero in on that either.

Sometimes I just want to tell pastors, look there is another way – you really can effectively teach Biblical stewardship without accusing everyone of theft or sounding like an infomercial with promises of riches raining down from heaven. To do so requires a broad understanding of the Scriptures and an understanding of the people we are teaching.

An understanding of biblical stewardship requires us to move beyond Malachi 3, Matthew 6, and 2 Corinthians. I would suggest we get to know people like the Rich Young Ruler and Zacchaeus. As a complement to the scriptures, I would suggest Craig Blomberg’s Neither Poverty Nor Riches. I would also suggest Randy Alcorn’s Money, Eternity and Possessions.

In consideration of the people we are teaching, I am reminded of the first sentence in Stephen Bevan’s Models of Contextual Theology, There is no such thing as “theology”; there is only contextual theology: feminist theology, black theology, liberation theology, Filipino theology, Asian-American theology, African theology, and so forth.

To Bevan’s list, I would add millionaire theology, middle-class theology, single-parent theology, and overwhelmed-with-debt theology. To ignore the realities of individual economies is to diminish our ability to effectively teach. We have to learn when and how to see beyond our own circumstances.

To echo my thoughts in an earlier post, sermons are not typically the best way to speak to these different audiences.  I encourage church leaders to develop stewardship initiatives that address the diverse needs of everyone in the church. We should maintain a whole-life stewardship perspective and consider not only what we give but what we receive and how we receive it. And regardless of the context, we all want to experience the Generous God who has given and will continue to give far more than we can ever give back.  

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Shoppers are not the only ones who are anxious this holiday season; in my local paper last week the headline read “Charities can’t rely on year-end generosity.” According to a recent survey, only 38 percent of Americans say they are more likely to give a charitable gift as a holiday present this year, compared to 49 percent last year.

Cosby Woodruff asks “if people are not confident enough to spend on a few extra toys at Christmas, what will they spend on in the next few months?” He points out that consumer-spending is usually a positive sign of recovery. Frankly, I don’t know whether confidence as seen in increased spending is the type of confidence I want to bet on anymore. The fact that our culture is so consumer-oriented leaves me hoping we can find new indications of recovery.

As ministry leaders, I think we should encourage our people to stop doing Christmas as usual. Instead of thinking about Christmas in terms of the dollars we will spend, maybe we should think about the dollars we can save- better yet, how about the dollars we can give away. Rather than anxiously trying to stretch every dollar in order to ensure that no one is disappointed with what they find under the tree, we need to challenge them to find ways that remind us of the true reasons for celebrating Christmas.

Fewer Gifts

I am especially intrigued by the Advent Conspiracy movement- aimed at restoring Christmas as time for compassion rather than consumption. This group encourages Christians to Worship Fully, Give More, Spend Less, and Love All. Chris Seay, one of the authors, says “the busyness and materialism are not merely a distraction from the things that matter, they have become the driving force in a fever pitched frenzy that is anything but worshipful.” The movement began with the simple idea of foregoing one gift in order to help those in need. This year they are pointing out that Americans spend $450 billion on Christmas every year, and asking why people do not, instead, put that money to work for somebody who really needs it.

Alternative Gifts

This afternoon I volunteered at an alternative gift fair at a local church. While the idea was new to me, it appears as if this sort of event is catching on in a lot of communities. I was representing one of eighteen charitable groups that “shoppers” could donate to in lieu of a gift. Shoppers selected organizations that they believed would best honor their loved ones.  Similarly, and as easy as a telephone call, most non-profit organizations will accept a gift in honor of someone and gladly send that special person a card on your behalf.

Used Gifts

A couple weeks ago a family came to my seven-year old’s birthday party. They brought along with them what appeared to be a brand-new toy which has since become the delight of all my kids. I was pleasantly surprised when my friend said his wife purchased this thing at the Salvation Army thrift store a week earlier. “No kidding,” I said, “that is awesome!”  Erika and I also have some friends who have managed to do all their Christmas shopping on Craigslist which apparently works for this guy too.

I enjoy a wrapped gift or two under the tree just as much as anybody else does. And I am not one of these folks who wants disappoint the kiddos by locking Santa out in the cold. I believe a lot of what we do during the Christmas season is just as it should be. What I do want to do, though, is ensure that my family and those around me understand that Christmas is not about the gifts we receive under the tree. Christmas is about the Gift that came to us in a manger and the gift that was later given to us on the cross.

Jason Lewis also writes at ChurchCentral.com and he can be reached @ e-mail.

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