The Hunt for Green October
Ruben Swint, Senior Strategist, Generis Partners, Atlanta, GA
Every year in late summer and early fall, churches begin planning for their annual beg, the hunt for a green October. The prey in this hunt include:
1) catching up from the summer lag in giving
2) preparing next year’s budget
3) finding the best (least work, most gain) stewardship program
4) putting on the program
5) repeating again next year (not unlike shampoo’s “wash, rinse, repeat,” which was really a marketing line to increase sales, not to clean your hair.)
Effective stewardship programs do exist for use once a year. These effective programs:
1) are church mission and discipleship focused, rather than budget driven
2) understand that people give to help and save people, not to institutions
3) are Biblical in orientation and positive in approach
4) celebrate the church’s unique ministry opportunities and outcomes
5) spend money to raise up fully devoted stewards.
Common Hope, Common Trust from the Ecumenical Stewardship Center, New Consecration Sunday by Herb Miller and Weaving Our Lives Together from the National Association of Church Business Administration are effective programs. (I am co-author of Weaving Our Lives Together)
More and more congregations are adding year-round strategies to fund their annual ministries, or substituting these strategies as an entirely new approach, devoid of the annual hunt. The 12-month way of raising annual giving includes:
1) anchoring all ministries to the local congregation’s God-given mission
2) communicating ministry results and mission outcomes to the congregation monthly;
3) preaching on mission and vision several times during the year
4) incorporating stewardship teaching in the regular pulpit ministry
5) strengthening the relational bonds within the congregation and with the community it serves.
The goal of the 12-month way of raising annual giving is to develop multiple income streams. Regular undesignated giving is the result of the annual stewardship emphasis. The 12-month way adds bequest income and major gifts for designated items or ministries along with many other streams of giving.
The assumption behind a 12-month approach is that there are abundant resources available for every good work that God calls the church to do. The central belief in a 12-month approach is that people really want to experience a generous lifestyle as a follower of Jesus. It is not easy to raise annual giving year-round, yet it is highly rewarding. Ultimately, it is far more productive than plan, promote, and repeat.
Ruben Swint is a Senior Strategist with
Generis Partners, LLC of Atlanta, Georgia. Over the past 19 years, Ruben has directed 120 capital campaigns, helping churches expand and enhance their mission. For six of those 19 years, Ruben also served as President of the CBF Foundation. Other consulting has included annual stewardship program leadership, stewardship committee training and endowment and planned giving guidance. A professional speaker and published author, Ruben often leads stewardship conferences and is an active member of the National Association of Church Business Administration. You may contact Ruben Swint by
email or calling 1-800-849-2896, ext. 236.