For the past year we have had six congregations in SEPA Synod and eight congregations in NEPA Synod participating in a pilot program to Create Congregational Cultures of Generosity. Teams from each congregation of the Pastor(s) and four to six lay leaders attended a two day intensive training program to help them understand what to do (and what to un-do) to develop healthy attitudes about generosity and changed behavior in giving. Recently we asked congregations to tell us some of the changes they were making to create a culture of generosity and one of the consistently popular additions to the congregational practices was a “Narrative Offering.”
The premise behind this (as with many good ideas) is relatively simple – people give when they know how their giving is making a difference. Virtually every non-profit, when it sends a thank you to donors, and when they make a request for donors to give more, tell some sort of story that personalizes the gift. It tells the donor how their gift has made and will make a difference, usually in a very specific way. The narrative offering makes use of this same strategy. Here’s how it works:
The Narrative offering – a simple but effective way to tell our story of mission and create a culture of Generosity.
Larry Smoose
Synod Generosity Team