By Katherine Smith My dad liked to collect baseball caps; he had a whole wall filled with them, all lined up so he could easily see the names on the front. My uncle collected bottle openers and my mom brought home anything with a picture of John Wayne on it. People collect all kinds of … Continue reading
By Rickey LetsonCBF Congregational Stewardship Officer When I was pastoring, our church embarked on a significant capital campaign to fund much-needed improvements to our facility. In the process, our leadership felt that we should tithe on gifts to the campaign and thus trust that 90 percent of the funds received would be sufficient for our … Continue reading
By Shauw Chin CappsCBF Foundation President Endowments ─ Blessing or Curse? The answer is it depends. I have heard a spectrum of answers from pastors and ministers on this topic. I have heard horror stories and hopeful stories. In both cases, there are common themes for when endowments are blessings and when they are curses. … Continue reading
By Rickey Letson A dear friend shared a box of books with me recently. He is at the end of his professional career and had been doing some cleaning and down-sizing. In the process, he had gathered some items from his library that he thought I might like to have. As I thumbed through the box, one … Continue reading
By Shauw Chin Capps, CBF Chief Development Officer & CBF Foundation President Gifts in-kind or gifts of non-financial assets are a very tricky component of church giving. These types of gifts certainly have the potential to be a win-win for both the donor and the congregation, IF the gift matches a very specific need the church … Continue reading
By Rickey Letson, CBF Congregational Stewardship Officer When I was a pastor, I always dreaded seeing the January church financial report. The first month of the year was almost always our worst month from a giving perspective. In our church, only July rivaled January for the top spot in the list of low giving months. Each … Continue reading
By Shauw Chin Capps, CBF Chief Development Officer & CBF Foundation President While getting a tax deduction is not the sole motivation for most people who give to their church, research suggests that it has always been an important factor for all types of charitable giving. If we can create a win-win for both the church … Continue reading
By Rickey Letson Perhaps the most unexpected element of church giving over the past two years has been just how well many congregations have fared despite the effects of COVID. Without question, not every church has weathered these two years in solid financial shape. But many congregations have done exceedingly well and, in some cases, have had … Continue reading
By Shauw Chin Capps While most churches focus on tithing from members that brings in immediate cash, it is just as important to think about deferred giving in the form of bequests or planned gifts. The good thing about bequest gifts is that they do not impact the current cash flow of the donor. In … Continue reading
There’s #BlackFriday #SmallBusinessSaturday and #CyberMonday…and then there’s #GivingTuesday, an international day of giving! Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving back. On the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, people around the world come together to celebrate and support meaningful causes. This year, our goal was to raise $10,000 by the end of Giving Tuesday to participate … Continue reading