I was recently asked, “How do you attract generous people to your church? It’s one thing to create generous people or teach generosity, but what if we could attract people who are already generous. What if we evangelized the generous. Are there things we could do to be more attractive to giving people?”
Dr. Tom Stanley, marketing professor at Georgia State University and author of the best selling book The Millionaire Next Door, wrote another book in 2009 entitled Stop Acting Rich. This book updates The Millionaire Next Door and shares characteristics of the affluent, characteristics of people who don’t necessarily earn high incomes but have large balance sheets/networth. These people have $1 million + in savings.
So to be able to attract the affluent, one must know who these people are and what their tendencies are. According to Stanley, the balance sheet affluent are by far more generous than the population as a whole and significantly more generous than those who earn high incomes of over $250,000.
So what are the characteristics of the affluent who are generous?
Four Characteristics of the Wealthy who are Generous
1) They live with financial margin. These generous people have found that they don’t need things to be happy and satisfied. They find satisfaction in being with family and friends, delaying gratification and saving. They live on less than they could afford and save for a “rainy day.” Many times they’re asked, “You have plenty saved. Why not stop and smell the roses? Why not spend a little and have some of the finer things in life? You’ve sacrificed for years. Now live a little.” These affluent don’t receive their joy and fulfillment from spending money on things and possessions, but in saving and enjoying the habits they’ve created. They have confidence that they don’t need all their income to live. If they spent everything they could, they wouldn’t have anything to save and thereby receive less satisfaction.
Proverbs tells us that in the storehouse of the wise are grains and fine oils because the wise person knows that wealth is not just about more consumption but also saving.
2) They live with minimal debt. Debt takes part of the affluent’s income that they could use for saving because debt requires payments. Saving on monthly expenses produces margin. That margin is a higher priority than consuming more especially consumption that requires debt
Proverbs 22 says that the borrower is slave to the lender. The Bible doesn’t say that debt is a sin, but it doesn’t speak positively about debt and even discourages using debt.
3) They have goals and plans to achieve them. The affluent know that what they focus on is where they move. If they focus on specific tangible goals, they may not achieve them, but they will be working in the direction of their goals. They know they will achieve more with goals than if they hadn’t set goals.
Goals are what they can control. So if they focus on what they can do instead of what is out of their control, they tend to be happier and less overwhelmed when difficulties come. Goals make the affluent proactive and tangibly designing what they want to become.
In Luke 14, Jesus encourages people to count the cost. He encourages people to see what the final outcome, find the steps and accompanying trials for taking those steps and then to decide what to do.
4) They give. The affluent gain more pleasure from saving and giving than they do from consuming. They have confidence that even if they give, they will have enough. The Christian affluent believe that God will take care of them better if they spend 90% of their incomes and give 10% or more to Him, rather than spending 100% or more of their income on themselves. If the affluent had massive debt payments and “needed” expensive things, they wouldn’t have enough to save and to give.
Recently, I spoke with a 22 year old at the airport and this young man just started his first job. He was taking home just $2,000/month. Even though he only had this job for 4 months, was living on his own away from his parents and renting an apartment, he found a way of saving $4500. He also said that he gives $250/month to his church. When asked why that amount, he said, “Everyone gives 10%. I can do better than that.” I had to say, “Wow!” Then I was compelled to add, “With that much money left over each month, what kind of car do you drive?” He said that he drives an ’06 Honda Civic. So I had to ask, “You could lease a new Civic for probably $250/month. You could easily afford that.” Indignantly he said, “Why would I do that?! My expenses would go up $250/mo. I couldn’t give as much or save as much.”
That young man was not a millionaire, but he’s on the path to become a millionaire. I have a feeling that this young man will earn more than $2,000/month before long. It isn’t about how much money someone makes that determines how much they’ll give, but about the way they think and manage their resources that they already have.
What does all of this have to do with attracting the generous?
How can a church attract someone who can give generously? The bottom line is that churches tend to attract people like the people who attend already. In other words in relation to money, churches attract people who handle money like they do. So if the church incurs significant debt, they will attract people who do the same. If the church has margin and saves some of its money, the church will attract people who do the same. If the church gives 10% or more away to missions, it will attract people who generously give also. Now this won’t be true 100% of the time, but I’ve found if the church spends everything that comes in and lives month to month, the congregation does the same. However, if the church has margin and limited debt, there is a high likelihood that many in the congregation do the same. Maybe that is because people manage the church’s money the way they handle their own. So to attract the generous affluent, manage the church’s resources like the affluent.
One church in a rural town of 7,000 people took this approach to attracting generous people to their church. During the week, a past mayor stopped by the church to see the pastor even though he had never attended the church. The mayor remarked about the increased number of cars around the church on Sunday and the activity throughout the week. The pastor gave him some insight as he discussed changes in their budget priorities. He also commented that the church didn’t lay anyone off in the recession of ’09 because they budgeted for about 15% of their income for savings. So even though that margin was eliminated in the recession, the church didn’t need to lay anyone off. The church couldn’t save like they were saving, but because of financial margin, jobs were saved. The past mayor pulled out his check book and wrote a check for $25,000. I would think that the mayor would think that the church didn’t need the money and thus wouldn’t give. However, the mayor thought that since the church was that responsible with the resources they already had, it would be responsible with more money to make even a more significant impact in the community. Since then, the past mayor started attending the church and gave a piece of land valued at $750,000 in case the church ever wanted to build. However, the land could be sold and the proceeds used for other ministries. This church handled it’s money the same way this affluent donor did by having margin, never incurring debt and even though I didn’t mention it, generously supporting ministry outside the church.
The moral of the story is that if a church wants to attract people likely to give significantly, handle its money similarly to people who have money saved. These are the people who give, according to Stanley, over 3 times what the average American gives.
This also makes me think that margin generates expansion instead of expanding and hoping to receive margin. Many hope to receive growth if they hire staff or start a new ministry. Sometimes that growth doesn’t happen and the margin never comes. Maybe it happens in reverse, that margin attracts the generous and then there is room to expand.
How do we move toward margin? 1) Prioritize it. Before thinking of expanding staff and raises, make sure there’s margin. 2) Focus on reducing debt. 3) Generate additional income through a variety of strategies. 4) Communicate that the church handles it’s money like the generous affluent do.