Easter Sunday. Hands down it’s your most attended Sunday of the year. Not only does this present one of the greatest opportunities your church will have throughout the year to share the Gospel with non-believers, but this also lends the potential of a generous offering.

By now, your Easter service planning is in the works. From worship to preaching to announcements to follow-up efforts…everything seems to be falling in place. But there’s likely one planning piece left that many overlook. Your church’s giving strategy!

There is an incredible opportunity to invite people into the heart of generosity this Easter. A giving strategy is so crucial and should not be avoided or overlooked, even with everything else that you’ve got planned this Easter. Plus, it doesn’t have to be complicated or long to be impactful.

This Easter, keep it brief. Focus on three simple and specific concepts: the giving message, moment, and method. In this blog, we’ll tell you everything you need for a solid Easter giving strategy that will maximize your offering.

1. Use Your Giving Message to Share Why We Give.

Jesus came down to Earth on a clear and simple mission. The Bible tells us, “the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28).” It also reveals Jesus “humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross (Philippians 2:8).”

We give because He gave. God gave His one and only Son, and Jesus gave His life (John 3:16). This Easter, make space for your church to reflect on this reality and to be inspired to give freely and sacrificially.

Share this message in weekly church emails both leading up to and after Easter, in your offering moment, during the worship set, or directly from the pulpit when preaching.

To help get you started, here is a sample message you can share during your service or communication efforts leading up to your Easter offering:

This Easter, we remember the death and resurrection of Jesus. But in the midst of Easter egg hunts and family pictures, how much do we think about the cost of what was sacrificed?

Something happens when we remember that God willingly and freely, out of His love for humanity, gave His Son (John 3:16). And, Jesus humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death on a cross (Philippians 2:7-8). What radical love and generosity is on full display. We love because He first loved us. We give because He first gave.

Everything we give has already first been given to us by God! As I invite you to give this Easter weekend, I pray that God’s love and generosity towards you motivates you to give freely and sacrificially.

2. Use this Moment to Give to a Specific Cause this Easter.

Give to a specific cause this Easter.

In today’s world, there’s no shortage of charities or organizations to give to. Studies reveal that an overwhelming number of next-gen Americans suffer from giving paralysis. This happens when a person becomes so overwhelmed by the amount of organizations who need help, that they decide not to give altogether.

So this Easter, instead of asking people to give to the church’s annual fund, why not take a different approach?

Focus on meeting a specific need together. By communicating one specific cause to give to, you can help eliminate this giving paralysis and empower multi-generational participation!

Highlight a specific cause. Partner with a local nonprofit in your community or take a special Easter offering that enables your church to fund a specific area of ministry.

Whatever you choose, here are a few tips to get your congregation on board:

  • Share why you have chosen this cause. If it’s a local partnership, tell your givers more about what this organization does. If it’s a benevolence offering, share how their gifts will help fund life-changing ministry.
  • Share specifics if you can to empower participation. Tell your givers that by donating $20, they are able to provide 5 meals to families in need. Or by giving $30, they are able to sponsor a child in Africa for the month. Or that by donating $15, the funds would be available to pay for much-needed church building renovations in cash.
  • Feature a story of hope and life change. Either on stage during announcements, on social media, or through email, tell a story about an individual impacted by this type of generosity. Tie the story back to the importance of individual’s giving.

When you share this from the stage during announcements or the offering, don’t rush this moment.

Give people enough time to digest what they are hearing. We recommend at least three to five minutes if you can. Consider the Easter weekend service flow and decide where this moment fits best in your church’s service .

3. Highlight One Giving Method This Easter

As you encourage congregants to give this Easter (whether they’re life-long members or it’s their first Sunday) focus on one giving method during the actual service.

While it’s usually best to emphasize the multiple ways your church enables people to give, we can take a slightly different approach on Easter. On most Sundays we want to equip people to give in a way that’s convenient to them at any point during the week. But, for this Easter offering, we want to put a singular way to give in front of your congregation that they can quickly and easily do in that moment.

We recommend text to give because it is easy and fast to communicate and to give through. Simply share the number, a keyword if you have one, and brief instructions on how to complete the transaction. It’s as simple as that. (And if you need to get setup with text to give, SecureGive is happy to help!)

Here’s why we recommend text to give in this Easter service moment. For those who already give through an online account, this is a great opportunity to give an additional offering above and beyond the norm. Text to give is also a great way to empower someone to easily give for the very first time!

Share your church’s text to give number on the screen. If you have a keyword, share the keyword below the number. Encourage your givers to save this number as a contact to make the process even quicker in the future.

Here’s two bonus tips on how to effectively communicate text to give:

First, make the most of the minutes during this unique service. Really focus on why to give and encourage people to take action toward meeting the specific cause in that moment. Put your Text to Give number on screen, along with the keyword, to make it as easy as possible for your congregation to give while they’re in the room.

Second, avoid saying “If it’s your first time joining us, you don’t need to give. This is something we invite our church members to participate in.” Why? By telling first-time visitors not to give, giving becomes exclusive rather than inclusive. What if God stirs in a guest’s heart to give? And you just told them not to. This can be a huge disservice to your visitor, their relationship with God, and your church.

 

 

A giving strategy for Easter Sunday doesn’t have to be complicated. Keep it simple. By focusing on simple and specific things like the giving message, moment, and method, your church will have a strong giving strategy this Easter that empowers giving participation and encourages your church to embrace the heart of biblical generosity.