A Christmas Offering is a special offering given during a set period of time around Christmas that encourages people to give over and above their regular tithes and offerings. In working with over 1,000 churches to implement effective Christmas Offerings, I’ve learned there are some common mistakes that you can avoid.
1. Not doing a Christmas Offering every year.
It would be a big mistake to not do a Christmas Offering. In fact, the only reason to not do one is if you just rolled out a capital campaign the previous month.
Our Christmas Offering at The Journey takes place over several weeks, but I’ve worked with many churches who do “mini-offerings.” You could plan to do one on just one day – choose a day before Christmas or even on Christmas Eve. Even with a one-day Christmas Offering, planned effectively, you can legitimately raise up to one month’s offering. This could go to some key areas in your ministry, like missions, children’s area, etc.
[bctt tweet=”Even with a one-day Christmas Offering, planned effectively, you can legitimately raise up to one month’s offering.” username=”nelsonsearcy”]
Two BIG reasons to do a Christmas Offering:
- By challenging people to give over and above their weekly offering, you’re raising the discipleship level in your church. You have an opportunity here at the end of the year to accelerate the spiritual growth of your people.
- From a stewardship standpoint, people are more generous around Christmas. They want to give at this time of year. These may be worthy charities, but I believe your church should be the investment of choice for greatest Kingdom impact!
Again, even doing something small this year can have some impact. And should you choose not to do one this year, take these lessons and apply them to next year.
2. Setting the goal too high.
I normally challenge you to set stretch goals. I’m usually all for them. But with a Christmas Offering, I’d rather you set a more reasonable goal and hit it, rather than set one too high and barely miss it.
It can be demotivating to your people if you miss your Christmas Offering goal, even if you are just shy of hitting it. There is a percentage of your church that will feel like they failed.
Set a goal that is a little bit lower to ensure that you hit it. Here are some guidelines:
Roll-out in early November: Set goal for 4–5 times your weekly offering.
Roll-out in late November: Set goal for 2–3 times your weekly offering.
Roll-out in mid-December: Set goal for 100% above your weekly offering.
One church I was working with had a special Christmas Offering on Christmas Eve, sent out a special notice the Sunday before, and they still raised another week’s offering on top of their regular offering!
Afraid of hitting your goal too early? I promise you this, if you hit the goal early, I can give you two to three things you can do to continue your offering.
[bctt tweet=”An effective Christmas Offering doesn’t require you to be a “rocket surgeon.” But it does require some planning. The better you plan, the more likely you are to succeed.” username=”nelsonsearcy”]3. Poor advance planning.
An effective Christmas Offering doesn’t require you to be a “rocket surgeon.” But it does require some planning. The better you plan, the more likely you are to succeed.
Ready to plan your Christmas offering and raise two to five times your weekly offering?
Incorporate these lessons and those from my Revised & Updated resource, How to Plan and Conduct an Effective Christmas Offering.
Over 90% of my coaching alumni do a Christmas Offering and raise on average one “extra month” of giving at the end of the year — imagine an extra month’s worth of giving to support missions, expansion and Kingdom initiatives! This one resource will pay for itself 16 times to 300 times depending on the goal that you set.
Your partner in ministry,
Nelson
Share This Post
© Nelson Searcy. All Rights Reserved.
About Nelson Searcy
