Pass the Plate
After reading the chapter on religious congregations, the part that was most interesting to me was that of "securing adequate financial resources." I already knew that most money that churches receive comes from individual donations. I just was surprised that "three-quarters of congregations receive at least 90 percent of their income from individual donations" (p. 283). I'm Catholic, and I cane think of many times at mass when the collection plate went around several times. Once for the parish, another time for a fund for some other party, and maybe on occassion a third time for something else.
I was SHOCKED that "the median congregation has only about $1,000 in a savings account" (p. 284). Maybe I'm really naive but that is amazing. How can these religious organizations reach out to the community and participate in various actitivies for the good of the less fortunate when they barely have enough money for the upkeep of facilities and paying the salaries of clergy members?
I was surprised by this quote: "...we might expect congregations to respond to the financial pressures exerted by demographic changes by seeking to reduce their dependence on individual donations" (p.285). But how is this possible? If 90 percent of their income is coming from individuals, how can they reduce this dependency?
I was looking at the Web site for the church I go to in Gainesville (ok, when I go..) and I thought this might be of interest.. parishoners can now donate online to the parish, and here is a breakdown of all of the things you can donate to (on that page, click on "click here to donate online") : http://holyfaithchurch.org/default.aspx
Also of interest is that during the weekend of Oct. 8, the parish raised $20,078.56. That amount is from 410 parishoners/families. Here is a break down of what people gave money to (see page 4 of this bulletin):
http://holyfaithchurch.org/bulletin/_upload/20061015_B_Bulletin%2010-15-06.pdf
What are your thoughts/reactions?
I was SHOCKED that "the median congregation has only about $1,000 in a savings account" (p. 284). Maybe I'm really naive but that is amazing. How can these religious organizations reach out to the community and participate in various actitivies for the good of the less fortunate when they barely have enough money for the upkeep of facilities and paying the salaries of clergy members?
I was surprised by this quote: "...we might expect congregations to respond to the financial pressures exerted by demographic changes by seeking to reduce their dependence on individual donations" (p.285). But how is this possible? If 90 percent of their income is coming from individuals, how can they reduce this dependency?
I was looking at the Web site for the church I go to in Gainesville (ok, when I go..) and I thought this might be of interest.. parishoners can now donate online to the parish, and here is a breakdown of all of the things you can donate to (on that page, click on "click here to donate online") : http://holyfaithchurch.org/default.aspx
Also of interest is that during the weekend of Oct. 8, the parish raised $20,078.56. That amount is from 410 parishoners/families. Here is a break down of what people gave money to (see page 4 of this bulletin):
http://holyfaithchurch.org/bulletin/_upload/20061015_B_Bulletin%2010-15-06.pdf
What are your thoughts/reactions?
posted by Anonymous @ 11:39 AM
1 Comments:
At 4:56 PM, October 16, 2006,
Paul Jonas said…
I think those are both very interesting links. I agree with Nadya in that it does provide transparency, but also sets the stage for competition between parishiners. I also noticed that ParishPay is set up to look a lot like PayPal. So many "p's" the gods of alliteration are smiling.
Some of the points the chapter brings up do say a lot to the types of struggles that charitable organizations have to deal with and how they successfully deal with them. The weekly giving report seems almost like a mini-annual report for the parishiners. I wonder how many churches assembly something like an annual report for their parishiners? Would that, then, be a case where another charitable organization is lost to the business world? I guess so, like the way of so many other non-profits.
Gina's comment:
The greatest trend that I see in Baptist churches today is the importance placed on recruiting a church leader/minister/pastor that has strong business acumen and fundraising skills...almost like a university president.
Speaks most directly to that. Business around us is causing so much competition, that everyone is forced to adapt to new tactics in this everdynamic world we live in. Is anyone else envisioning scenes from the priest in Dogma?
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