Separating Mass attendance from Giving!

Attending Mass and providing financial support to the church are unrelated! Or at least they should be.

For generations our Catholic Churches have insisted that the only way to provide financial support was to attend (utilize envelopes or place money in the basket). While this worked pretty well when Mass attendance was 75% or even 50% of the registered households-it is really burdening the parishes now that Mass attendance hovers around 25%-35%.

While the physical act of placing an offering in the basket is deeply routed in Catholic tradition and for many is an important and expected part of the Mass -dependence on this method for virtually all of a parish's financial support is a recipe for disaster.

Today's Catholic Church has a real challenge when it comes to filling the pews and increasing Mass attendance. This challenge is actually far greater and far more difficult to address than decreasing offertories. Parishes should task their evangelization committee's with developing ways to fill the pews, welcome new families, provide activities for the children, before and after Mass fellowship etc. The finance council should rightfully claim responsibility for giving-separate it from actually attending Mass and begin to take steps to make it EASIER TO GIVE to the local church.

Electronic giving, monthly giving programs, a parish annual report (mailed or emailed to the homes of donors) are all ways to begin to develop a sophisticated and effective giving program at the local parish.

Our Catholic Parishes must:
1.) articulate their case for giving (being church isnt good enough)
2.) develop methods to communicate this case to potential donors
3.) provide easy and accessible ways for donors to give
4.) be accountable

More to follow on electronic giving....