The Heart Behind Every Gift
By Gary Melville
Every church budget has a line for mission. Behind those numbers are people: the family that finds a warm meal on a Tuesday night, the young person who spends a week at summer camp, the neighbor who experiences grace through a congregation that kept its doors open. Something else important sits behind those line items: a gift someone planned years ago.
If you serve as a pastor, treasurer or finance committee member, much of your time goes to the numbers. That work matters. But the gifts that sustain a church across generations are rarely about numbers. They begin somewhere else.
Generosity begins in the heart, as a nudge from the Holy Spirit. When we act on that nudge, the action becomes a gift of time, talent, or treasure. Most do not require much discernment or assistance from financial professionals. However, there are times, usually in the second half of life, when we have more resources at our disposal and engaging a gift planner is both wise and prudent. It is the mark of good stewardship.
Gift planning is a donor-centered process. The gift planner is like an architect who listens to the hopes and dreams of the donor. It begins with a vision: the why of giving. This vision may originate with a donor, or it may be that the donor hears the vision of the church and is moved to act. The gift planner’s role is to design a gift structure that meets the philanthropic goals – and financial possibilities – of the donor. That structure is a bridge, consisting of what to give, how to give, and when to give.
What this means for your church
For those responsible for a church’s financial health, this is where the work becomes personal. Members who make significant or legacy gifts are rarely moved by a budget shortfall. They are moved by people: the lives their church touches today and the lives it could touch tomorrow. Tell those stories. Share whom your ministries serve and what changes because of them. Then notice when a member is ready for a deeper conversation. That is the moment to bring in a gift planner, who can help with the what, how and when.
Gift planning builds a spiritual bridge that connects the heart of the donor with the needs of another. And on that bridge, joy happens. Many donors have found that once they cross the bridge, they desire to cross it again. The more sacrificial the gift, the greater the joy. As Christians, we understand that generosity is really the Jesus in me giving to Jesus in the other person. Joy, like love, is both within us and between us. Blessed be the bridge that connects us.
If a member of your congregation is considering a larger or legacy gift, or your church would like help sharing its story with potential donors, the Foundation’s gift planning staff would be glad to talk.