Levi was a Jewish tax collector who had a personal encounter with Jesus that not only changed the trajectory of his life but also countless others through his first-hand account of the life of Jesus. Levi, also known as Matthew, assembled his collection of Jesus’ sayings into a letter we know today as the Gospel of Matthew. It’s in Matthew’s Gospel that we find a foundational statement from Jesus that ties giving to the condition of our heart: “19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21.
Becoming a disciple of Jesus is a life-long process, and those who follow Him are in various stages in their transformation (sanctification) process – including learning to give cheerfully and from the heart (2 Corinthians 9:6-7). The church plays a vital role in helping people see that everything belongs to God and how He’s asked us to manage (steward) what He’s entrusted to us well. It’s not up to the church to change hearts; that role belongs to the Holy Spirit. All that to say, for many, money remains a touchy subject, and the thought that the church is “tracking” it may seem off-putting.
Despite the uncomfortable nature of the subject, every church tracks giving data. The most obvious reason is to provide the donor with a donation record at the end of the year. However, its value is so much greater than that; tracking giving data helps the church to build its budget, demonstrates accountability to donors, identifies trends, and, to some extent, shows the “heart” of the church.
What Tracking Giving Isn’t
Tracking giving should not be used to shame or guilt anyone into giving more or the only marker of spiritual maturity. Tracking donations should never be used to provide large donors with preferential treatment.
When tracking giving, the church must always differentiate an individual’s spiritual journey and the church’s need to make financial plans and monitor growth.
What To Measure
At this point, all churches are adept at gathering the giving data. With the proliferation of affordable church management systems (ChMS) that often integrate digital giving solutions, it is easier than ever before to quickly and accurately enter the donation into the donor’s record. Long gone are the days of opening numerous cash envelopes and trying to decode the name to assign the donation correctly. Every church needs to measure each gift every week and assign it to the correct individual.
Measurement Frequency
Even though donations come to the church in a variety of ways throughout the week, most churches find that a weekly total still makes the most sense. Capturing the data weekly allows for easy consolidation of months, quarters, and years, providing meaningful comparisons to prior years to identify trends.
Comparisons
Gathering the data is the easy part; what to do with it is limitless. While there are books, podcasts, and posts all showcasing key donation metrics, each church needs to determine the measurements that provide the insight they need. With that in mind, here are five essential giving metrics:
- Giving vs. Budget: This metric is pretty straightforward; compare the amount of donations the church received each month to the amount budgeted for each month. While this metric is helpful to see if the church is tracking with the budget projection, it’s incomplete. Churches need the following metric to have a clearer picture.
- Giving vs. Spending: This is easily the most understandable and valuable metric for churches, providing a clear picture of the church’s cash flow for the month. Every month, generate a report that totals the giving for the month and compare it to the spending. Spending should include all expenses and non-expense outgoing cash like mortgage principal. Outspending the giving is a surefire way to wind up in a financial crisis.
- Per Capita Giving: The formula is simple but requires accurate attendance and giving tracking. To calculate this number, divide the total amount of weekly donations by the number of adults in attendance. Because some get paid monthly (think social security), some bi-weekly (every other week), others twice a month (15th and 31st), and some are commission-based, the average for each week is likely to vary significantly, making monthly, quarterly, and annual comparisons much more valuable. Per a 2022 Unstuck Group report, healthy churches have a per capita giving of $65 per person per week. Here’s a helpful post if your church is outside the healthy range.
- Number of Giving Units: For the sake of clarity, a giving unit can be an individual or family, but they are giving as a unity. For example, when my daughters were still living with me, we were one giving unit even though there were four of us – me, my wife, and two daughters. Now that they’ve grown, my wife and I are a giving unit, and my daughters have transitioned into their own giving units. Calculating this metric is simple: compare the number of giving units for the current year to the prior year. Healthy, growing churches typically see an increase in giving units for two reasons. First, new people are joining the church and want to support the mission through their giving. Second, church members are growing in their faith and trusting God with their finances. Both are great.
- First-Time Givers: Giving to a church, or any non-profit for that matter, is a significant moment for many people. It’s a step toward generosity and away from selfishness. Running a weekly (or at the very least monthly) report to identify and then acknowledge first-time gifts is essential in promoting generosity within the church body.
Knowing that every follower of Jesus is being conformed into the image of God at their own pace means not brow-beating them or guilting them into financially supporting the church. But it doesn’t mean the church shouldn’t track key giving metrics to identify the church’s financial health and promote the congregation’s spiritual health.
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