Three Feet of Snow Sucks when Your Offering for the Week is $0

The Northeast got hit with a HUGE snowstorm over the weekend.  Some places got over three feet of snow.

For churches that are not able to meet on the weekend, that means a week without an offering.

And if your church is close on it’s budget… this can be a HUGE deal.

Is there something you can do about it?

Mark Brooks shares some thoughts:

Is there anything you can do?  Yes!  The following are some key ideas you can do right now to make up the loss of a cancelled service.  I recommend the following…

• Write a snail mail letter to all your donors asking them to this week send in their offering.  Include in the letter a postage paid stamp so that it is easy for them to send the offering back to you.  If you need help with that letter email me for a sample copy at Mark@TheCharisGroup.org
• Send out an email blast today asking members to respond with a gift.  If you have online giving set up include a link to that portal so that they can easily make their gift.
• Use your Social Media platforms to appeal to members to send in a gift this week.

Make the “ask” about maintaining ministry.  Don’t sound desperate.  Remember, guilt never works in the long run.  I would be saying something like, “The snow may have stopped our services but missions and ministry continues on here at Our Church.  This week we are continue our planning for (list some ministry initiative) that is why your faithful gift now means so much.”

Respond to the immediate need now but plan for the future.  If you are a church in the Northeast you are simply trying to get past this crisis.  However, if I had a church in the Snow Belt I would have in place a set strategy for snow weekends.  It is not IF they will happen but WHEN.  So, have in place the basics you need.

Here is my must have list of action items to prepare for the next blizzard…

• Make sure you have an up to date data base of your members email addresses, Social Media contact information, etc.  You can’t send out an email blast if you don’t have an email data base!
• Set up online giving!  If you have online giving you can immediately recoup any losses from a cancelled weekend of services.  If you need help setting this up see our website at http://charisgivingsolutions.com/
• Have a snail mail letter already drafted and ready to send out.  You know the snow is coming why not send out a letter before it hits?
• Have printed envelopes with a postage paid stamp printed on them.  Yon only pay the postage IF a member sends it back.  The key is to make giving easy for your members.  The easier it is to give the more likely they will give.

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Just wondering.  If you’re in a part of the country that suffers from having to cancel services… how big of a burden does it put on your church’s cash flow and budgeting?  Do you usually make up the shortfall, or is it usually a longer-term hit?