How do Christians decide what to support when everyone has their hands out?
Wesley Willmer shares on page 96 of God and Your Stuff that, “70 percent of giving is impulsive, 20 percent out of habit, 7 percent thoughtful, and just 3 percent careful or intentional.” When I talk to Christians about their giving, I find that having an intentional plan for giving is helpful. We often hear of the tithe to the local church but lack a comprehensive plan that includes offerings and sacrificial giving. In God and Your Stuff, Wesley Willmer does a great job of providing a 5-step process called the First-Step Giving Paradigm1 that I would like to recommend to you.
1. Why?
Determine and understand your motives for giving. Psalm 139:23 says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts.” Ask God to search your heart as David did. Determine if you are giving out of your love and gratitude for God vs. guilt, manipulation or mindless repetition. This step if foundational to the remaining four steps. If you sense your motives are good, then proceed to step two. If not, I recommend starting with a copy of Igniting a Life of Generosity or The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn combined with a concerted time of prayer and asking God to reveal His will for your giving.
2. What Method?
When determining your methods of giving there are several things to consider. The first few are how many organizations you will support, how you will support them (time, talent, treasure), and if financially, what amount. I’ve seen people give small amounts of money to many organizations because they wanted to be a part of them all or because they just couldn’t say no. This type of giving can result in what Willmer calls, “dilution of effect” because the average person can only maintain an active interest in 6-10 ministries. Supporting more than this can result in a disconnectedness that can undermine our intentionality. In addition, we must consider processing costs. It costs a ministry the same whether we send in $10 or $10,000 to process a gift. Lots of smaller gifts can actually increase processing costs and reduce efficiency.
Willmer recommends prioritizing your top 6-10 and putting amounts next to each organization. Other considerations are the timing and length of your support. Giving consistent amounts for longer periods of time helps the ministry from a cash flow perspective and allows them to plan more effectively. You can be a blessing by making adjustments for inflation and planning gifts beyond your lifetime through your estate. You may also determine that God is leading you to give your time and talents to a particular ministry. If you do, I recommend a face-to-face interview with them to determine the most effective way to support them.
3. Clarify Areas of Interest (or passion)
Accomplishing this step will help you determine what ministries to support. Again, it is recommended to prioritize your top 6-10 areas of interest. This process should be bathed in prayer. Be sensitive to the causes God has made you passionate about. There are so many different noble Christian causes, but we cannot support them all. God has wired you to be passionate about specific issues for a reason. Giving to these causes will strengthen your personal connection.
4. To Whom Will You Give?
In this step, you will pick the specific ministries to give to. Because the Lord commanded a tithe to ministers in Scripture (Numbers 18:21-24) your local church should receive the first 10 percent of your giving. Beyond this, once you have identified your passions, you can identify additional ministries to support by: 1) Talking to your pastor for recommendations 2) Asking your family and friends, 3) Connecting with those you may already be aware of, or 4) Conducting an Internet search. Once you’ve identified ministries, the next step is to establish how legitimate they are.
You can search sites like ECFA (www.ecfa.org) and GuideStar (www.guidestar.org) to evaluate an organization’s legitimacy. If they are not listed there, then you should personally contact them and ask them for information like their statement of purpose and how this has been accomplished, a statement of faith, a list of officers and board members, it’s most recent audited financial statement, a statement that shares how much if your giving goes to ministry program vs. administration and fundraising and a strategy that outlines future plans. All of these materials will help you discover both the effectiveness and legitimacy of a ministry.
5. Estimate How Much You Will Give
This biblical concept of “first fruits” should apply here. In other words, decide up front how much you want to give, whether it’s a percentage or a targeted amount. What you don’t want to do is determine how much you will give AFTER bills or other surprises come up. This approach will always reduce the amount of your giving. Giving first will allow you to experience God’s abundant provision in your life and will draw you into greater intimacy with your Heavenly Father.
The First-Step Giving Paradigm was taken from God and Your Stuff by Wesley K. Willmer, NavPress, 2002