October 29, 2013

Involving Youth in Giving

There’s an adage that says “If you ask a person for a dollar you`ll get their opinion. If you ask a person for their opinion, you`ll get an opportunity for a contribution.”

When thinking about youth involvement for giving, ECF Capital Campaign Consultant Sue Fornabi tells a story of how to engage younger parishoners early on in the campaign process:

"A church wanted to be sure that the youth were invited into the ministry of gifting during all phases of the campaign methodology. During discernment at youth ministry meetings the youth leader facilitated conversations about the “wish list” of what is God calling us to do?

"In the feasibility study we asked in the communication plan that parents invite the youth to participate in the process of completing the survey.

"In the campaign the youth created a “coupon book”. They sold car washes, hosing out trash bins, baby-sitting etc. to parishioners and neighbors. They raised over $500 and that was celebrated at the Celebration Sunday and also discussed on the bulletin board (before we had our website offering!)"

Do you have a story of how youth in your parish were engaged in formational giving? If so, please post below in the comments. We`d love to hear from you!