Generous Giving & Gift Aid

We all need to make time to regularly review our finances; local church finances are just the same. Our team are always on hand to advise you on the wealth of online resources available to help you with this task. Here are a few that we feel might be particularly helpful:

• A Simple Giving Review Programme - Ideal for smaller churches. Includes advice, tips, and templates.
• Parish Gift Day Guide
• Giving Appeal Letter - example from Hereford Cathedral

Money, wealth and possessions, are the single biggest subjects of Jesus’ parables. Both Old & New Testaments are packed full of teaching on how we best use what God has given us.

Regular, engaging and biblical teaching and preaching on all aspects of Christian giving and generosity, puts giving at the centre of what we mean when we say “we follow Jesus Christ."

Teaching and preaching are the foundations of any church, and this needs to be the starting point in your actions to encourage Christian giving There are lots of resources online to support this, here are some of our favourites:

• Stewardship for Sundays - Preaching notes on the theme of ‘giving’, for the Revised Common Lectionary.
• Growing Generous Church - from the Diocese of Leicester
• Parish Resources
• Giving in Grace

How does your church share information about its life and work, and how does it listen to its members and those in the wider community too?

When it comes to matters of giving and money, questions such as “Where does my giving go to?” and “What difference does my giving make?" are important to answer. Making direct connections between giving and the life and work of your local church, people will begin to understand and appreciate the real difference regular, planned and tax-efficient giving makes to the life of every one of our churches. Of course, there are so many ways to do this: print, digital, video, website, social media and non-verbal communication, such as the welcome given to someone arriving at church; all these things could make a difference to giving to your church.

For further advice and tools on supporting giving as part of your core mission visit:

• Parish Resources: Parish Funding Programme
• Giving in Grace 
• Diocesan Resources for Mission Action Planning

There are many opportunities to thank people for the many different ways that they give. To give thanks is at the heart of our worship as Christians; ‘Eucharist’ literally translates as ‘thanksgiving.’

Thanking people regularly within acts of worship, each year at the APCM gathering, through church and community social media pages, websites and magazines all makes a huge difference. Best of all, thank people personally; face to face; visiting all your church volunteers and givers each year can be both a rewarding and humbling experience (and it isn’t only the vicar who can visit other people!). Here are some resources to help you get started:

You’ll find a link to a template letter at this webpage. Adapt if for your own use, adding your church name, contact details and some of your best stories and photographs!

For information regarding General Data Protection Regulations (2018), and the implications for local churches.

Giving in Grace 

For nearly five hundred years the Church of England has encouraged its members to keep their wills up to date. The Book of Common Prayer reminds people to “settle their estates whilst they are in good health”. Yet research shows that over half the U.K. adult population have not yet written a will. If you die without a will, the courts decide what will happen to your assets and your family, friends or favourite charity may lose out.

Visit our Legacy Giving page to find out how making a gift in a will can make a lasting difference to your church.

Gift Aid and the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme provides parishes with very valuable additional income. It’s very important to make the most of the benefits these schemes offer.

Visit our Gift Aid web page to find out more.

Hunting down the best value deals for your church isn’t always easy and takes time. That’s why the National Church and the dioceses set up the Parish Buying Service. Find out more about how to make the most of this service and save money for your church.

Visit our Parish Buying Service webpage to find out more.

By providing a simple and secure way for donors to give regularly, churches benefit from improved cash flow and a resilient and reliable funding stream. The Parish Giving Scheme has been transformational for many parishes within the Diocese.

To find out more visit our Parish Giving Scheme webpage.