WelcomeStewardship and Funding and Development Wordle to Stewardship and Income Generation 

All face to face meetings have been suspended for the time being, however we are able to support you from afar. Please look at our newsletter Money for Mission for information.

To do list for churches this month:

  1. Contactless giving is recommended as a safe way of doing collections as churches reopen. Please don’t assume that because your congregation are elderly, they will be opposed to giving gifts using their contactless cards. People are used to giving contactlessly in shops and on public transport nowadays and we have heard of churches who were initially sceptical but who have been surprised with the popularity of contactless machines. Choose which option(s)  your parish will use – there are many cost-effective choices, available through Parish Buying.
  2. Online giving is vital with many still not able to get to church. Once you have set up an online giving account, you can promote that through your A Church Near You page, social media or website. There are many simple and cost effective options (eg The Give a Little app). If you already have online giving, how are you promoting it?
  3. An annual giving review is vital– many parishes choose Harvest time and the National Giving Team have launched a set of resources for parishes. Decide a date and plan your gift day.
  4. An appeal, for the church, if it is in need. Giving is part of our discipleship – how are you encouraging your parishioners to develop this gift? 
  5. Review your reserves – many churches have realised that they need to use reserves during this difficult time. Plan how you will spend your reserves, or do you need to build them up?
  6. Regular giving - If you are a member of the Parish Giving Scheme (or similar), have you sent out thank yous and pledge increase forms? And if you aren't yet a member – consider if now would be a good time to join. Leeds Parishes in the scheme are already reporting a significant increase in generosity and levels of giving from regular givers with the average weekly gift being over £17 per person.
  7. Grants – what can you apply for? Hope Beyond is a new grant for churches affected by Covid, but there are many more.
  8. Halls can reopen – have you contacted all your previous tenants to ask when they want to restart? Have you reviewed your costs and terms? Have you updated your entry on hallshire.com?
  9. Legacies- The recent crisis has prompted many people to think about writing a will. Have you provided all the information that people need to leave your church a legacy? Have your downloaded and considered using our new resource: Talking about Legacies to Your Congregation.
  10. Online media - Are your websites, social media and ACNY pages up to date? Have you given the online giving function prominence and are you actively promoting it because online giving is more effective if you publicise your giving page far and wide?

(With thanks to Naomi Buckler - Diocese of Bristol)

The Stewardship and Income Generation team can help in a number of ways including;

​For advice and assistance please contact the team on

​resourcingparishes [at] leeds.anglican.org on 0113 3530 216

For further information relating to financial issues follow the link to the Finance pages.

The DAC (Diocesan Advisory Committee) can provide advice and information on applying for a faculty for development work in churches. 

 

Meet the team

Becky Nicholson
Lead Stewardship Officer
Clare Bellamy Clare Bellamy 
Finance Officer (Services) 
Janet Edmond Janet Edmond 
Stewardship Officer
Janet Edmond Phil Deane 
Financial Services Accountant
Scroll to Top