Segmenting Stewardship Letters: Your Secret Sauce
Happy post-rapture day!
Yesterday, I found myself humming Larry Norman’s (the OG of Christian rock), I Wish We’d All Been Ready. It was introduced to me at youth group as I sat and watched the classic low-budget horror film, A Thief in the Night. That movie scared the bejesus out of me. I think I accepted Jesus three times that night.
We’re still here and I guess that means we’ve been “left behind.” Oh well – time to try to make the best of it. And by the best of it, I mean making spaghetti sauce. A friend gave me at least 20 pounds of tomatoes last week so I went straight to work and began making the yummiest (and easiest) spaghetti sauce around. A perfect way to busy myself while waiting for Jesus to return.
Speaking of sauce, this is a great time of year to segment your stewardship letters…because it could be your secret sauce.
What does “segmenting” mean?
In a word, it’s customizing letters based on affinity.
Why segment?
We're all different. You wouldn’t write the same letter to me that you’d write to your boss. It’s the same with stewardship letters. My eyes might perk up if I think someone has thought of me, not as one of the pack, but as an individual known by the writer and addressing something that’s important to me.
How to segment?
There are two ways to segment:
By generation. The Silent Generation, Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z – each generation is motivated to give for different reasons. Want to know more? Check out: How Different Generations Give: Four Things You Need to Know. Or take a look at my recent post, Next Gen Donors are Revolutionizing Giving – Is Your Church Ready?
By giving pattern. Your most faithful and top givers probably should get a different letter than those who never give. Someone who has continued to give $100 a month for the past twenty years (hooray for that!), might need a nudge to make up for inflation over the years and increase their giving. And yes, you will need to know who should receive these letters. That’s valuable information to have in your stewardship pocket.
This sounds hard. How can I segment and maintain my sanity?
It does take time, but no need to lose sleep! The trick is to use the same basic letter and tweak it for specific groups (either for generation or giving pattern).
Some fine people have done the work (kind of) for you. Julia Frisbie - of Northwest Faith Foundation fame - and I recently did a webinar that touched on this topic where we laid out some valuable information. You can find the webinar here. Here are two additional resources with examples:
- Horizons Stewardship: How to Reach Every Household in Your Annual Campaign (to access this e-book you must first sign up for the resource-packed Giving 365). Horizons segments by non-givers, sporadic givers, stuck givers, and faithful givers.
- Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving: They have a resource that segments donors based on large/regular givers, mid-level givers, and non-givers.
The downside of segmenting?
It takes time.
It takes organization.
It takes more money for first class stamps (which is a positive because your letter will most likely get opened over a bulk mailing).
The upside of segmenting?
People feel seen and they report more giving.
Isn’t that wonderful? It’s fabulous not only for you but for the person receiving the specialized letter. It just may unleash generosity and have people joyfully giving to God’s mission and ministry through your congregation.
It can be your secret sauce.
Photo credit: cottonbro studio @ pexels.com
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Cesie Delve Scheuermann (pronounced “CC Delv Sherman,” yes, really) is a Stewardship Consultant for the OR-ID Annual Conference. She is also a Senior Ministry Strategist with Horizons Stewardship – helping with capital campaigns and encouraging more generosity. For 25 years, while working as a volunteer and part-time consultant, she has helped raise over three million dollars for numerous churches and non-profit organizations.
You can reach Cesie at inspiringgenerosity@gmail.com, at CesieScheuermann.com, or at cesieds@horizons.net. Want to schedule a meeting? She’s got you covered! She knows that you know that she loves America’s Got Talent. Here’s the Leo High School Choir singing “Hall of Fame.” So uplifting.
Schedule a meeting now.
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