After the busyness of Holy Week, it can be difficult to muster to enthusiasm to analyze your Easter collection. But there is a lot to be learned from spending ten minutes with the summary of the offertory from Easter Sunday. This week, set aside some time to look back through the collection results and identify the following:
- Any non-parishioners who made a first-time gift to your parish
- Those parishioners whose giving lapsed but who then made a gift at Easter
- Any parishioners who used Easter to “catch up” to their normal giving
- Any parishioners who made an Easter gift after a few weeks of increased giving during Lent
Households in each group deserve a warm thank-you card or a thankful phone call. (Click here for more on thanking well.) Combined, they are the low-hanging fruit when it comes to additional volunteer and financial support in the future. After you’re done with your acts of gratitude, set a calendar reminder to reach out to these same households in four weeks to invite them to an event at the parish. Every Easter, your base of support expands slightly. But in order to capitalize on those new or newly-generous givers, you need to act quickly. So, take ten minutes and analyze your Easter collection – there’s so much to learn from it!
