This post was last updated on February 20th, 2024 at 08:16 am.

What does church membership management and the Benevolence Ministry have in common? Let’s start with how the Benevolence Ministry gets it’s funding. Majority of the time this comes from the church’s members. It would be hard to fund this ministry without donors and the ability to track them in a church membership management system.

With a church membership management system, the church can track various pieces of information. Many times donors want to know how the donation is used when they are giving money to an organization. The church may want to report back to donors how the ministry is doing and how much it is helping others. Many church membership management systems also provide a tax receipt for their offering.

What about the people the church helps? Should they be in the church membership management system, although they may not be members? Answer – YES. Why? The church may invite them to social events that could help them not only spiritually but possibly get them back on their feet. The organization may want to give updates on the ministries. Churches often notify people about events of interest, like an upcoming job fair. It may be wise to know who you are helping and how often they are asking for help. This can help the ministry avoid people taking advantage of the Benevolence Ministry.

For donors, the organization can update them on how the ministry has helped others each month. Without a record of who’s helped, it’s hard to provide non-confidential information to the donors. In most organizations, statistics like number of people helped or how many shoes given away to needy children are acceptable to share. Many donors are encouraged when they hear about the number of people the ministry helped. Encouragement increases donations because the donors see progress towards a shared goal with the ministry. The organization’s internal reporting should show if the ministry is growing or shrinking in revenue and are controlling their expenses.

Helpful hints are coming in part two. Watch for it!

image credit bobrusk