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Many churches provide giving envelopes for adult members of the congregation. Often, a giving emphasis geared to young people is overlooked. The church has an excellent opportunity to help grow generous, joyful givers who will continue to impact Christ’s kingdom for years to come.
As a community of believers, we have a rich opportunity to nurture our children and young people in their stewardship journey. By encouraging our youth to participate in a tangible means of giving that is uniquely geared for them, recognizes them as an active and integral part of the church family. This begins to lay the foundation of a lifetime of faithful stewardship. Sharing also teaches children that the world is bigger than themselves. By sharing, they will understand the value of reaching out to help others. And the good news is that giving is habit forming.
While it is not necessary to track individual giving, it is a good idea to track youth giving as a whole. It is exciting for young people to hear how much they were able to contribute as a group. It also provides encouragement for others (youth and adult) to participate in regular giving.
Some things to keep in mind:
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If your church distributes pledge cards to adults, you may want to consider a special
youth commitment
card (this is a Microsoft EXCEL file).
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Decide what ages you would like to include in the distribution of youth envelopes.
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Design an envelope that looks quite different from the envelopes your members currently use. Make this one envelope “youth” attractive to cover the range of ages you will be including.
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Decide each year where the money given through these envelopes will be designated (special project or general giving).
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Provide a special “kick-off” Sunday each year when the envelopes are distributed, highlighting the designation of the offering and creating excitement through skits, children’s sermons, etc.
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Provide a letter to the congregation
(this is a Microsoft WORD file) that explains the youth envelope program.
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