Growing an Engaged Church: Implications for Fund Development

By Frank Santoni
Director of Campus Ministry, Southern Methodist University

Here’s a quick leadership quiz. Imagine this scenario: you need help in the ministry office with bookkeeping. You’ve got three volunteers who have offered to help – an experienced accountant, a trombone player, and the parish’s head usher. Who would you ask to help? (HINT: this is not a trick question.) Ok, pencils down. How many chose the experienced accountant?  I better see everyone’s hands in the air. It’s a no-brainer. You would choose the person with the right skills for the job - the accountant.

The choice is obvious, but it may not be for the reason you think.  Sure, the job would get done properly, but most importantly your decision can lead to a more fulfilled and engaged volunteer. Engaged people are often happier about life. They are more likely to tell a friend about your cause or mission. They are more likely to continue giving their time and treasure to see it grow.

But how do we “engage” volunteers and donors in our work?  How do we inspire them to give more, do more, and invite more all while making them happier individuals?  Research published by the Gallup Organization says engagement starts with letting people do what they do best. And that simple, but easily overlooked strategy, leads to happier, more committed and more generous participants who invite their friends. 

Albert Winseman in his book, Growing an Engaged Church first published by Gallup Press in 2006, sheds light onto how we can better involve others in the life of our organization.  While Winseman’s work focuses on congregational life, the insights he gleans from Gallup’s research translates to the work of nurturing a community that supports the mission of a campus ministry, college or school. Whether you are leader responsible for forming college students, running an elementary school or cultivating support for a college or organization, Gallup points the way to mutually-fulfilling relationships with donors and volunteers.  For an in-depth look at Winseman’s work, pick up the book. For a quick overview, keep reading.

Engagement and Commitment

“Engaged” is the operative word in much of Gallup’s work. The research supports the idea that an individual’s level of “engagement” drives their commitment to an endeavor. In other words, meaningful engagement in the life of a faith community fosters a deeper commitment to a job or the Church.  But how do you measure engagement and spiritual commitment? Gallup claims that an individual’s church engagement and spiritual commitment are expressed in four ways:
• life satisfaction,
• willingness to invite a friend to church,
• community service activity, and
• financial giving. 

Don’t these four things accurately describe much of what we want from our volunteers and donors? We want our friends and supporters to serve more, give more, and invite more friends to do the same all while feeling the deep satisfaction with their lives that comes from participating and giving meaningfully.

“Engagement” describes a sense of belonging to a “family” that stems from one’s experience of making a meaningful contribution to an organization and realizing the value in it. Winseman defines “Spiritual Commitment” as the depth of personal spirituality expressed in attitudes and behaviors. This describes a spirituality that goes beyond self-centeredness to a focus on making a difference in daily living and compassionate service to others. Spiritual commitment and congregational engagement combined make up the two factors that matter most in the spiritual health of a church community. 

In its research, Gallup studied the spiritual health of regular church-goers in a way that went beyond the typical metrics of attendance (counting who shows up), membership (counting who registers), and giving (how much money in the basket). Using engagement and spiritual commitment as the definition of spiritual health, the study worked to identify why the most active, loyal and generous members engage in those behaviors. The initial hypothesis concentrated on what it takes to make strong parishioners and if increasing the number of strong parishioners will strengthen the church community across the board.

The Research

The research found that church-goers fall into three distinct sub-categories: the engaged (those for whom their church is “top of mind”), the not-engaged (attend regularly but without forming a strong psychological bond) and the actively disengaged (twice a year attendees and/or just plain cranky). 

Of Americans that attend a church on a regular basis, Gallup found that only 29% are engaged, while 54% are considered not-engaged and 17% are actively disengaged. The research indicated that engaged individuals consistently scored higher in each of the four key indicators: life satisfaction, inviting, serving and giving. For example, 61% of engaged church-goers report they “strongly agree” that they are happy with their life as opposed to only 43% in the general population and 23% among the actively disengaged. 

Engaged parishioners are 10 times more likely to invite a friend than the actively disengaged and three times more likely to invite a friend than the regularly-attending, but “not-engaged” population.  When it comes to serving, engaged church-goers averaged 2.5 hours a week in volunteer hours at the church. Compare that with the only one hour per week given by the not-engaged and zero among the actively disengaged. When the engaged give financial support they do so at rate nearly double that of the not-engaged, or 5% of their income.

Implications

Gallup’s research, in essence, “proves” what any effective fundraiser already knows: engaging supporters in your mission starts with connecting their interests and talents to your cause in meaningful ways. The initial connection is nurtured by clearly communicating expectations and opportunities for further engagement. Your genuine concern about their personal development and growth that occurs as a result of participation in your mission only increases the level of engagement and spiritual commitment to your organization.

Winseman’s insight into congregational life is more than just interesting factoids. He applies the research to faith-based organizations in this way: Gallup found that engagement does not flow from the four indicators.  It’s a one-way street.  Focusing on only one key indicator – giving, for example – does not lead to engagement and commitment. Only when attention is paid to engagement and commitment will it lead to greater life satisfaction, inviting, serving and giving. Winseman reminds us of the importance of our work. As we engage donor and volunteers, we must do so with an authentic desire to help individuals act on their God-given talents and on their desire to grow both personally and spiritually. When we do that, the resources we need to advance the mission are often not far behind.

Frank Santoni serves as a Consultant for Petrus Development with experience in collegiate, church and non-profit organizations.  As the Director of the Catholic Campus Ministry at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, Frank has developed a nationally-recognized ministry via strategic relationships with key university, community, church and funding partners.