GENEROUS GIVING BEST PRACTICES

Be prepared! God may bless you with the opportunity to give hundreds, thousands, or even millions of dollars to the global issues of poverty and injustice. But who is God, perhaps, more likely to entrust with those funds? Someone who has never thought about helping the poor, or someone who has researched, prayed and pleaded with God for funds to help the poor? (Good answer!)

Research Tools for Faith-Based Giving
Here are several websites and resources with principles and best practices for discerning which organizations use God’s money wisely.

Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability

ECFA’s Seven Standards of Responsible Stewardship™ focus on board governance, financial transparency, integrity in fund-raising, and proper use of charity resources. Members must meet these standards each year to retain their “member in good standing” classification.

ECFA also has a robust search engine, ServantMatch™, which lists giving opportunities, based on a donor’s specific interest (disaster relief and development, public policy, evangelism, etc.)

How Much for Fund-Raising? Myths About Ministry Efficiency
Should you give to the organization that has the lowest fundraising and administrative costs? Not necessarily, says ECFA. It all depends on numerous factors and the media often do not report the complexity of the issues. “ECFA cautions donors not to overemphasize the percentages. Rather, each organization is encouraged to define the accomplishment of its mission through accountable reports, measuring ministry outcomes, and openness with the public.” To read ECFA’s full statement on this, click here.

Generous Giving

Generous Giving’s Research Library is the Web’s largest known Christian stewardship online resource on giving, and serves individuals, lay leaders, and pastors. Arranged into six sections, it contains hundreds of articles, reports and papers that examine trends and motives in 21st-century giving. Click here to visit the library.

To review the dozens of “Frequently Asked Questions” on wealth, giving and tithing, click here.

Read “19 Questions to Ask Before You Give to Any Organization” on Randy Alcorn’s website, Eternal Perspective Ministries. Click here.