Lyle Schaller, The New Context for Ministry: Competing for the Charitable Dollar. Abingdon, 2002.
Referenced in: Giving and Financial Stewardship
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
The long recognized guru of congregational life, Lyle Schaller, looks carefully at the sociology of consumerism and its effect on churches. In short, he says we are in a completely new economy where the church no longer has a monopoly on donor loyalty. People generally have more money to give than in times past, but they are particular as to how they are approached and to what or whom they give. Churches now compete with colleges, hospitals, symphonies and other organizations who either staff professional fundraisers or contract with savvy consultants to craft their appeals, attract and nurture their donor base, and make frequent and targeted requests. This book is more descriptive than prescriptive, but is helpful in both areas. Typical of Schaller’s highly pragmatic bent (remember, he is a sociologist, not a theologian), some of his suggestions are fairly accommodative, but the reader will walk away with a fresh and realistic assessment of the current philanthropic climate along with a number of ideas that really work. This book is in the same genre as Loren Mead’s Financial Meltdown in the Mainline. The two volumes balance each other. Schaller provides sociologically what Mead provides ecclesiastically. See also Schaller’s 44 Ways to Expand the Financial Base of Your Congregation. Each is an older work with enduring value.
From the Publisher
With the attention to appropriate and telling details for which he is famous, Lyle Schaller begins this book by pointing out an overlapping set of changes that have taken place in American society and American churches in recent years. First, to the traditional economic activities of gathering commodities and producing and selling goods and services, the economy has added the production and distribution of knowledge and the creation and sale of experiences. Second has been the rise of consumerism, an increase in the power of consumers at the expense of producers of goods and services. Third is the extraordinary number of individuals in North American society with considerable amounts of discretionary income.
What does this mean to you and your church? Simply this, says Schaller: old patterns of fund-raising and old assumptions about stewardship will no longer work. Charitable giving today is based on a complex set of factors, including the growing opinion that it is the giver, rather than the receiving institution, that should have full and final control of how the gift is appropriated. In this informative guide to fund-raising in the new economy, Schaller helps the reader navigate through the difficulties and opportunities for churches in this new age of charitable giving.
About the Author
Lyle E. Schaller is the country’s leading interpreter of congregational systems and their vitality. He is the author of dozens of books, including From Geography to Affinity, also published by Abingdon Press. He lives in Naperville, Illinois.
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