Sometimes it doesn't pay to reinvent the wheel, and this is one of those times! This special blog post includes, in its entirety, an important and time-sensitive message for church leaders, from the Rev. Saeed Richardson, Program & Operations Officer at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference.

I talk with church leaders about fundraising. The end-of-year holidays are one of the most strategic times for collecting donations. We call it the giving season. Every non-profit ministry in the country will make appeals to the members of their church for financial support. What makes these appeals successful?

Pastors that I talk with tell me that the summer months can be hard on their church collections. Historically speaking, church attendance declines in the summer months as families go on vacation or merely stay away to avoid the heat. For churches that rely on the Sunday collection plate for most of their income, this can be a hard time.