04 Dec Inspirational Stories About Giving: How to Change the Conversation Around Holiday Gifting

Inspirational Stories About Giving: How to Change the Conversation Around Holiday Gifting

We have a problem that is deeply rooted in our world today. 

When it comes to the holidays, people tend to forget that it’s the season of giving, rather than the season of receiving. 

We tend to be more concerned about what it is we’ll receive Christmas morning as opposed to looking at the holidays as a time to help out those who don’t have it as good as we do. 

So, how can we change the culture around the holidays and make sure that people are emphasizing the opportunity to give as much as they are looking forward to opening up their stockings? 

Churches are in a very unique position when it comes to this issue. Here at mobileAxept, we work with churches to help make it easier for their members to tithe, which is an issue for many congregations. Traditional tithing methods sometimes limit people from donating because they don’t carry around cash or checks anymore. But, with one of our mobile tithing solutions, churches can make it simple and fast for members of their congregation to be charitable. 

But making it easier for people to donate is half the battle. You still have to remind them of the importance of being generous. 

In this post, we’ll be focusing on how you can change the conversation around holiday gifting to help your congregation see that giving is more important than receiving. 

We’ll follow that up with some inspirational stories about giving which will help show your church members just how powerful charity is. 

How to Instill Charity in Your Congregation During the Holidays

So, how can we change how people think about giving during the holidays? Well, it starts at church. 

Take Time During Services to Talk About “Charity” Bible Verses

There are many, many great Bible verses that break down the importance of giving. 

For example: 

“In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” — Acts 20:35

And 

“A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great.” – Proverbs 18:16

Both of these verses talk about why it’s crucial that we remember to give. The former speaks on how it is more blessed to give than receive. The latter talks about how those who are generous — even with just a single act of charity — are welcomed into the “presence of the great.”

Verses like these will help your congregation understand the bigger picture when it comes to giving — that it is God himself who wishes us to be more charitable. 

For a list of eight Bible verses that touch on the importance of giving, visit this past blog here! 

Take Regular Trips to Volunteer at a Local Charitable Organization

It’s important to relay to your congregation that giving doesn’t always have to be in the form of donating money. Instead, you can donate your time by volunteering at a nonprofit. Nonprofits are always looking for volunteers to help carry out their operations. 

Sometimes it takes a little push to get people in the giving mood, so if you organize a trip to a nonprofit and go through the scheduling and signing up process, they are much more likely to come with a group than on their own. 

Amazing organizations like Feed My Starving Children are perfect places for group volunteering. There is no doubt that by the time your group leaves, everyone will have caught the giving bug and will look for more ways to be more charitable. 

Talk About Inspiring Stories of Charity to Show the Importance of Giving

People often forget about all the good that is in the world today. Help remind them during services of some of the great stories that have come from groups of individuals coming together and giving for a great cause to motivate them to do the same. 

Inspirational Stories About Giving and Being Charitable

• Paypal Breaks Record on #GivingTuesday – In 2016, Paypal broke the record for most money raised online for charity in a 24hr period. Paypal created their #GivingTuesday campaign to combat the excessive shopping surrounding Black Friday and Cyber Monday — and it definitely worked as they raised an astounding $45.8 million in a single day. 

• Young Boy Who Wants to Read Receives Thousands of Books From Strangers – Matthew Flores was a young boy who just wanted to read books, but because he was unable to afford to buy books or a bus pass to the library, he asked a mailman for junk mail to read instead. The mailman then posted on Facebook, asking friends to donate books. And 3,500 books later, Matthew has his own personal library.

• Young Girl Inspires Millions in Donations For Homeless – When Hannah Taylor was just 5 years old, she saw a homeless man eating out of a garbage can. Over the next few years, Hannah asked her parents why people weren’t coming together to help end homelessness. At age 8, she decided to do something and founded The Ladybug Foundation, which has since raised over 3 million to fight homelessness in Canada. 

• Boy Encourages Donations for Orphans Back Through Basketball –  In 2004, Austin Gutwein was heartbroken when he saw a video of children who had lost their parents to AIDS. Austin decided to shoot basketball free throws as a way to raise money on World AIDS Day. He shot 2,057 free throws one for each kid who would be orphaned that day due to AIDS. Through sponsorships, he was able to raise almost $3,000. Austin then organized Hoops of Hope from that year forward, which has now raised nearly $4 million to provide orphans of AIDS with food, clothing, shelter, a new school, dormitories, a computer lab, two medical centers and more.

Stories like these will help inspire your congregation to speak up for issues and donate their time and money for a good cause! Whether it’s a charity or tithing for their church, by teaching the importance of giving, you can help change the culture around giving during the holidays. 

In fact, you probably have stories right in your own congregation and community. Be sure to share these stories on Sundays, website and social media!