Saturday, April 18, 2026
Diocese of Edinburgh

Financial Stewardship

Whilst stewardship is a whole-life response to God’s generosity towards us, it is financial concerns that often cause most angst for clergy, vestries, and congregations. This pages collates some thoughts and resources which may assist congregations as they consider the spirituality of money, managing day-to-day expenditure, and embarking on capital projects, under the following headings:

Please remember to check out our main Stewardship page, which has links at the bottom to large collections of resources, some of which may be of interest.

Theology of Money and Giving

One introduction to the theology of money is a lecture presented by Henri Nouwen in 1992, entitled The Spirituality of Fund-Raising. He says, “From the perspective of the gospel, fund-raising is not a response to a crisis. Fund-raising is, first and foremost, a form of ministry. It is a way of announcing our vision and inviting other people into our mission.” Other articles and notes include:

Enabling Giving

There are various reasons why people do not give money to a church or congregation, from not realising how the church is funded to never having cash on them. These reasons fall, broadly speaking, into 2 broad areas: the ‘why‘ and the ‘how‘. Addressing both those areas helps motivate people to give money in a focussed and timely fashion.

Why? Part of this will be theological – we respond to God’s generosity by giving from what we have been given – and there are resources around this linked above. Part of it will be understanding how the church operates and the requirement to be self-sustaining. Another part will be the perceived ‘value for money’ and the impact someone’s giving has on the world and community around them. All these aspects need to be addressed to enable the ‘why’ of giving.

How? If giving is a complicated process, people are less likely to do it. This is especially so when so many people do not carry cash in the way they used to. The best way to get members to give is by Standing Order: they do not need to think about it and you have a regular income. To set this up, members need your bank details – are these easy to find? Do you have a card reader readily available for people coming into your church? Are there QR codes to giving sites available inside and outside your church?

Here are some resources and notes to assist you in this work:

Here are some ideas for enabling giving in an increasingly cashless and digital society:

  • There are online giving sites that allow people to donate directly online, accessible via a form on your website, a donate button on your website, and/or QR codes to the donation page. There are a growing number of organisations offering this to churches, all with varying levels of fees and costs. Here are just some examples: Stewardship; Wonderful; CAF Online; Dona; PayPal; JustGiving; Give a Little; Donate.
  • People are more likely to have debit/credit cards with them in church than cash. It is increasingly important to enable people to give via contactless or chip-and-pin terminals. Stand-alone devices that have their own signal or use WiFi are preferable to those tethered to a mobile device. There are a few providers currently offering this to charities: SumUp; Square. Terminals can be enhanced with products such as Payaz; CollecTin; easyDonate; GoodBox; Give a Little.
  • It is possible to collect money via text message. Two providers of this approach are Donr and Donate.
  • The Church of Scotland Stewardship department recorded a webinar on “Enabling Giving in the Digital Age” in 2021. This will be dated in its range of offerings but is a useful starting point for those new to digital donations.

The Offering

How the Offering or Collection is taken during worship will communicate something about its nature and importance. This is explored in a recorded webinar from the Church of Scotland entitled “Enhancing the Time of Offering in Worship” and in a review document from the Church of England entitled “Reimagining the Offertory“. However you approach this time of worship, the key is to make it clear to people what is expected (be it through information on a pew sheet, website, or verbally).

  • Make a conscious decision about whether or not to ‘pass the plate/bag’ and communicate it well. Be aware of visitors who may still expect this practice during the offertory, and how you would support any desire to donate money.
  • As part of your order of service (as a pew sheet or via screens) you may wish to include something like: “Each week we are invited to respond to the hearing of God’s Word. We do this by proclaiming what we believe, by lifting our prayers to God, and we give back to God a portion of what we have, with our financial gifts and with our time, our skills, and our very lives.” Be sure to include the ‘how’ to do this as well!
  • If you do pass something around, those who give via Standing Order (for example) might feel uncomfortable not putting anything in. Some churches use small cards which recognise all that a person offers, which can be collected on the way into worship and placed in the plate/bag at the appropriate time. This enables people to respond intentionally and liturgically without having to think about having small change on them every Sunday.
  • See list in section above for a variety of ways to enable people to give digitally. Some will work better than others during worship itself.
  • Make Gift Aid forms and envelopes easily available for people to complete and return. Note that you can purchase pre-printed envelopes (here is just one provider) or print in-house (provided the necessary information is requested). There are examples in the Templates section below.

Making Every Penny Count

When we are raising or spending money, we want to make sure we are getting best value. As charities, congregations are often eligible for discounts on everything from water rates to email addresses. Here are some offers that are available (note that signposting here is not an endorsement):

  • The SEC Unit Trust Pool (UTP) was established to earn a return on church assets, over the long term, to at least maintain the real value invested. Congregations may wish to use this form of investment for amounts over £2500.
  • Scottish Water’s Business Stream has a Charity Exemption Scheme for charities with a gross annual income of £300,000 or less (plus other, limited criteria). You must apply by 31 March each year for the coming tax year, and have your latest accounts available via the OSCR website.
  • Canva is an online publishing tool that produces professional-looking designs, from social media to videos to posters. Anyone can open a free account, whilst non-profits get free access to all premium features of Canva Pro.
  • Google Workspace provides online software and workspaces for free for non-profits. This includes online software, forms, video-conferencing, website building and hosting, personalised email addresses, etc.
  • Adobe have a range of discount options for non-profits, depending on the software needed. Use the links to explore for Adobe Acrobat Pro (discounted), Adobe Express (free), and Adobe Creative Cloud (discounted).
  • Kualo offers faith-based charities discounted website hosting.
  • Zoom provides a 50% discount to charities for their video-conferencing platform.
  • Microsoft offers discounted licenses for Office 365, although it is more complicated than it was until 2025. Here is an helpful outline of the current offering.
  • Computers for Charities offers low cost refurbished computer equipment.
  • Techsoup is the place to search for, and get some exclusive access to, various technical discounts.
  • If you have a particular need for short-term support, Inspiring Scotland’s Specialist Volunteer Network might be able to help.

One key way to ensure many donations go further is the Gift Aid scheme. This allows charities to claim back 25p for every £1 donated by a payer of income and/or capital gains tax. To ensure the donor is a tax payer, they need to complete a declaration form. Make sure there are envelopes available for visitors as well. Templates are available at the bottom of this page.

Alternatively, the Small Donations Scheme allows you to claim 25% on cash or contactless donations of £30 or less without a declaration, on up to £8000 worth of donations. If you have more than one building, and get more than £8000 in small donations, you may wish to register for the SDS Community Buildings Scheme, which would allow you to claim for up to £8000 per building per year.

Fund-raising (Stewardship) Campaigns

The current wisdom is to incorporate generosity and stewardship into the whole of church life: worship, discipleship, and service. You can find some resource suggestions for this at our main Stewardship page.

There are times, however, when you need some specific resources. Here are some that have been used across the Diocese in the past, and which may be of use to you (note that there will be differences between denominations and national regulations).

  • Giving in Grace is a web-based set of resources. There is much detail here, but sections are well-signposted and relatively easy to navigate. Of use if you want to plan a detailed stewardship campaign, or find some specific resources for prayer, worship, or group study.
  • Giving for Life is a Church of England resource, which offers areas to think about and prioritise, as well as some aspects of best practice. The original resource can be found here. There are further ideas on the Continuing the Journey page.
  • The Parish Funding Programme provides a 7-step approach to generating sufficient regular ‘planned giving’ to enable congregations to fund their continuing mission and future plans.
  • Giving is God’s Way is a multi-step programme from the Diocese of Southwark.
  • TRIO (The Responsibility Is Ours) was developed by Southwark Diocese but no longer supported. However, there are some very basic resources available via the URC website, which give an outline of recording, assessing, and displaying income v. expenditure.
  • Giving for the Glory of God is a resource from the Church of England, which is focussed more on one-off campaigns.
  • The United Methodist Church (USA) provides a very detailed 12-month stewardship plan, which is probably too much for most congregations. However, it is well laid out on the website and may have some useful resources to draw upon.

There are also seasons when we need a specific injection of cash, be it to remodel the kitchen or honour match-funding elsewhere. Be inspired by St James-the-Less, Leith, and their successful Building Links 2025 campaign and browse this document of ideas for raising money as a community.

A-Z Fundraising IdeasDownload

Benefact Trust host an intermittent podcast called Beyond Funding, which offers information, ideas, and tips about raising money as a church. There is a playlist plus their latest offering, entitled ‘How to raise money for your church‘.

Grant Funding

There are a wide range of grant providers for sums small and large. Here are those available from the Diocese and Province, for a range of needs.

  • The St Hilda’s Fund (Diocese) is available to support mission initiatives, and applications are welcome for small sums as well as up to £5000.
  • Youth & Children’s Grant (Diocese) provides small sums of money to support ministry and/or mission with children and young people.
  • The St Andrew’s Fund (Diocese) is available when buildings need urgent or unavoidable work.
  • Enable Grant (SEC) can offer up to £5000 per year to support projects which enable life in all its fullness for children, young people and their families.
  • Provincial Building Grants and Loans (SEC) are available to assist in funding the costs of non-routine maintenance, development and acquisition of church properties. Funding is also available to assist in improving the energy efficiency and reducing the carbon footprint of church buildings.
  • Church and Society Small Grant (SEC) offers a one-off grant for projects involving: Living with People of Other Faiths; Campaigning for Social Justice; Working for Peace; Acting in Faith; Promoting Economic Justice; Supporting Sustainability.
  • Global Partnerships Grant (SEC) provides support in the initial phase of links between Dioceses or Congregations. Existing links are not normally supported financially but new developments (e.g. youth visits, joint conferences, etc) may be given special consideration.

External donors are also available. We have collated a list for you to browse, which is accurate as at March 2025.

Grant Making Bodies (2025)Download

When applying for grant funding, it can be tricky to quantify what you are doing in monetary terms. The National Churches Trust has created a ‘House of Good‘ calculator to capture and showcase the social and economic value your church brings to its community. This allows you to highlight the crucial role your church plays in supporting local people as well as strengthen your case for fundraising, motivate volunteers, and contribute to the future planning of your church’s mission.

Forms and Templates

Financial HealthcheckDownload
A-Z Fundraising IdeasDownload
Standing Order formDownload
Giving to the Church leafletDownload
Self-print Gift Aid Envelope DLDownload
Gift Aid DeclarationDownload
Sponsorship and Gift Aid DeclarationDownload

The Giving to the Church leaflet above is a template trifold leaflet that can be used by congregations to create their own, using images of the church’s ministry as feels appropriate. It was created using Canva, and a template for editing can be accessed via this link.