Finance Fridays: Saying Thank You

An article by Matt    No Comments

I first learned the power of a hand written note while serving as a youth pastor in New Jersey.  Each year I would buy a stack of Christmas cards, and send them to all my students.  Instead of just signing my name, I would personalize each one with something that I appreciated about them, an inside joke that only the two of us got, or celebrating a significant event of the past year.  Because writing things by hand is hard work for me, I would typically begin the cards around Halloween, and get them out by the week before Christmas.

I never really put much thought into the significance of these notes until one of my middle schooler’s mother told me about how her son kept his Christmas card in a special place so that he could look at it from time to time… that conversation took place in September.

Since having that conversation the first purchase I make when starting a new job is a stack of note cards that I can use to write thank you notes:

When a new person visited our church, I sent them a thank you.
When someone did a great job leading an event, I sent them a thank you.
When someone gave to the church for the first time, I sent them a thank you.

I am convinced that we, as pastors and church leaders, are called to model generosity for our congregations.  While this takes many different forms, I think that one of the greatest tools we have in accomplishing this is a simple, genuine, thank you.  The ten minutes invested in creating a short note reinforces the behavior, strengthens the relational connection, and models a spirit of generosity and thankfulness.

My friend Brad Leeper has two great posts on why you should be thanking first time givers, and how to thank them, I would highly suggest checking them out.

How intentional are YOU about saying thank you?