Alternatives to the Offering Plate

Lutheran World Relief is hoping a Kiva-like online-giving platform will win support outside the church. The website —- whose home page does not identify the organization or its religious affiliation — showcases individual projects donors can back. “This is one attempt to reach out and broaden our audience and test a sub-brand that didn’t have the name Lutheran World Relief front and center,” says Emily Sollie, acting vice president for external relations.

The Lilly Endowment supports training in fundraising for seminary students. Sarah Drummond, dean of faculty at Andover Newton Theological School outside Boston, says many mainline Protestant congregations no longer understand the traditions of tithing and caring for the church. “The idea that a minister would need to able to articulate why a parishioner needs to give money is a newfangled concept.”

Catholic church boosters across the country have launched “Mass Mobs” — groups of people organized through social media to drop in on worship at a struggling historic church. In Detroit, 18 such events have raised $260,000, according to Thom Mann, one of the organizers.

“The last 17 have been standing room only. If that’s not a miracle, I don’t know what is.”

Adam Copeland, director of the Center for Stewardship Leaders at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., says a few churches and ministries have used crowdfunding campaigns to pay for specific needs, including a staff position for a community-meals program. “Particularly for young people, churches need to be able to say, ‘We want you to give to us, and here’s why,’ ” he says.