We got a note from David Foster of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Mountain View, CA. He says: “I was tasked with doing a presentation on church finances. We have done these before with relatively low attendance.” So this year he tried something different. He put a quiz in the church newsletter the week before the meeting, in hopes of creating some curiosity gaps. He asked questions like these:

  1. How much does St. Timothy’s spend to host coffee-hour after services in a year? (a) $3,500; (b) $8,000; (c) $8,750; (d) $9,250
  2. If income and expenses are on track with the budget, at the end of the year, we will have: (a) a large surplus; (b) a large deficit; (c) break even; (d) a small deficit.

David says attendance more than doubled this year, despite it being a year with no major financial news to report (i.e., a budget crisis).

I love this story because it shows how a little effort can make a big impact in even an ordinary, day-to-day situation. Thanks for letting us blog it, David!

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