MinistryWatch exists primarily to serve donors to Christian ministries. Our mission statement specifically says that we want to help you become a more faithful steward of the resources God has entrusted to you.
We pursue this mission in various ways. The primary ways are:
- Accountability journalism posted on the MinistryWatch.com website, and
- The MinistryWatch 1000 database, which evaluates and ranks the one thousand largest Christian ministries in the country.
These activities serve many thousands of donors each day, and hundreds of thousands of donors over the course of the year. We know that these activities have an impact because you, our readers, tell us so. In a recent survey of MinistryWatch readers, about 60 percent say they have used MinistryWatch to help them make giving decisions, and about 35 percent say they have changed their giving decisions based on information they learned at MinistryWatch.com.
However, we should always be asking: Can we do better?
The answer to this question is not straightforward, because every donor is different. What might be good advice to one donor might be very bad advice for another donor.
That’s why MinistryWatch has developed an assessment tool that will create a customized stewardship plan for you. This tool asks about 20 questions and takes only about five minutes to complete. Based on your answers to those questions, we are using a simple artificial intelligence model to craft for you a two- to three-page plan for your giving. This plan will include:
Immediate, actionable steps that you can take to make you a more effective steward.
A list of ministries, curated from the MinistryWatch 1000 database, for your consideration. These ministries are the top-rated ministries in areas that you say you are passionate about.
Access to MinistryWatch content is free. However, we hope you will support our work with your prayers and financial gifts. To make a donation, click here.
I want you to know a couple of things before you fill out the assessment.
First, you should know that your answers are absolutely confidential. We will not share your answers with anyone. In fact, we will not even look at them ourselves. We will delete all data from this “beta testing” period, which will last at least the rest of this year. Beginning next year, we will keep the data and use it to calculate averages and trends that we will use to enhance the results of this assessment. But, even then, no individual data will be seen or shared by anyone on our staff or outside our staff.
Secondly, you can fill out this instrument as many times as you like. Perhaps you want to model different scenarios, or your financial situation changes. You can use the assessment as often as you like.
We think this Stewardship Assessment Tool is unique. High-capacity donors have consultants, foundations, and family offices – often with highly paid, permanent staff – to help them make stewardship decisions. But what about the rest of us? This tool is no substitute for those capabilities, but we do think it will provide you with some of the key questions you should think through as you plan your giving, and it will help you come up with some of the answers.
Again, you can find that assessment here. After you use it, drop me a note and let me know what you think. As I suggested, this is a beta version. We hope to make constant improvements through this year, and beyond, based on your feedback. My email is: wsmith@ministrywatch.com