Over £1.5 million was given to our churches in 2024 through the Parish Giving Scheme (PGS). The incredible generosity of our congregations in the Diocese of Worcester saw 1,412 regular donors give to 179 of our churches (nearly two-thirds of the churches in the Diocese) through PGS, with nearly half signing up to have their gift increase annually with inflation.
PGS also allows churches to accept one-off gifts and these gifts increased from £11,827 in 2023 to £45,423 in 2024. What amazing generosity there has been! This money can help to grow the mission and ministry of our churches and we want to take a moment to thank everyone who gives to make all that we do in this Diocese possible.
Spotlight on St Mary’s Church, Oldswinford 
St Mary’s joined PGS in late 2023 and launched the Scheme to their congregation in April 2024, which saw them double their donors within two months. Since then, they have more than doubled that number again. Their treasurer, Stan, shared with us their plan and some tips:
“The results to date have been encouraging and I am expecting the numbers to increase as the months go by. The finance team gave a lot of thought as to how best PGS should be introduced. An informed but ‘gentle’ approach was considered to be the right way for our parishioners.
PGS was launched as ‘The Parish Giving Scheme, St Mary’s. An alternative way to give your offering if you choose’ and the following steps were taken:
- first, a launch date was agreed with PCC.
- existing donors to the parish were identified and personally invited to join. The list included those who donate by envelope, Standing Order, on the plate during services and others who have a strong connection with the church. In total just over 100 people.
- An eye catching A4 personal invitation was prepared entitled ‘Let us together save time and money. A new alternative way of giving’ with excellent graphics designed by the curate. On the reverse were the details of how PGS benefits both the donor and St Mary’s, how it works and how to sign up. This was accompanied by a paper copy of the form to set up a donation, should this be required.
- I made a brief presentation of PGS’s benefits during the 10am service, again trying to keep it all as simple as possible. A similar presentation was given at the following Thursday morning service. Personal invitation envelopes were available at both services and handed out. The presentations were mentioned on the pew sheet sent out by email prior to both services, so no-one felt this was being pounced upon them.
- Further envelopes were handed out to donors at services in the following weeks.
- Details of PGS featured in an article in the church magazine, with the remaining personal invitations sent out with the magazine. These represented a number of donors who we do not see regularly, but are still a part of our parish even if they cannot be with us for the usual services.
- We have two donors who continue to donate even though they moved away from the parish a number of years ago. Their letters of invitation were sent out with an accompanying letter from the vicar.”
Launching in your parish
Taking a bit of time in the preparation of launching or relaunching PGS within your congregation and community can have an enormous impact on the results you get. Explaining the benefits for both donors and churches and remembering to say thank you to those who give is essential to having the best impact with PGS.
There are a number of resources on the diocesan website to help, including editable Canva templates for posters and leaflets that can be individualised to your parish to help promote PGS. If you would like some help putting these together, or would like to talk further about PGS please get in touch with Robyn Rooney who will be happy to help.
The following training might be useful:
Making the most of The Parish Giving Scheme
Wed 12 February, 12:30 – 13:30
A lunchtime session to find out how to make the most of using the Parish Giving Scheme in your church. We will look at how to relaunch, resources that are available to share, how to talk about the inflationary increase and saying thank you to those who give regularly to your church. We will also look at ways you can use PGS for wider fundraising and attracting the local community to support the church through PGS. To book: https://forms.office.com/e/sZ7q00rdrH
