As the holiday season approaches, opportunities for volunteering and drives for giving to local charitable organizations and church programs start to pop up regularly. 

It’s a season of conviviality and family and giving for many, and data indicates that a significant portion of Americans only give to charitable causes in November and December. The return of colder weather turns our attention to those who are unhoused or struggling to keep up with utility bills. For Christians, as we think of Advent and Christmas and the gift of Christ to us, our hearts are moved to be generous to others.

While it is good for us to be generous with our time, money, and resources all year long, organizations tend to tap into holiday giving to ensure their budgets are met, with many funding most operations based on giving from this quarter.

As we seek to serve others well, there are a few things to keep in mind.

Don’t Forget the Distinction between Relief and Development during the Holidays.

While holiday-related events and activities are often successful at raising awareness of issues facing the community (especially housing and food insecurity), they often apply relief in the form of handouts to large numbers of people without asking whether it is the best or most helpful way to engage with them. These efforts don’t usually lead to long-term transformation or connect people to the best services for their current needs.

Even churches and ministries that do seek to serve their communities in asset-based, participatory ways year-round can feel pressure from ministry supporters and volunteers to administer needs-based handouts of food, clothing, or toys during the holiday season.

Last year, we spoke with several of our Chalmers Ambassadors with lots of experience in these areas, and their wisdom offers some great guidelines for serving well this time of year.

At the Same Time, Don’t Forget Relief

There are also very legitimate emergency needs during the holiday season, just as in every other part of the year. This year in particular, as unemployment is inching up and SNAP benefits are being held up due to the Federal Government shutdown, some families and individuals are finding themselves in straightened circumstances. Our local food banks in Chattanooga (and our Chalmers Ambassadors working in food assistance in other parts of the country) are reporting roughly a 50% increase in requests this month over last November.

We want to move toward long-term development, but when there is a crisis it is absolutely appropriate to help meet immediate needs while you extend an offer of longer-term, relational connection.

Also, in this particular case, remember that food banks can often arrange bulk donations of food from grocery suppliers or purchase overstock for pennies on the dollar—your donations of cash can go much farther than donations of specific food items, unless these are specifically requested.

Give Money and Time

On that note, the increase in services needed also increases the need for volunteers to pack and distribute meals, but not everyone has the work or family situation to be able to serve in those ways. 

Please help if you can, but we want to also push back on the idea that giving money to a poverty alleviation ministry is less valuable to being personally engaged in the ministry. In other words, that writing a check or sending a donation online is somehow not good enough. 

Those directly involved in on-the-ground development ministries have a different view—that the most relational thing many people can do to help end poverty is actually giving generously to organizations that do effective, asset based, participatory development.

When a poverty alleviation ministry is properly funded, it frees the staff to be fully present in long-term relational ministry. And when we write those checks to organizations we care about that are doing good work, we can know that we’re engaging and playing a vital part in effective ministry. 

Of course, in our own churches and communities, we can and should invest both our financial gifts and our whole selves—when you are the person present for the long haul, your time, skills, and social capital bring a lot of value! Perhaps there are places where your church could reach beyond its “borders.” This might include being part of a poverty alleviation ministry in your own community where you can build long-term relationships. 

Another way you can serve is through being an advocate–putting the challenge before your church to engage internationally through prayer and with their finances and personally in your own community.

Remember though, that the goal of any poverty alleviation effort is to see people restored to being who God created them to be: people who understand that they are created in the image of God with the gifts, abilities, and capacity to make decisions and to effect change in the world around them; people who steward their lives, communities, resources, and relationships in order to bring glory to God. 

These things tend to happen in highly relational, process-focused ministries. One of the best ways to facilitate this is to give generously to organizations so they can pay people to spend lots of time hanging out with those they serve, building transformational relationships across time.

Bear these things in mind as you serve in this season for God’s glory.

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Want to learn more? Try Helping Without Hurting in Generosity, a free training from the Chalmers Center.