RICHMOND, Va. (BP) — Giving Tuesday offers ways to help Southern Baptists spread the gospel globally, including Send Relief’s Chicken Challenge, campaigns to support seminary students and international missionaries, and a $700,000 donor match for GuideStone Financial Resources’ Mission:Dignity.
Giving Tuesday, observed annually the Tuesday after Thanksgiving since 2012, raised $3.1 billion for nonprofits in the U.S. in 2023, according to Giving USA, essentially plateauing. This year, Giving Tuesday is Dec. 3.
“Will you support missionaries this Giving Tuesday?” is the International Mission Board’s (IMB) impassioned plea. “Your gift has the power to reach the lost across the globe with the good news. Through your gift, many people will learn about Jesus, often for the first time.”
Gifts to IMB, which can be made here, will be used in total to augment the current force of 3,500 international missionaries and to advance the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, IMB said in encouraging gifts.
Send Relief, the Southern Baptist compassion arm through a collaboration with IMB and the North American Mission Board (NAMB), is offering the Chicken Challenge to establish an income stream for impoverished families.
“Your gift on Giving Tuesday can travel around the world, meeting physical needs and opening doors for gospel conversations,” Send Relief said of its challenge at sendrelief.org. “For just $25, you can purchase chickens that will empower a family to rise out of poverty. Will you join us?”
Send Relief has a Chicken Challenge fundraising goal of $25,000, with $500 supplying 200 chickens.
Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) is encouraging gifts to the WMU Vision Fund. The giving portal allows the giver to dedicate the gift in honor of someone else and even display a comment on the donor wall.
It is an opportunity to “honor those who have shaped your faith and impacted your faith journey,” WMU said in promoting the fund. “By giving to the WMU Vision Fund, you’re helping WMU empower future generations to live out this missions legacy — making disciples of Jesus who live on mission.”
Access the giving page here.
GuideStone Financial Resources’ Mission:Dignity, a fund that gives 100 percent of its receipts to retired Southern Baptist ministers, widows and workers near or below the poverty line, has secured a match of up to $700,000 for gifts on Dec. 3.
“Mission:Dignity’s support can mean being able to stay in the familiar surroundings of their own home,” GuideStone said in soliciting support. “For others, it covers the cost of groceries, utilities, prescriptions and other necessities. But for all of them, it’s an expression of the love and care of their Southern Baptist family.”
Gifts can be made here. An established endowment covers the program’s overhead costs.
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) is seeking “300 Great Commission” givers to support theological education, with donors matching up to $250,000 in gifts.
“Southeastern recognizes that its efforts to equip students would not be possible without the faithful support of Southern Baptists through the Cooperative Program and through special gifts during the year, including on Giving Tuesday,” SEBTS said in encouraging gifts. “The Southeastern community is grateful for those who support its students and share its heart to go make disciples close to home and in hard-to-reach places around the world.”
Donations to SEBTS may be made here.
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) is encouraging donors to support theological education through direct gifts to the Cooperative Program, which can be made through local churches, state conventions and at sbc.net/giving.
End-of-year giving to Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (MWBTS), including receipts from Giving Tuesday, will go toward the seminary’s For the Church Fund. “There has never been a better opportunity to partner with Midwestern,” the MBTS giving page says. “With record enrollment year over year, the impact our students are making currently and will make in the future is growing exponentially — the gifts you make impact more students now than ever.”
The MBTS end-of-year campaign page is here.
The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), while not engaged in a specific Giving Tuesday fundraising campaign, offers an opportunity to support the entity through its year-end Legacy of Hope campaign.
Visible to ERLC’s email subscribers as well as visitors to erlc.com, the campaign highlights stories of Southern Baptist individuals and churches who received ERLC’s timely resources and encouragement.
“We are all called to bring the hope of the gospel to the cultural, moral, and ethical difficulties of this world,” ERLC said in its campaign. “The ERLC serves Southern Baptists as they engage with their community, advocate for the good of their families and their neighbors, and share the hope of Christ. Together, we can leave a legacy of hope.”
Support Legacy of Hope here.
(EDITOR’S NOTE — Diana Chandler is Baptist Press’ senior writer.)
