How Does 2% Make 98% of the Difference?

By now, most everyone who considers FUMC Plano as “my church” should have received an envelope with the red-stamped question: Will You Be Part of the 2% Solution? The enclosed letter claims that 2% can make 98% of the difference. How is that possible?

Your church has reported that we are about $300,000 in the red with three months to go. Our expenses are slightly higher than expected, but it is giving for ministry that lags. $300,000 may seem like a large number until you consider the power of numbers, specifically about 600 “family units” who make up the FUMC Plano family.

The median income (half make more; half make less) for an individual in Plano is $56,045 (2023 data)—more if there is more than one person in the household. But let’s stay with the lower number. The average charitable giving rate in the U.S. is about 2.1%; Christians in the U.S. average about 2.3%. God asks for 10%. But let’s stay with the lower, historical percentage.

If 300 of our 600 families gave 2.1% of a $56,045 income, the calculation would be:

300 × .021 × $56,045 = $353,083.50

And this calculation does not account for the other 300 families who call FUMC Plano “my church.” While perhaps small in the eyes of some, 2% makes more than 98% of the difference!

I have heard people say, “I can’t give much.” And I say to them, “You underestimate your power!” This is especially true when added together with 300 other “widow’s mites.” There are seasons for us all—because of health, job, or family-cost issues—when we cannot give as much as we wish. But we all can give to the God who always gives first. And when joined with the other faithful souls who make up our church, your giving makes all the difference in the world.

$300,000 is a big number for these last three months, and the approximately $2,000,000 budget for 2026 is a large number too … but not for the family of FUMC Plano, who have faithfully risen to the challenge for 177 years. And it’s not too big for Jesus, because “with God all things are possible!” Consider faithfully the gift of God’s grace in your life, and then ask the question: Will I be part of the 2% Solution?

Rising with you on eagle’s wings,

Matt Gaston
Lead Pastor