Question for DMs: How to calculate tribute to the church?

[Ironballs]

My 4th level cleric player, in a very lucky turn of events managed to Achieve a wish - and he wished for a large church in the middle of a growing frontier settlement - and he got his wishes.

now, he has a high diplomacy, so he managed to convert\convince a lot of civilian to come to church mass, and they in turn, offer tribute to the church donation box...

now my question is how to determine the amount of money the church earns (it also have a lot of expenses - guards, food and care for novices, etc).

given the fact that a normal NPC will earn 7-70 SP per day (as described in the 'Profession' skill - calculated to the settlement's specific population), and the generosity factor varies, I decided that for every 100 people, he'll receive 1d4gp+1d10SP per day.

that means on average 3gp per day for 100 followers (currently he has ~100 followers) - that's ~20gp a week - 80 a month, and so forth.

I also think that for every 100 followers there's a 1% chance that a wealthy patron (noble, rich merchant, adventurers) will give a substantial donation to the church.

does that sounds reasonable to you guys ?
thanks!

[karkon]

I think you might want to abstract the income a bit. Say that it covers expenses and leaves some left over --maybe 1 gp a week. Now if the church wants to expand the cleric can try to get prominent citizens to give larger one time donations.

[Miryam]

I think that more than just a tithe farm, this is an excellent plot hook for your campaign. Definitely discussing the ramifications between the player and DM would help.

[Drejk]

Also, if the area is rural most of the folk won't donate cash and instead bring food (bread loaves, eggs, fruits and vegetables, milk, butter, fish, some meat around holy days, festivals, when slaughtering or after successful hunt), sometimes livestock (chickens, young goat, maybe sheep) and some animal products like cured leather, wool. Some might instead offer their help with daily chores, repairs, working church land if there is any. Of course this depends upon local economy - if there is strong coin-based trade around then donations of cash will happen more often but on frontier settlements goods are better and more useful than cash, probably.