Benefits

The benefits of giving are seen by Christians every day.  But biblical truths are not just beneficial for the believer.   “Do not kill” is a biblical truth. You do not even have to know who God is for this truth to be meaningful in your life. God’s truth benefits believers and non-believers alike every day.  So His truth about giving are for the believer and non-believer.

As this blog is written for the purpose of Transformational Fund-raising and Transformational Giving here is an article passed on to me by one of our missionaries.  Why Fund-Raising Is Fun.

In this article the author mentions the benefits of being a charitable person.  So since being charitable is beneficial, then helping people be charitable is fun, because you know you are being a benefit to them if you help them become charitable.   

Here is a quote from Mr. Brooks  that caught me.  

 I have found that the real magic of fund-raising goes even deeper than temporary happiness or extra income. It creates meaning. Donors possess two disconnected commodities: material wealth and sincere convictions. Alone, these commodities are difficult to combine. But fund-raisers facilitate an alchemy of virtue: They empower those with financial resources to convert the dross of their money into the gold of a better society.

 Of course, not everyone shares the principles that motivate my institution’s scholars and supporters. But with millions of 501(c)(3)s and houses of worship nationwide, no one needs to wait on the sidelines and hope that politicians will marshal government power in service of their priorities. By investing their own time, talent and treasure, every American can bring his or her core principles to life. That can mean promoting literacy, conserving nature, saving souls or something else entirely. None of this is exactly revolutionary; after all, Jesus himself taught his followers, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

 What struck me is the reality that when our convictions are based on God’s Word, then combining His truth with the resources, or wealth, He has given to us, puts the donor on the front line of seeing God’s truth change the world.  By giving you can get off the sidelines.

Now that is beneficial.  

Who Moved My Culture?

We know culture is a moving target.  Some shifts we see, others are not so noticeable.  One shift that has happened subtly is a result of the manufacturing shift of the U.S.  To get my thought across you have to endure a small history lesson.  (I love history, but for those who do not….sorry.)

Since the industrial revolution until recently, the U.S. was primarily a manufacturing nation.  Factories and assembly lines ran the country and our culture. We were a nation of manufacturers.  One of the many impacts of this environment was a culture dominated by left-brain work habits.  The work was logical, sequential and it looked at the parts more than the whole. Assembly lines tend to be just that, lines.  Work was linear and that impacted our thinking.  During the peak of the industrial revolution the linear way of thinking shaped western culture. 

Many corporations and organizations in turn created structures very ‘left-brain’ oriented.  Even the U.S. church set itself up this way.  Sunday school curriculum, board meetings and etc. were mainly set up the same way.  Funding was even all done by and large the same way.  In order for these systems to work well they needed to be interchangeable, so similarity in function was key.  US automakers perfected this. Once something succeeded we mass produced it.  The US church even tried this by attempting to mass produce church growth strategies.

Then things changed.  In the past several years we have seen the shift from the US being a manufacturing country to a service based country.  We sell and fix items manufactured in other regions. This shift has subtly changed the work environment from the sequential and linear focus on parts to a more synthesizing and cyclical view of the whole. In other words, we have experienced a shift from a left-brain culture to what is becoming a right-brain culture. One is not better than the other, but they are different.  We need to see the difference and not be naïve to the impact it has.

Transformational Giving has principles based in age old truths that transcend culture.  However, the strategies of implantation may vary based on culture. So what about TG can be maximized in the upcoming right-brain culture? 

• TG emphasizes the role of the champion over the role of the organization.  This links well with synthesized thinking versus sequential thinking.

• TG emphasizes the role of the champion as a part of the whole.  This links well with the right-brain desire to be holistic and not simply think that when my part is done the project is finished for me.

• TG emphasizes the role of the champion to influence others for the cause.  This links well with cyclical thinking as opposed to linear thinking.

• TG emphasizes the responsibility of the champion to use their gifts.  This links well in the move from assembly line and cookie cutter thinking to being creative and using personal giftedness for the cause.

There are several more ways TG can be maximized in this cultural shift.  What are some you can think of? Are some of our communication and fund-raising styles no longer suited to the current culture?

Community

In Henri Nouwen’s short book, The Spirituality of Fund-Raising, he raises the idea that giving creates communion.  I don’t know about you, but growing up protestant, the first thing I think of when I hear the word ‘communion’ is Holy Communion at church.  You know the Eucharist.

Webster defines communion as ‘an act of instant sharing’.  This is a good way to describe the sacrament. It is also a good way to describe giving.  It indeed is an act of instant sharing.  Nouwen says,

“When we ask people for money to expand the work of the Kingdom, we are also inviting them into a new spiritual communion.” 
 

Giving is an act of sharing and participating in community.  Something about sharing grows a community.

Ever been in a local gas station and noticed a jar on the counter with a homemade photo of a sick child from the community who needs help?  Usually some member of the community is in need of help and neighbors and friends distribute these jars to collect money to help the family afford a lifesaving surgery. This small act of setting out a jar does far more than help a needy family; it builds the community.  The community helps the family know they are not alone in their struggle.  That jar not only raises a few dollars; it moves people together for a common vision.

We all need communion.  We need it with God and with each other.  Giving helps build community.  Sometimes it is giving a hand to a new neighbor by unloading the moving van, sometimes it is supporting the Little League fund drive, or making a meal for a sick friend.  All these acts require giving and each builds community.

The invitation to give is also an invitation to join a community. The gift brings the giver into a community of common vision and a sense of communion with those who share the vision.  This communion and shared vision is part of transformational giving. Transformational giving opens us up to community.  Bringing people into community is a gift the organization or church has for the giver.  But this never happens if we only see the gift and not the giver.  People make community, not dollars.  So we serve the one who gives by opening our community and welcoming them into the vision. We then share the vision and the fruit of the vision with the community. This can be part the power of giving.

Why is asking so hard?

In the last post we pulled some lessons from Nouwen’s TheSpirituality of Fund-Raising.  We are going to continue looking at this short book in this post as well.

Nouwen touches on possible reasons talking about money in our culture are so taboo.  He notices that we often talk about religion and sex more freely than we do money matters.  Speaking about debt issues feels as secret as talking about one’s sex life.  Nouwen investigates why taking about money is so taboo, especially when it comes to asking for it. 

Working for a missionary organization I travel to several different cultures around the world.  Many of these cultures have no hesitation to ask for funds.  I am not talking about the beggars, but church and university executives regularly seek funds.  Many from the U.S. who travel to these ministries feel awkward and sometimes offended when asked.  Some look down on these cultures because they ask “so often.”

Let me ask this question…How come those who have resources feel so uneasy when those who do not have resources ask them to share?  Is it because the ‘haves’ see the ‘have nots’ as lazy?  Perhaps they see them as uneducated or unprepared to use resources effectively? 

This is not a post regarding if you should give to every request and thus create unhealthy dependency, which is a real and legitimate concern but best saved for another time. For this post I want to investigate if our cultural view of being dependent influences our dislike for raising funds.  As Americans we fear dependency. We want to be independent nationally and financially. We train each other for financial independence. Nothing wrong with this.  However have we taken the idea of financial independence too far by making it a measuring stick of moral character?  Thus subconsciously making us feel that fund-raising is beneath us because we do not want to be seen as a ‘have-not’.

There is a level of security in being on the side of the ‘haves’. So if we have what we need and do not have to ask others for help we feel more secure.  Nouwen says, “We fear being dependent on others because of the idea that dependence is a threat to our security.” This is true. So we need to ask if this way of thinking is supported by the Bible.  No!  Our security is not in the things we have, but Who we have. And because of who we are, we are always dependent.  Every living thing is dependent not only on God but others. 

Perhaps our struggle in asking for money is because we have a misguided relationship with money.  We see money as the measuring stick for independence and security.  Perhaps maybe even subconsciously we see it as a measuring stick for character?  Go back to the lesson at Zarephath, the issue of Elijah asking the widow for a meal was based on security and character; the security and character of GOD not the widow or the prophet.  The request was not based on the what, but on the Who.

Read the chapter titled, OUR SECURITY BASE in The Spirituality of Fund-Raising.

Retention is the New Acquisition

Retention is the New Acquisition.  This is a quote from a good article in the Agitator, Flat Earth Fundraising: Catch & Release Fishing.  This is a quote we need to hear.

I work mostly with missionaries; there are a few churches and colleges, but mostly missionaries.  Missionaries may have mailing lists of 350, 500, 700 people.  Just think if a mailing list of 500 people all gave $15 a month.  This would be $7500 in monthly giving.  That would be $7500 per month without getting one new team member.

However the individual raising funds who has 700-500 names on a mailing list is the same one who says, “I need new donors and new methods for new donor acquisition.”  The response should then be, “You have a data base full of champions waiting to go deeper. Work to retain and migrate this group before we go fishing for more.”

In the same article the author touches on that some of our ‘churning out’ methods on our donor mills to get new donors simply leads to destructive patterns.  So instead of churning more and more what if we increased what, Adrian Sargeant and Elaine Jay call, donor loyalty.  They say, “Increasing donor loyalty by 10% today, increases lifetime value of the fundraising database by up to 200%.”  In TG language we would say…migrating/discipling champions in their journey of giving is the equivalent of increasing loyalty. 

So if increased loyalty of 10% produces an increase in lifetime value, think what adding the spiritual element of Transformational Giving will do for the believer seeking to follow God’s will.  Funding is not to be snatch and grab, or catch and release, but an act of faith in God.  The fund-raiser who is not focused on catch and release is the one who cares more for the giver than the gift, thus avoiding a destructive method of “churn and burn.”

I want to suggest before we start looking for more ways to raise funds, we first improve current relationships.  Care for the champion. Reciprocate loyalty. And share the discipleship journey with the person giving.  All of which will strengthen retention. 

Would you raise funds if you did not have to?

What if your agency hit it big?  What if a gift came in that positioned you as such that you would not have to fund-raise any more?  If this type of gift came in would you still do fund-raising? Most I ask this question say, “Are you kidding?  No way.”  Maybe this is why God does not give us these types of gifts? 

If giving is not about the gift but the giver, then why would we ever stop fund raising? 

Look at the feeding of the 5000.  Why take the boy’s lunch to feed the crowd?  Just have the people hold out their hands, say a prayer, and a loaf of bread and a small fish appear in everyone’s hands.  But this is not what Christ did. People ate because someone gave.

God created the system of giving.  Check out the Levites in the Old Testament and see how God chose to take care of them.

Knowing that God wants us to give, helps lighten the burden of fund-raising. Using TG can transform the burden from being one of “I have to do this for my ministry account”, into a burden for others by thinking, “I need to do this for the spiritual development of others and myself.”  TG teaches the biblical truth that giving is part of our spiritual journey.  So exempting people from an opportunity to give would be like exempting one from being a witness for Christ.  The follower of Christ is to be as much a giver as they are to be a witness.  You may be God’s instrument in helping the believer to develop his walk in Christ through giving.

Abandon Ship?

When it comes to money no one stays on a sinking ship.  It may be courageous for the captain of the Titanic to go down with the ship, but when we are talking bank accounts, and it looks like the financial ship is sinking, even the captain grabs a life boat.

In fund-raising many of our methods give the feeling that the ship is sinking.  Desperation sets in, we start using phrases like, “If you don’t…”, or, “without your gift I can’t…” The overall impression comes across as ‘the ship is going down’. Then we wonder why no one is inspired to give.  Would you want to board a sinking ship?

From Christian fund-raising to secular fund-raising the theme in teaching today is to stay positive. Negative impressions such as desperation, or ‘last push’ efforts lead to the conclusion that the ministry is in an unhealthy state. 

For those who strive to practice TG, being positive is not a gimmick, or a neatly packaged sales speech.  Rather, we are positive because our attitude is based in our theology.  That is, we believe in the abundance of God and we walk in a faith that God supplies our needs.  The ship is not going down.

Challenging people to give is a result of spiritual growth for all involved.  It is a part of ministry.  The giver sees that God is in control and provides for His work.

Being positive not only displays our faith in God, but also shows our belief in what we are doing.  If our needed budget is based in the activity of the ministry, then a positive image of the financial need displays the fact we are confident in the outreach.  When the funds are ministry active based and we use them for God, this allows us to confidently seek partners because it is not about us.

Faith vs. Stewardship

Faith versus stewardship?? Seems like a misguided battle.  You may be thinking these two principles are so closely linked that I have created an imaginary battle by even stating it.  Maybe. Let’s see.

My current role in fund raising is from the perspective of a missionary agency.  So let me speak to what missionaries are currently seeing in the realm of giving.

In the month of May I have had the same conversation, via email or office visit, with three different missionaries.  The conversation is based on the fact that churches have stopped giving offerings.  A few years ago when a missionary shared at a church, the congregation usually gave a love offering to the missionary to at least cover the cost of coming.  Now it is all too common for a missionary to speak and receive no gift for their time, travel, or ministry.  One missionary said in his last 15 services he received two offerings.

I must admit that as a pastor myself, I am embarrassed when missionaries tell me churches do not give an offering to at least cover the travel to get to the church, or to pay for the time they shared with the church.  After all, the Bible does teach us to pay a worker his wages.

But what has driven the church to not take an offering to cover the ‘wage’ of a speaker? Or what has driven the members of the Body of Christ to stop giving. Many have even stopped giving to the local church itself.

Several individuals have told me their lack of giving is them being good stewards of what God has provided.  I completely understand adjustments in giving when jobs are lost, or income is down.  However to stop giving in the name of stewardship is not biblical and it pits stewardship against faith. 

Stewardship is needed and a must as a follower of Christ.  But the Christian's stewardship is in place to maximize his/her giving to God not to minimize it.  The believer purchases clothes and cars based on what he can afford.  Stewardship is the tool to guide the spending habits of the believer.  The Christian principle of stewardship teaches us to count the cost and not spend more that we can afford.  But remember spending and giving are not the same!!

Faith goes beyond figuring if I can afford an item or not.  Faith says that in giving, the question is not “What can I afford to give?”  Rather the question is, “What is God telling me to give?”  Many have stopped giving in the name of being good stewards.  This is actually bad stewardship.
To stop giving is more a testimony about a person’s faith, not his/her stewardship.  Remember Transformational Giving Principle 1: Every act of giving is first and foremost a statement about the faithfulness of God

Even though it does not appear that faith and stewardship are opposites, misguided applications of these principles has too often pitted them against each other.  God’s desire is for our stewardship to be guided by our faith.  They are to work together.  God may regularly tell you to give more than you can afford, but it is not more than he can provide.  Therefore giving is a matter of faith.  Faith then guides our stewardship.  I would go so far to challenge you that stewardship without faith risks turning into stinginess.

Time Spent

You know how the Beatitudes seem to turn everything upside down: blessed are the poor, the meek and so on? Well, the biblical roots of Transformation Giving do the same.

One part of TG that seems to be the reverse from the norm is how we spend our time. We often think our time should be spent with the crowds and a lot of big meetings. In fact for missionary who travel to churches, often get discouraged when the crowd is small.

And what about those fund-raising dinners? We always want the numbers for these to be high. That’s ok. We want our church services and banquets all well attending: nothing wrong with that sort of thinking. But if that is where our thinking ends, then we probably are not doing very well fund-raising and we certainly are not being transformational.

I know missionaries who Sunday after Sunday have a full schedule of meetings with good crowds and yet they are under-funded. So the solution is...better find more meetings? WRONG.

Look at how Jesus spent His time. Did he spend time with the crowds? Of course he did. Did the crowds produce followers? Yes. But look at the time spent with the crowds versus the time spent with the disciples. And look at the time spent with the 12 and see how he even took more time to spend with the three, Peter, James and John.

The lesson here is not to ignore the crowds, but rather if the message is to go beyond the ‘wow’ of the public presentation, discipleship in smaller groups must happen. Jesus spent time developing a few to influence the many.

There is a lesson in this for TG. If all we do is focus on the crowds and meetings and never work to develop individuals in their journey we risk failing to be ministers to the giver, and become just offering takers.

I had one missionary couple tell me that the last time they were in the states to do fund-raising they only had a few Sundays off for the whole year and they did not get their budget raised. They asked for a new way to reach the champion this time home. We talked about TG. So in their first four months home from the field they focused on pouring their lives into 4 local churches that support them. They attend prayer meetings and lead small groups for these churches. As a result of their investing time in a ministry of discipleship they told me they have pick up over $400 of new monthly support. They have also had friends from the churches give them more personal referrals for new contacts than they had the entire time they were home last time.

Passion

I have not met many people who say, “I love to raise funds!” However, we all work among people who must raise funds. Fund-raising is often seen as the necessary evil. Many wish we could just skip it and get straight to our ‘call’. But God has not allowed me or most of you to find gold in the backyard, so we fund-raise.
What I love to do is communicate God’s Word. What a thrill to see the Word of God enter the heart and mind of someone and watch God use it to transform them into His character. In fact, when given the chance to share I do it with passion, because God is doing so many great things.

Here is an observation I received from a champion regarding passion and funding.

When I listen to the passion of a ministry presentation my heart is stirred. The presenter communicated so well what God is doing and I was on fire. Then they asked for assistance to help fund it and I was ready to get on board. But as they spoke about money, all the passion left and they became ‘squirrely’ and apologetic. I did not give. I thought to myself that if they cannot be passionate enough about my role in giving and are embarrassed by it, maybe God has another direction for the burden in my heart.

After hearing this I thought to myself, “Am I apologetic when talking about funds?” I shouldn’t be. Why? It is because God has called all of us to give. Giving is like any other spiritual discipline, it needs to be taught and presented with passion. Spiritual disciplines bring us closer to Christ. Giving is not any different.

I do not love fund-raising. I do love to communicate God’s Word. So I don’t fund-raise. I communicate God’s Word. God’s Word commands His followers to be givers. So I communicate the need for this spiritual discipline to be part of the believers walk. I can do this with passion. No ‘squirrely’ or apologetic presentations, but passion about the believer following the commands of Christ.

Someone who wants to raise support

A missionary sent me this article, “20 Reasons Why I Want to Raise Support”.

Some good stuff. Note #4 on the list.

4. Expands my ministry to include my supporters. It enables me to encourage, share with, pray for, counsel, and make a difference in my supporters’ walk with Jesus.

This is much better than seeing the supporter as an ATM. See the health in treating the champion as part of the ministry rather than a means to a ministry?

I was invited one time to listen to a ministry update. They called it a party. Never I have I heard the word ‘me’ so much in one presentation. No one in the room knew each other and the focus was not on the guests, just on the 'me' at thr front of the room. I was not part of the ministry any more than their interest rate on their bank account. I wish the presenters saw me as part of those whose life they could change and not just ask me for more of my change (You know, the kind in my pocket.)

This list has several good points to help us see our fund-raising about so much more than ‘me’. God help us to focus being agents of transformation.