Are $$ the sign of success?

What a silly question to ask fund raisers...are $$$'s the sign of success???  Of course they are.  But wait.  Perhaps that is not the best question to ask.

Let's start with a more basic question before we jump to the jugular.

Are you doing fund raising or are you doing ministry?  If your fund raising is not part of a deeper ministry, this blog is not for you.  This is not to condemn anyone. This is just a different approach. Different is different not wrong.

So, if you are still reading,  I am assuming you answered...I am doing ministry, not JUST fund raising.

If you are doing ministry then stewardship/giving is part of the work but not all.  Therefore in TG, getting dollars is only part of the story not the entire story. Here is one way of setting goals my development teams uses in training.  This helps see the entire story and go beyond dollars to ministry.

If support raising was a college course,  what would an “A” look like?  No one takes a college course without getting a syllabus in order to know what to do to get an “A”.  All the work done in the class is done with the final grade in mind.

 

So here is what the syllabus might look like.

Fund Raising Syllabus

Goals of class

1.      Mobilize current champions to deeper involvement

2.      Enlarge team with new champions for The Cause

3.      Hit budget (Doing 1 and 2 will lead to #3)

How to accomplish class Goals

Plan

·        Fund raiser set goals for their work

·        Identify Champions activity according to PEO

·        Identify a few champions to work on migration goals with them

Implement Plan

·        Activity must align with class goals

·        Activity needs to align with CMS principles

·        Activity needs to be regular!!!

Evaluation

·        Success is measured by the goals of the class stated above.

·        Monthly identify what is working and what is not.

·        Evaluation is done collaboratively with a coach.

That's a Lot of Gold

As you read through the design plans in Exodus for the Ark of the Covenant, the furniture of the tabernacle and the tabernacle itself have you ever notice all the gold God asked them to use.

Think for a moment about all that gold…

The Children of Israel are former slaves.  Slavery is all they know.  Now God frees them from Egypt and on the way out the front gates, God has the Egyptians pay them to leave.  They give them gold, silver, bronze, linen etc.   Imagine being a slave your whole life and now your rich.

 

The Israelites are now free.  They have crossed the Red Sea, the Egyptians are dead and no longer in pursuit, manna is falling from heaven, water is coming from rocks and now God comes to give His plan for worshipping Him.  The way this worship gets accomplished is if the people give.

Think with me a moment.  You have been a slave.  Now you have all this stuff from the Egyptians.  And God now ask for it to be used to for the items that you and other generations will have for worship. Your reaction could be one of several.

• I just got this gold, why do I have to give it up now.

• I would like to keep my gold so when we get to the promise land I can build a nice house.

• I am still not sure about Moses so I will keep my gold in case I find a better way to use it, for instance, what if someone wants to build a golden calf.

But do the Children of Israel really need all this gold?  They live in the wilderness. God provides all their food, clothes, shoes everything.  So why did He give them the gold?  Did He give them gold for them to give back to Him for worship?  I think so.  They do not need the gold for themselves.  So God asked them to give it to Him.

The gold of the Children of Israel is no different than the incomes we earn today.   God is our provider.  He gets me my food, clothes shoes etc. Your income and my income are from God.  So when God asked for it back, no problem.  He gave it in the first place.  And when I give it to God it is for the same purpose of the giving in Exodus…it is for HIS use.  If he wants to cover a lampstand with it fine.  The Children of Israel’s gold was for God’s use.  The same is true of your gold and mine.  What we have is for HIS use.

Stay Committed

“If your organization requires success before commitment, it will never have either.”

This quote is from Seth Godin’s book Tribes.

 

Christmas from the view point of the eye witness observers may not have looked very successful.  After all, how many kings are born in mangers.  Between the manger and the cross, the plan to change the world is not looking too successful.

Commitment comes before success!

Praise God for being committed to us.  And thank the Lord that the success is revealed in the empty tomb.  The victory has been won and for the followers of Christ we know the final victory is coming.  So we stay committed.

For those working for the Cause of Christ, stay the course.  People are not changed by our funds, our activities or by us.  They are changed by Jesus.  Successful fund-raising does not mean successful ministry.  We must continue to mobilize people for the cause not the dollar.

Dollars come and go as quickly as success.  Commitment changes the hearts of people.  Work to assist people in their level commitment not their level of giving.

Transformational LIVING

As I travel and teach Transformational Giving, either in the US or internationally, I continue to see the common theme in this teaching that rings true for every believer.  That theme is based on the activity that comes in living for Jesus when He has transformed the heart. When Christ has transformed the heart, the believer gets active.  This activity comes in a variety of ways based on the touch of the Spirit in the believer’s heart, but none the less, activity happens.

This is why Transformational Giving is about so much more than dollars.  Giving the dollars is a small part of living a life that reflects the transformational work done by Jesus in the heart of a person.  What God gives is the power to live a transformed life that becomes active for His Kingdom.  Giving of dollars is critical to God’s work, but it is only part of the story.

I recently read something in Andy Stanley’s’ new book Deep & Wide that helps clarify that ‘doing something’ is key to our spiritual walk.  He says,

“Jesus taught for a response. He taught for a life change.”

Life change…is this not another way to say Jesus taught for us to be TRANSFORMED.

Stanley goes on to say,

“He (Jesus) didn’t come to simply dispense information….Jesus was after active, living, do-the-right-thing faith.”

Jesus was after change in living not just change in thinking.  Jesus renews our mind, but if the renewing of the mind does not change the actions of the follower, has the mind really been renewed?

You can learn that God is a giving God.  You can learn that to give reflects Jesus.  But if you never become a giver yourself, how has this knowledge you’ve gained changed your heart?

I am not a fund-raiser.  But I called to assist others by helping them live transformed lives for Jesus Christ.  And I love seeing people reflect Christ.  Giving is a KEY part of reflecting Christ, so I am more than comfortable with teaching about giving.  This is far different from fund-raising. 

Basic fund-raising is about the dollars.  Too often it is about the dispensing of information and not about seeing change.  Transformational Giving is about the donor not the dollar.  It is about teaching activity, about teaching the “active, living, do-the-right-thing faith.”  So when all is said and done, TG is only a part of teaching others about Transformational Living.  If you want to call this fund-raising, I am fine with that. Because when lives are transformed TG happens, and this is the kind of ‘fund-raising ‘I can get behind.

Nobody wants to be irrelevant

A common thread in reading about the coming generation is their desire to be relevant.  You read this in more than one book regarding the coming generation.  But the thought struck me, “Who does not want to relevant?” I am sure my grandparents never set out to be irrelevant.

 As I read, relevance seems to be related to activity. But I am sure there has yet to be a generation who sees themselves as inactive.  I find it fascinating that today’s generation sees the Boomer’s as irrelevant or inactive.  I am a Buster and I do not have the nerve to tell the Boomer’s they were inactive.  (Have you seen news-clips from the late 60’s?)

 Could it be that perhaps we see others as irrelevant or inactive because their involvement is not about issues that concern me?  So if they are not active on the issues I care about I see them as irrelevant?   

 But too often perception is reality. So why is a large part of today’s North American Christianity viewed as irrelevant?  Is it because the activity is not producing change? And why is Todd talking about this in a transformation giving blog? All good questions.

 If the North American Church does not appear to be making a difference in our culture and if a coming generation sees it as irrelevant, then no wonder giving is slowing. So let’s be honest about our outreach and ask these hard questions.

• Is the outreach or cause that I am funding still needed? i.e. Still relevant
• Is the outreach or cause that I am funding making a difference?
• Is the outreach or cause that I am funding inclusive or exclusive?  Here is what I mean by this.  Is your ministry one that wants the activity of partners and you strongly desire for others to serve with you, i.e inclusive.  Or is it a ministry that you just want the funds so you can go to the work because others may not be able to help, i.e. exclusive. 

 If the outreach you fund is still needed, and it is making a difference and it is open to the activities of other, then go for it!!!  But no matter how much your ministry may be needed, if you have to convince others it is making a difference even though you do it without their involvement then you have an uphill battle for the giving to happen.  Find a way for the donor to be active in more than just check writing.  (That goes for any generation.)

 If all your ministry needs are checks, then perhaps checking your relevance is in order.

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.