At a fundraising training
seminar, I asked ministry leaders, "What would you do with an
extra $100,000 at your ministry?"
The participants listed the items they would buy or programs
they would implement. Then
I asked them to make a list for an additional $ 500,000 and, finally
an extra $1,000,000. We
discovered everyone had dreams they weren't pursuing because they
felt they wouldn't have the money.
We then discussed ways their
ministry could raise the funds if the projects would enhance the
ministry.
Over a number of years,
several hundred ministry leaders attended development workshops
sponsored by their professional association.
There was always a recurring theme that came from ministry
leaders across the nation. Christian
leaders have a secret wish list.
The dreams have barely been
acknowledged because there is a fear that money is unavailable for
the dreams to become reality. It
is as if God doesn't have enough resources to meet the needs. God isn't short on money.
There certainly is no shortage of needs in the lives of
people. But we must
begin to dare to dream dreams that are in keeping with God's will.
Once these dreams have been
fleshed out and are embraced by Christian leaders, staff and board,
they are ready to be tested with the constituency to see if they
have validity. The
final proof of this, of course, is in whether or not the
constituency will financially support the dream.
Support for the dream is
usually related to fundraising methodology.
Ministry leaders often need additional training to properly
implement the fundraising plan.
If you have been reluctant to
dream dreams and put these in writing because you are either
continually battling red ink or you have grown comfortable with
black ink, I would encourage you to consider this article as a
challenge to get a glimpse of what God may have for your ministry.
STEP
ONE: OPEN YOUR EYES to the needs of people.
Most Christian leaders enter the ministry because they are
sensitive to the needs of people and want to provide some answers
for those needs. There
comes a time when the battle of the budget or the comfort of the
traditional tempts all of us to maintain the status quo.
The Scripture says,
"where there is no vision, the people perish."
This can happen to all of us if we fail to seek new areas of
ministry that would touch more lives.
STEP
TWO: PROVIDE SOLUTIONS that are designed to meet needs, not just build
egos. All of us,
especially when we are nearing the end of our professional careers,
would like to complete one last building or institute a program that
will be a monument to our tenure.
The temptation to establish these benchmarks seems to be
inherent in most Christian leaders.
Let us be sure that we are
identifying solutions to needs that are in keeping with God's will
as opposed to our selfish interests.
Getting the counsel of many persons before embarking on our
campaign to raise the funds is usually a safe-guard against monument
building.
STEP
THREE: A REALISTIC PLAN
must be developed for raising the funds.
We have all heard the strategy, "IF we could just get a
thousand people to give $1,000, we would have the $1,000,000 we need
for the project." This
isn't practical because it isn't biblical.
While it is possible to raise funds in this manner, it
doesn't take into account the fact that people have varying amounts
of money to give to your cause and varying degrees of commitment to
the cause.
The bottom line for a
Christian organization is to bring people to a stewardship decision,
not just get money. Stewardship
means making a decision that is compatible with the resources God
has entrusted to us and the commitment that He has given to us for a
particular cause. It
doesn't mean everyone giving the same amount.
This plan usually falters
along the way because most ministries don't have 1,000 people to
give $1,000. Most
ministries could raise $1,000,000 or more with the right plan.
STEP
FOUR: APPROPRIATE
LEADERSHIP
must be in place for the plan to be implemented.
There must be staff willing to commit a significant portion
of time to the task of raising funds, and a large corps of
volunteers who are willing to help access their friends and be the
doers for much of the campaign.
For this reason, a ministry
should be continually developing donors and their commitment to the
cause. It is often a
bit late to recruit these people for a campaign if there hasn't been
ongoing effort to develop adult relationships within your
constituency.
STEP
FIVE: CAMPAIGN LEADERSHIP must be properly trained.
Few people have the natural ability to ask others for money
or even recruit them properly to a fundraising event.
Training is critical to raising substantial dollars.
It must include adequate materials and hands-on experiences
in addition to the more traditional classroom methods.
STEP
SIX: TIMELINES
must be established so all participants in the fundraising effort
will know when each activity is to take place and when evaluation
will occur. The
activity timelines are similar to road maps.
Successful campaigns always have a tight game plan with
someone to keep all participants on course all of the time.
STEP
SEVEN: EVALUATION
must be done consistently with staff and volunteers.
Everyone needs feedback, and people will be more successful
if there are regular checkpoints at which they will be evaluated. Evaluation must be kept positive, but if persons fail to
follow through with their performance, immediate correction must be
made. The correction is
usually in the form of problem solving, increasing supervision or
more training. Occasionally,
a staff person or volunteer should be removed form the assigned
activity and replaced by someone who will stick to the plan.
Dare to dream dreams.
If God has given you a vision for improved ministry, He also
has the funds available to underwrite the costs.
I challenge you to ask yourself today, "What would I do
if we had an extra $100,000 next year to improve our ministry?"
Ask yourself the same question for several other amounts of
money of significant portions.
As you develop the dream list
that God is giving you, begin to share it with others.
Ask them for their input, and to add to the dream list.
You should include board members, staff and others who are
particularly close to your ministry.
This exercise may take several
months, but you will begin to get a feel for the direction in which
the ministry should move. Continue
the process until you can reduce these dreams to two or three pages
of narrative explaining the need; what programs, facilities,
personnel you should be adding in order to meet the needs, and what
the total cost would be over the next several years.
Then ask yourself the
question, "IF we were to go ahead with these plans, how would
we raise the money? If
you don't know the answers, get some help from a knowledgeable
development person or consultant.
Dream some dreams.
They are the stuff that has made Christian ministries great.
May we never become complacent by continually looking at a
little bit of red or too much black.
Source: Article from the Journal
of Christian Camping. Adapted for a book by Brian Kluth,
"Out of the Woods: Funding Christian Camps and Conference
Centers".
For additional
resources, visit: www.kluth.org
Click here to FORWARD this page to others
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Brian Kluth is a national and international speaker and writer
on Biblical generosity and financial matters.
He is also a church pastor and the founder of MAXIMUM Generosity, a public ministry dedicated to advancing Biblical generosity through inspirational preaching, leadership training seminars, writing, resources and the media. Brian’s written materials have been distributed to more than 350,000 Christian leaders in more than 100 countries .For additional materials or to contact Brian, email:
bk@kluth.org or visit:
www.kluth.org
© www.kluth.org.
Copyright reprint permission for non-commercial purposes can be purchased for
$20 to photocopy, fax, email or print this materials for 1-25 people, $50 for
distribution to 26-500 people, $75 for 501-999 people, and $100 for distribution to 1000 or more. To
purchase the required reprint permission, go to the
products page on this website (www.kluth.org), call 1-888-443-7407, or email:
bk@kluth.org
