Fundraising

Have you ever served on a Stewardship and Finance Committee  Have you had the meetings where the committee talks about what "stewardship" program to use for the coming year in order to raise funds for ministry? Have you been a part of the discussion that includes worries over expenses, and the resulting "letter of appeal" to the congregation outlining the dire circumstances of the church's finances and how everyone must give now? Have you been in the congregation on "commitment Sunday" and heard the whispered groans (or made them yourself): "I hate it when the paster talks about money."

Read this from Henri Nouwen's book, "The Spirituality of Fundraising":

Fund-raising is precisely the opposite of begging. When we seek to raise funds, we are not saying,"Please, could you help us out because lately it's been hard." Rather, we are declaring, "We have a vision that is amazing and exciting  We are inviting you to invest yourself through the resources that God has given you - your energy, your prayers, and your money - in this work to which God has called us."

The truth I've read says that appeals for money based on scarcity ("Pay now, or the electricity will be cut off.") are less successful than appeals that are based on abundance. (We're having Vacation Bible school - look at the good is will do in our neighborhood! Please come be a part of it.)

One of the best "fundraising" talks I've ever heard wasn't about money at all. It was a mission project director describing the situation in the area his mission project serves - the circumstances and challenges faced by those who live there (and they were desperate circumstances). He then went on to describe what the mission project was doing to help people face the challenges. At the end, once the vision was declared, there was an invitation for people to help. And by that time, I would have given him my shoes if that was what was needed to help people. He never talked about how short their supply of funds was, or about how they struggle to meet ends meet, or even how frustrated he can get in the running of the mission project. He declared the circumstances and explained the ministry to meet them.

Fundraising is ministry. It's inviting people to give all they have (including their money) to the work of the kingdom of God.