Last week I attended the Fundraising Seminar with Rod Irvine with four others from our Parish Council.
If there is one challenge that churches consistently face, it is a lack of funds. In the past I have heard many talk about the principle of presenting needs to Christians and asking for money, but this is the first time I have heard such a comprehensive and thought out way to do so, and in a way that is intended to prevent people feeling like ‘all the church ever does is ask for money’.
All five of us from my church saw how the process is more than likely to foster joy at God’s work, if implemented well. Days later, one of the Parish Councillors who came told me that he has been unable to sleep properly, for his mind has been buzzing with ideas.
I realise that the day has been run on previous occasions, but nonetheless I was surprised that more did not make use of the opportunity.
While the ideas inevitably need some local adaptation and judgement, at face value we were struck in the following ways:
1. The need and responsibility for the Senior Minister to spend time working ‘on’ the ministry, not just ‘in’ the ministry. Yes, in part that means fundraising.
2. So often we speak about money when there is a crisis, but many testify to the experience that money follows vision. The process that Rod outlined involved both a year round and concentrated vision and celebration as to what God is doing, including much prayer and Bible teaching. One element of the process is then asking people to complete and sign a commitment card.
3. The whole process is more about ‘faith-raising’, not fund-raising.
4. The most controversial element of the process was the Senior Minister seeing the commitment cards, and therefore knowing what people have pledged to give. For many, this would be a huge and potentially damaging cultural shift. And at the same time, there was much food for thought – is the story of the widow’s offering (Mark 12:41-44), for example, really intended to establish a theological principle of anonymous giving?
5. The realisation that only 40% of people will participate and these people give 85-90% of total giving. This was huge for me. I am aware of churches where less than 20% of ‘members’ are giving regularly. While there is a temptation to be driven by the reaction of the minority, this process seems to be quite helpful to a good number of people who know they should give, and want to, but need a little help to make the commitment to do so. At face value, giving could double! While there remains a spiritual issue with the remainder, the overall church finances have the potential to (if not double) be in far better shape than doing nothing.
More was put out there on the day – tips to overcome our own fears, Biblical principles to contemplate, insights gleaned over a long period of time, mistakes, and the power of well put together videos to communicate needs.
But here is enough food for thought. I’d be interested to hear what people think. Is our difficulty in talking about giving grounded in the Word of God, or is it us who have the problem?
