At Peace

This week, I will define peace God’s way.

What you want isn’t as good as what God wants for you.

She was such a loser that her life could only be described as “sinful.” But when Jesus came to dinner at a local religious bigwig’s house in Luke 7, she sneaked in, found Jesus, and — weeping over her own depravity — anointed his feet ... the ultimate sign of reverence.

Jesus forgave her sin, then gave her instructions: “Go in peace.”

Was he guaranteeing her a problem-free future? No. Jesus doesn’t share our most common definitions of peace:

“If only my ministry had a little more money, I’d feel at peace.”

“If only I had a different wife, I’d be at peace.”

“If only I could have a baby.”

“If only my baby would sleep through the night.”

“If only I could be in charge of this ministry, instead of stuck in this position.”

Unfortunately, none of these achievements leads to real peace — because each gives way to some other need which leaves us restless.

Peace isn’t a feeling at all. Jesus didn’t forgive the woman’s sins and fill her with his power for the sake of a warm fuzzy feeling. He didn’t die on the cross just so I could have higher status in my social circle or greater success in my career. Jesus paid the ultimate price for the sake of getting me the one thing God wants to be sure I have: true peace of mind. Alignment of my heart with God’s heart.

We imagine a change, and we envision peace of mind resulting from that change. But God looks at peace of mind from the other side. He can give me peace first, regardless of whether my circumstances change the way I want them to.

Jesus looked at that sinful woman in the Pharisee’s house, throwing herself on his mercy, and what he said to her, in the space of 8 words, was cosmically profound: Your faith has saved you, go in peace. In other words, as of this moment, you have the potential to become the fully actualized person I dreamed up when I created you. A person who loves life. A person who feels full of passion — and yet fully contented. A person who makes a powerful impact on those around her ... and yet a person who is completely at rest, every single day — because she knows she is letting the Spirit of Jesus Christ shape her, guide her, empower her, fulfill her, make out of her life everything she longs for it to be, deep down inside, in her heart of hearts.

True peace comes from totally trusting Christ ... entering into a true life “in Christ” ... because a life in Christ is the only life I’m perfectly designed to live!

My Prayer for the Next Seven Days... Father, give me your peace. Not a flimsy feeling founded on my circumstances, but the true peace of a life totally entrusted to you. Amen.

Moving Prospects to Partners

In his book “Tested Ways to Successful Fundraising,” George A. Brakeley, Jr. wrote that solicitation of prospects must be done in an orderly fashion with proven techniques. Your solicitation should go flawlessly, assuming the preliminary planning, scheduling, and research have been well executed well.

Brakeley, Jr. recommended these eight rules of thumb to get your efforts on the right track:

• An institution that seeks funds from all sources -- individuals, commerce and industry, foundations, and government -- has the best chance of success.
• The individuals most likely to obtain the largest possible gift from a given prospect should be assigned to solicit that prospect.
• The solicitor’s “status” should be equal, or superior, to that of the prospect. (Consideration should be given to the use of solicitation “teams.”)
• All prospects should be familiar with the organization’s case and needs before being asked to participate.
• Campaign workers must know each prospect’s giving potential.
• Most donors will give more if they know they may spread their gift over a period of years.
• Presentations should be tailored to the prospect’s known or supposed interests.
• Intimate, personal functions, arranged for small groups of potentially large donors, are far more effective than larger “special events.”

Which rule do you like?  Any you don't like?  Any additions?

Helping Prospects Connect with God and Ministry

Fundraising... A necessary evil? We frequently hear ministry leaders talking in terms of “fundraising” taking time from “ministry.” But this kind of expression reflects a serious error in our thinking. Fundraising is ministry — not separate from it — and in no way is fundraising a “necessary evil.” Jesus was adamant about connecting people to God, and correspondingly obdurate about anyone or thing that confused or interrupted the connection. We see a prime example of this in His explosion with the merchants in the temple. There, in a place intended for connecting people to God, the merchants had turned the God-connection into an empty tradition. The sacrifices were intended to express people’s penitence before, and devotion to, God. To rear an animal for sacrifice took time and care. But here was a fast-food version: whip through the process, don’t think about God until the last minute, show up, pay a fee, and you’re out. This was not the relationship, the connection, that God longed for. The “marketers” may have started out with honorable intentions — desiring to facilitate worship. But Jesus could see their hearts, and by this point they had clearly become opportunists, taking advantage of people’s need for a God-connection and siphoning off something for themselves. We are all a part of His body, and each has a significant role to play in preserving health and balance in the body.  Fundraising ministry is simply assisting others in discerning if their part in the body is partnership with your place of ministry, through provision of resources.

* Like what you just read and want to learn more? Check out, More Than Money: The Truth About High-Capacity Givers.

Fundraising Axioms:

1. Connect to hearts and minds before you connect to wallets.

2. Donors expect and deserve a good return on their charitable gifts/investments

3. You can never thank a donor, volunteer or staff member too often. They are your keys to success.

4. Start now. There’s never a “better” time to start the process, whether cultivation or solicitation.

5. Identify prospects based on both financial ability and inclination to support your organization specifically.

6. Your best prospects are current donors.

7. Keep in mind that people give to people, not to causes. Peer solicitation is most effective, and a “team” approach of staff/volunteer can be powerful.

8. Before you ask others, you must give yourself. You will not be successful if you cannot convey your own passion for the cause.

9. Keep it simple. The best way to raise money is to ask, and the best way to ask is face to face.

10. Your Axiom!  Please share…

From Prospect to Partner

Turning prospects into donors is the end goal for any fundraising campaign. This all starts with proper solicitation of these individuals.

In his book “Tested Ways to Successful Fundraising,” George A. Brakeley, Jr. wrote that solicitation of prospects must be done in an orderly fashion with proven techniques. Your solicitation should go flawlessly, assuming the preliminary planning, scheduling, and research have been well executed well.
Brakeley, Jr. recommended these eight rules of thumb to get your efforts on the right track:

• An institution that seeks funds from all sources -- individuals, commerce and industry, foundations, and government -- has the best chance of success.
• The individuals most likely to obtain the largest possible gift from a given prospect should be assigned to solicit that prospect.
• The solicitor’s “status” should be equal, or superior, to that of the prospect. (Consideration should be given to the use of solicitation “teams.”)
• All prospects should be familiar with the organization’s case and needs before being asked to participate.
• Campaign workers must know each prospect’s giving potential.
• Most donors will give more if they know they may spread their gift over a period of years.
• Presentations should be tailored to the prospect’s known or supposed interests.
• Intimate, personal functions, arranged for small groups of potentially large donors, are far more effective than larger “special events.”

Mustard Seed Faith

This week, I will not limit God to the scope of my own faith.

Your faith doesn’t have to be a certain size, shape, or species in order for God to work in your life or ministry.

We have our heroes ... people we think of as having “great faith,” who can believe God for anything.

But when I face a difficult situation in my life or ministry, how much faith does God require before he’ll solve it?

In Luke 8, the church leader named Jairus fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house. How great was Jairus’ faith? If we look at his actions with a bit of emotional detachment, we might be able to say that his faith was not really all that great. He thought he had to have Jesus in the room with his child in order to get healing for her.

A woman with the chronic bleeding, however, came up behind Jesus in the same scene — and did nothing more than touch the edge of his cloak. How great was the woman’s faith? Huge. Mark 5:28 tells us that she said to herself, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”

Between the two of them, Jairus and the sick woman demonstrate that Jesus can meet my need regardless of how great or small my faith is! In Matthew 17:20 Jesus says all I need is “faith as small as a mustard seed.”

Real faith says, Jesus can work a miracle however he wants to. Jairus didn’t have the kind of faith that the woman had. Her faith didn’t include any preconceived notions about how Jesus was going to meet her need. She didn’t have the idea that Jesus had to come to her house, or that he had to go through any kind of routine or procedure. She just knew that her healing was going to come from him. Somehow. She didn’t know how. She only knew whom.

Do you have a need in your life or ministry that you’re asking God to meet? Do you have an idea how he could meet it? Have you got God in a box? Have you limited your faith to how God can answer your prayer?

Jesus can meet my need — or the need of my ministry — regardless of how I think it can or cannot happen!

My Prayer for the Next Seven Days... Lord, help me to trust you to meet my need. Help my unbelief. Build my faith! Or at the very least, please take what small measure of faith I have, and do your thing with it! Thank you! Amen.


Luke 17: 5-6
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.

Keeping Board Members Engaged and Inspired

Needed:  Ideas for Engaging and Inspiring Board Members

The #1 challenge heard repeatedly about nonprofit board members: How do we keep our board members inspired and engaged?

Is it any wonder this is a challenge? The average nonprofit has something like nineteen board members, eight board meetings a year, lasting two hours each, 67% attendance, six-year term limits, people rotating on and off every year, each board member serving on another board or two, etc. Yet somehow, in spite of those facts, boards are expected to remain inspired and govern a nonprofit organization brilliantly, even in these challenging economic times.

Is there a predictable pathway to igniting and engaging board members?  Is there a way to involve board members in designing and implementing a plan to attain long-term financial sustainability for the organization?
What greater challenge and what greater contribution for a board member to make!?     

Please weigh in on how to achieve this substantial and critical goal…