A Clear Compelling Calling: Effective Communication Yields Generosity

Posted by Jon Sturdevant on

Esther with Xerxes & Haman (Rembrandt)

Shortly after worship at church last Sunday night our lead pastor began his sermon by talking about how once a year the leadership decides to focus a couple weeks on the vision of the church.  Brilliant!  They do this a little differently each year, and what followed on Sunday made for one of the best church services I’ve attended.  He spent the evening talking about Esther and relating her story to the vision of our church.  We, like Esther are here now in this specific place, situation, job, neighborhood, church, etc “For Such A Time As This.”

One of the strengths I appreciate about my church is not only their mission, but the drive to accomplish it.  More than that, the vision is actively shared with other churches in Chicago, and the church partners with them instead of “competing.”  Attendees and partners know exactly what they are a part of, what their investment in the church yields, and who it serves (another strength is that once a year they break down the finances in detail for the church to see during the service).  Many churches would be well served to pause for a week or two and share about why exactly it is that they do what they do, what that has grown from, where that is leading, and how people can grab on and dive into a bigger part of the action.

And yes, this is a GREAT way to not only encourage and increase giving to the church, but to get people excited about giving to the church.  Transparency and action such as this leaves people wanting more and results in increased investment in the church, and its vision and mission.  Many times this kind of vision presentation precedes a capital project or another specific season of accelerated generosity.  The same principles that guide a church’s vision during a campaign should be as or more evident every week – after all most campaigns exist to fund the vision while leading people through a discipleship process in the area of generosity.

By the way, here is the vision: To be a biblical community where the Gospel of Jesus Christ transforms lives, renews the city, and impacts the world.  One dream is that through partnerships with other churches, planting, and multi-site strategy, there would be a Bible based church in every neighborhood of the city – within walking distance of every person in the city.

Neighborhoods of Chicago

India & Nepal: Funding & Communicating For A Cross Cultural Organization

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I just returned from a trip to India and Nepal to visit the home base and headquarters of a client mission organization.  I designed this trip to spend time with their leadership, gain a better understanding of the scope of their ministry, and mainly to produce a series of videos that will help cast their vision and mission to a wider audience in the upcoming year.

Interviewing in a Local Village. Photo ©Copyright Gary S. Chapman 2011

While I loved the people, hospitality, and many parts of the culture, the heartbreaking and mostly unseen reality is filled with intolerance.  Persecution doesn’t begin to describe what many of these people have seen.  Some of the experiences just can’t be shared unless you are there.  Overwhelmingly, these stories were told with incredible joy, and together these people brought James 1:2-4 to life. Persecution is part of their lives, and they accept it readily because they believe their message is worth it, and that ultimately God receives glory as His Kingdom is extended.  I’ve overheard the founder say this before: Don’t pray that the persecution will end; pray that we would have the strength to persevere through it so our message is stronger.

While there I interviewed and heard stories of:

  • pastors who had been rescued from slavery as children and gone back to their native tribal areas to enhance the lives of their neighbors.
  • a pastor who given the option to leave, chose to preach to a crowd at gunpoint (that gunslinger is now slinging a Bible).
  • students who have been disowned, kicked out, and threatened by their families for their faith in Jesus.
  • staff and pastors who have been beaten, jailed, and worse because of their faith in Jesus.
  • beautiful children who are being sponsored or raised in their children’s home because they have been found in a plastic bag, left at the door, forced to watch their parents brutally murdered in an act of persecution, or because their hospital staff was able to convince a teenage mother not to have a late term abortion (and furthermore, that she could still have value in life as an unwed mother, even though the culture tells her she should be excommunicated).

This organization cares deeply for people by feeding and educating those who would go without, providing medical assistance for anyone (including those who have persecuted them), and in countless other ways.  They earn the right to let people know why they have been cared for, and the ministry has grown and been blessed in amazing ways.  I went mostly to capture a few specific stories.  I found many, many more.  Experiencing the joy, vigor, and struggle of these people left me feeling incredibly inadequate at times, and as a result, praying for boldness.

Why is this kind of a trip important for a fundraiser?  It communicates to me as a leader in this organization that I am doing a work that matters greatly — the stories above are raw and real, and there is an audience that wants and needs to know about them.  In this particular ministry, it alerts me of several cultural challenges I will encounter in our partnership, and allows me to address them at the beginning of the relationship. As a bonus, just to keep me humble, it lets me know there is nothing I can do alone that will impact great change, but only through true partnership, strategic guidance, and intentional follow through.  It provides the opportunity for me to identify areas they may not have been thinking about (4th perspective), and lets me begin to lay the foundation for the next stages of communication and funding priorities.  In a more external sense, it allows me to have conversations with donors that I could not have before seeing the work with my own eyes.  The communications I am producing now open the door for dedicated and specifically targeted areas of giving.  It begins the process for personalization of gifts of many donors which helps increase repetitive giving to the same organization (and more specifically, the same area within the organization where the donor feels a particular calling).

I went seeking stories.  Seven in particular.  I found thousands worthy of anyone’s time, and an understanding I can now take back to individual and church donors that will help accelerate generosity for this organization.

Welcomed at the children's home. Photo ©Copyright Gary S. Chapman 2011

Note: while I am “producing” the series of videos, this is not my area of expertise, and I hired Whistle Peak Productions.  I also hired Gary S. Chapman, an incredible photographer.  The organization was well served by them, and I recommend them especially if you are looking for international work.  I now consider them my “team” for this client and am looking forward to sharing some of their work on this blog in the future.

Legacy Generosity, Comfort, & Saying Thank You

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While I haven’t posted here lately, these are links to recent blog posts I’ve written about generosity in the church for churchthought.com:

Legacy Generosity in the Church – Are you aware of the incredible opportunities presented through planned gifts?

The Generosity Comfort Zone – Getting a little uncomfortable will yield growth for you and your church.

Saying Thank You – How do you say thank you to your givers?  Here are a few practical ideas.

Utilizing Relational Resources

Posted by Jon Sturdevant on

Engage the Resources of Your Leaders

A friend invited me to attend the quarterly meeting of the Chicago Barnabas Group last week.  This organization connects ministries w/ marketplace leaders in several cities around the country.

In the middle of the morning we were challenged by Rev. Marshall Hatch of New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church.  He spoke about the idea that our resources are a part of a larger design to invest in people and develop relationships — something I thought of as a literal ‘means to an end’ if you will.

Resources in this particular forum are not just financial, and in fact, focus on talents, networks, unique skills, and what is often the hardest thing to part with: time.  While many marketplace leaders are blessed and poised to write a check when approached, there are many other tangible and often underutilized ways to engage them as a resource.  Many times, marketplace leaders can step up financially in a significant way.  Engaging their minds and skills as well builds a deeper network and creates an additional level of attachment to an organization that will often lead to increased financial support.

Engaging talents of a gifted manager, an accountant, a marketing strategist, a financial expert, or an attorney to name a few can make a game changing difference in the impact and efficiency of many organizations.  An outside source of knowledge alone is valuable, but one of the most important resources these leaders have is their network and the ability to ask others to also serve in some way.  This is a win for the organization as it gains insight and support, and a win for the leaders as they feel like they are investing at a more significant level and making a difference in operations and efficiency as well as or in addition to the balance sheet.

Here are a few practical options for engaging these non-financial resources:

  • Invite a leader to speak at an outreach or fundraising event.
  • Invite a leader to review your business operations and offer any thoughts they may have – an outside perspective is never a bad thing.  Remember their feedback yields suggestions that you may or may not use.  Either way, the leader has been engaged, and you have been challenged to think in a different way.
  • Invite a leader to speak to your staff and/or volunteers about a particular area of their expertise or interest.
  • Invite a leader to serve alongside your staff and/or volunteers.

Rev. Hatch joked with us about his tendency to close three times before he was actually finished speaking.  That’s exactly what he did, and every time he closed he repeated this saying: “The giver always gains.”  Are you creating as many resource giving opportunities as you should be?

Your Mission, Should You Choose To Accept It

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Does Your Mission Appear This Clear?

I was in two meetings with people representing two potential clients recently, and part of our conversations focused on the lack of unity in communicating their missions effectively.  This can be a struggle for every organization; not just churches and non-profit institutions, but all kinds of businesses from mom & pop shops to Fortune 500 companies.

Here are a couple simple questions to ask:

  • Can every staff person/volunteer effectively communicate the mission?
  • Can every customer, member, volunteer, alumnus/alumna, or any other end user effectively communicate the mission?
  • If “yes”.  Really?  Are you sure?

Here’s the first point to consider.  A mission statement is not a mission.  A mission is an actively executed portrayal of your mission statement.  Words without action are worthless.  At the same time, action without words to drive it is scattered.  One needs to provide the basis for the other.

In a time when more and more people are evaluating the ROI on their charitable time and money, it’s important to make sure that you can (and regularly do) effectively communicate how your mission is being executed.  This starts with having everyone within the organization on the same page.  This can be a process and there are often many different factors to consider (some people have been there since the beginning; some are brand new and have come from a different background; maybe you recently went through a re-branding and there is still some confusion surrounding the details; often there are only certain parts of your mission that are publicized and others are forgotten).  Whatever the case, it will take effort, frustration, challenge, and maybe a few hurt feelings to get everyone on the same page.  Once this is achieved, begin strategic and active engagement of your people.  Continue by making sure you are consistently telling the story of how your people are living the mission.  Communicate this through your leaders and by using testimonials from end users through video, email, articles, & blogs.

You absolutely cannot even begin to raise money without making sure your mission is aligning with your people, and your people are communicating your mission effectively and consistently.  You may have some success with funding, but you’ll never realize your full potential if you can’t clearly communicate.   All givers need to know what difference their gift(s) are going to make in the life and mission of your church or organization.  Your high capacity givers in particular, expect it.  They are almost certainly being shown the impact of their giving by other organizations.  When they ask you what the difference in impact between a $250,000 gift and a $500,000 gift is, you had better be prepared to speak to that.  One of my colleagues and I are working with a pastor who has the special opportunity to have a similar conversation with a high capacity giver today.   He knows and loves his mission, he is prepared, and we are excited for him and for what this conversation could mean for the future of his church and its mission.

Accept your mission, make sure anyone close to your organization can accurately communicate it (and do so with a certain degree of vigor), and make sure you are repeatedly telling your story.  This energizes your staff, volunteers, and givers, and as a bonus, the consistent communication will help keep you accountable to focus and stay true to your mission.

E-Fundraising Effectiveness for End-of-Year & Always

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Does Your Message Translate from Screen to Keyboard?

Here’s a more specific follow up to last week’s post (Making the Most of Year End Appeals) and it focuses on a very important, but often rushed part of the end-of-year giving process.  Almost exactly a year ago I ran a project that involved sending 45 different fundraising emails to a targeted audience.  All the emails originated from the same place, represented the same organization (Wheaton College, IL), had very similar content, and complemented other written and personal communications.  However, each message (including subject line and sender) was personalized to a smaller, more intimate group of alumni, highlighted the vision for one or more specific fundraising initiatives, included a progress update, and ended with a call to action.

Let’s be clear – this project was extremely time intensive.  This is the simple reason why you can still gain an advantage by doing something similar – not everyone is willing to put in the time.  But it was worth the extra effort, and through it and several similar projects during the past few years, the evidence has been overwhelming.  Across an audience that included 21 to 90 year olds, the average open rate was right around 45%.  If you are not familiar with non-profit email statistics, this is a staggering number – about twice our normal mass email communication open rate at the time, and more than three times what I can come up with for an industry average (everyone cites a different number).  In light of this, I’d encourage you to do what you can to find even the smallest way to personalize and differentiate your message when you send your end of year e-communications this year.  The results will be worth it!

After these initial emails have been sent, make sure you have scheduled at least one, if not two follow up emails (ideally the week before Christmas, and another a few days before the end of the year).  These can be more generic and serve mainly as a reminder.  Make sure to also schedule some reminders on your twitter account and facebook page.  Don’t underestimate the subliminal power that each impression has for your givers.

Lastly, make sure it is easy to give through the email or landing page, and follow up each gift with a proper and timely acknowledgment letter and receipt.

Making the Most of Year End Appeals

Posted by Jon Sturdevant on

As you think about end-of-year giving this year, remember to consider how your message resonates with your givers.  They are being bombarded with appeals from different organizations up to multiple times per day this December, and if not well planned out, yours will be just another letter or email.

Here are a few musts:

  • Catch the attention of your givers.  Not just with a holiday image, but with a compelling message in the subject line, on the outside of the envelope, or a screen shot of a video).  Make sure they at least read or watch your message.  This may require more than one version of your appeal to effectively reach different demographic groups.
  • Convey your mission and vision, NOT your needs.  Do this with a story, personal testimony, and demonstrated impact.
  • Make the ask specifically and unashamedly.  “If you’d like to make a gift….” is not an ask.  Invite your givers to participate at specific levels, and when possible provide them with a measurable result for what their gift will accomplish.
  • Make the actual process of making a gift as simple as possible.  Test it yourself before sending it to a mass audience.
  • Lastly, and most importantly, thank your givers.  This is so often overlooked, and if overlooked, reflects poorly on you and can often frustrate a giver.  In a season when there is so much competition for charitable gifts, make sure you have an appropriate acknowledgment and receipt system in place and ready.  Even the smallest gift should be acknowledged graciously.

This is a joyous time of year.  These simple steps can help you create a joyful giving experience.

The Best Days are Every Day

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Top of Laguna de los Tres looking at Mt. Fitz Roy

The last part of the hike was brutally hard.  After three hours, I faced a 45+ degree pitch for the last hour.  It was not only incredibly steep, but the rock was loose, and in many places covered with snow.  A few people I passed were on the way back saying that they didn’t make it to the top.  I didn’t understand.  Then, more toward the end of the trail the snow was up to my knees, and each step required a plan.  Even so, I loved every minute of that climb.  What came when I finished were some of the most beautiful views I’ll ever see.

In the remote southern Patagonian town of El Chalten, Argentina one can head out to hike the Laguna de los Tres trail to get a spectacular view of Mt. Fitz Roy.  The trail begins on a ridge above a valley, twists and turns through a constantly changing forest, continues along a winding river sourced by a massive glacier, and finishes with the aforementioned climb.  It’s a beautiful progression, and in the early summer, the snow covered peaks and ice filled lakes set a spectacular backdrop for one of the world’s most famous mountain views.  At the end of the trail, I gazed at this scene for an hour before I had to head back down to complete the 15 mile circuit.  Alone for the time, and rarely more alive, I wished I could have stayed much longer.  Recounting that scene later that night with some other travelers at the local cerveceria was a privilege.  We felt lucky to have been there.

At times like this, I feel the most content.  But why?  Am I really happier with myself or my life situation?  No, of course not, but I find that it is where I traditionally seek contentment.  Relaxing on a seemingly comfortable boulder staring at Mt. Fitz Roy and the glacial lakes below it with a sense of accomplishment and amazement is just one of those moments.  Some other favorite days come to mind: lying flat on my back on a boat dock in the north woods of Wisconsin watching the northern lights at 3:00 in the morning; dirt-biking and Jeeping with my best friends up and down 14ers in Colorado; bungee jumping at Victoria Falls; drinking a beer while watching the sunset on the deck of a small hillside café in Santorini; and waking up to 2+ feet of fresh snow for the best powder day of my life in Leysin, Switzerland.

As I reflect on some of my favorite days, I’m thankful to have been wired to seek out these defining experiences whenever I can.  I need to be better at seeking to learn more in my day to day.  I have great friends, great family, and get so much from them.  And, in a way that doesn’t seem to make sense on the surface, seeking these experiences has been the way I traditionally seek intimacy with all the non-people in the world: other cultures, spectacular settings, and God.  Especially in the past few years, I have become much better at embracing the day-to-day, and even though I still love an adventure, I more often look forward to many of the things I sometimes take for granted.  I’m more intentional about investment in others, more open to seeing things that I may have otherwise overlooked, and as a result, more ready for some great surprises that pop up right in front of me.

I’m often content.  I don’t sweat the small stuff, don’t worry about much, don’t care a whole lot about what [most] people think about me (but love when they weigh in), and feel blessed because of these things.  I have found and observed, however that contentment does not equal fulfillment, and that fulfillment can only be reached through the satisfaction of work well done, the influence and investment of and in friends, family, & significant others, where we are in our spiritual lives, and other aspects of our daily experience.

Every year around this time, I go through the process of getting myself pumped up for the upcoming ski season.  This always involves digging out some of my favorite ski movies from the past few years and catching up on a few issues of Powder magazine.  The other day I was watching Anomaly, and in a video tribute to Doug Coombs (big mountain heli-skiing pioneer who at the time had just passed way) one of his friends says this about him:  “[As a guide] He’s given more people the best days of their lives than probably anybody else on the planet.  And I mean real best day of your life – like, overwhelmingly so”. What a way to be remembered!  I am challenged when I think about how I’m doing that through my job and the people I interact with each day.  Obviously, the experience is nothing close to the same as what Doug provided, but the enthusiasm and effort with which I approach each day and each task shouldn’t be any different.

It’s Not Who You Know, It’s Who Knows You

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Today, it’s pretty easy for a lot of people to know a little about you.  I’m LinkedIn, people follow me on Twitter, I’m friends with many on Facebook, and people who I’ll never know read my blog.  I love that!

Social media is a great tool, and I’ve been fortunate to meet and connect with many people who I never would have been able to connect with otherwise.  However, there aren’t many ways to set yourself apart or establish a meaningful relationship merely through social media (there are some – but it is getting harder and harder).  How we represent ourselves in the times when we get to interact personally during a first, second, third, or fiftieth impression sets us apart (for better or worse).  Transformation does not happen through transactions.  Each tweet, wall post, or status update can provide talking points, but it’s how we dig deeper than that with others that helps us determine our relationships, establish a working rapport, or a mutual trust – and this is how work gets done!

It’s important to surround yourself with people who are going to invest in you.  But, this will not be a mutually beneficial relationship if you have not chosen to invest in them first.  I recently switched positions and am continuing my career in fundraising and generosity, and discovering that my network is now more important than it ever has been.  Should I be trying to meet as many people as possible?  Yes, absolutely.  But, to do this wisely means choosing a small number to significantly invest in, and I must be more intentional about choosing to be relational with them on a regular basis.  We all inherently want to ask the question, “How can this person help me?”  But, we should really be asking, “How can I help this person?”, or for the best results, (both personally and professionally) “How can we help each other?”

This is true maybe even more in my personal life than my professional life.  I know the people I want to surround myself with – they have set themselves apart.  My goal is to set myself apart for them.

And by the way, social media is an absolutely necessary and non-negotiable tool for almost everyone to utilize.  We are so fortunate to be able to create and spread a personal brand in a way that has never before been possible.  It’s how we live up to that brand in person that makes all the difference.  I was reminded of the issues that went into this post many times during several different conversations in the past week.  It’s always good to step back, take a look at our priorities and make sure that how we brand ourselves follows them, rather than the other way around.

Is This Seat Taken?

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“Is this seat taken?”  As he ended the morning session, Seth Godin asked this question of me and a couple hundred others who attended his road trip stop in Chicago last week.  What he was really asking was if we are utilizing our seat (wherever it may be, corporate, freelance, entrepreneur, ‘cog’, ‘linchpin’, etc) as best we can.  Is anyone going to know the story of the person who filled the chair, or will it be left vacant for the next ‘cog’ to fill?

How are we differentiating ourselves?

Am I failing often enough?  Not a question I’m usually asked, but an important question for sure, and Seth asked.  If I am not failing, I am not acting on enough ideas, or heaven forbid, not having new ideas to act on.  This concept requires a ‘carpe diem’ attitude for each and every day, but also mandates that I am also willing and able to create change prior to ‘seizing the day’.

I could write much more about the things Seth talked about the other day, but they are not my ideas, and you can learn many of them in his latest book Linchpin (recommended!).  What I’d like to talk about is using some of these ideas to create positive impact (an often overused word, I know).  Taking and making the most of our seats pushes us each day to think about new ways to stretch ourselves in our positions, our firms, our churches, our charitable organizations, our families, etc.  As a result, all of these entities are strengthened, and we have set a productive example for anyone who may be observing.  Same old, same old will work in some instances, but if that applied to you, you probably wouldn’t be reading blogs like this one.  The environment around us is changing in almost all cases, so the choice is either to lead, adapt, or catch up.  As long as we have the choice, why not be leaders, ahead of our time, and make the most of our potential for impact.  We will either be remembered, or not.

Here’s a side note and personal story about impact and making the most of our seats.  Seth Godin went to high school with my mother and grew up a few doors down from where she and my grandparents lived.  My grandfather had moved his family there to serve as Principal and open up a brand new innovative high school.   He told me multiple stories about how influential and creative Seth was even as his student (he presented many new ideas, acted on them, and carried them out (shipped!).  I had the chance to talk with Seth about my grandfather during that road trip stop, and the impact that each had on the other (35 years ago) was clear – they both spoke of specific areas.  Their seats were not merely taken; they were created, redefined, expanded, and utilized.

This brings me to another point, and that is that to be able to create this impact, you are going to have to be passionate about what you are doing.  I don’t know Seth personally, but after hearing him speak, there is no doubt he is passionate about what he does.  And as for my grandfather, for those who know him, it goes without saying.  For those who don’t, he’ll be working to improve things he is passionate about until he is no longer able to – and I’m not sure if even that will stop him.  Take a minute to think about a couple people who have had a big impact in your life; my grandfather and others that immediately come to mind for me are all passionate about what they do, and they will be remembered.

Bottom line lesson from this session: According to Seth, we are not rewarded by simply being ‘cogs’.  We are rewarded for creating ideas worth spreading, connecting them to people, getting people to talk about them, and then doing it again.  This, in turn, rewards others and creates value for the intended audience – a positive impact.  These are a few of my key takeaways from the half day session.  If you get the chance to attend an event like this with Seth, do not pass it up.  Thank you Tim, for the invitation.

One more thought: subscribe to Seth’s blog.  It is clear, concise, and challenging.  I read it every morning.