Inspiring Generous Giving in Congregations: Antidotes to Donor Fatigue

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Giving Speaks

Fundraising is the gentle art of teaching people the joy of giving. ~Hank Rosso

The members of our congregations make our faith what it is. As one looks out into the pews, the faces you see possess an energy, commitment, intelligence and engagement matched by few other groups of individuals. Along with their shared values and faith, each person that gathers together each week gives of themselves to make the celebration of this liberal faith tradition possible. Some contribute their talents and expertise in leading the congregation to greater fulfillment of its mission; others contribute their wisdom and compassion in bringing forth the very best of their fellow worshipers. Most also give generously of their wealth, whether great or small, to provide the resources necessary to support and grow the congregation that inspires them.

At times, however, these same individuals may experience what is commonly referred to as “Donor Fatigue,” a situation in which these supporting members reduce or entirely cease their financial support of the congregation. Though certainly many household budgets have been challenged by the contracting economy, this drop in giving may be caused by any number of reasons: perhaps there is a lack of trust in the congregation’s ability to steward the resources effectively; concerns over inadequate staff, space, or budgets; or anxiety and conflict arising from differing theological perspectives or strategic priorities.

The Challenge of the Conversation:

Frequently in our culture, the topic of man-and-woman-talking-vector-illustration_Mkbp2Cwd (1) money and generous giving is effectively taboo, compounding the difficulty of addressing the concerns that the members of your congregation may be experiencing. Your congregation can help to de-sensitizing the topic by talking about it to the members of your congregation in reflective, non-anxious ways:

Having a year-round stewardship program to connect the topics of money, giving, and faith in people’s minds can help to establish and cultivate openness to giving and generosity within their lives.
Establishing and communicating clear expectations for congregational membership and giving: a culture of generosity springs from an inspiring vision and high expectations for participation.
Facilitating conversations and small group discussions about money and its relationship to individuals, families, and the larger community can help in reducing anxiety in talking about giving and generosity.
Offer programs to help develop personal financial skills and decision-making about how one’s money can be used, such as personal finance sessions, debt reduction workshops, or introductions to planned giving.

Vision, Leadership and Accountability

People give to congregations for many reasons, both rational and emotive, that are unique to each person. However, there are complementary themes that emerge from conversations with generous supporters of the work of heart and mind found in Unitarian Universalism. You can (re)inspire your members’ generosity by addressing the three concepts of vision, leadership and accountability.

Finally, clarifying and communicating the vision of your congregation and the role that financial generosity plays in its ongoing well-being, active engagement of the ministry and lay leadership in stewardship processes, and recognition and accountability all play tremendously important roles in strengthening the stewardship activities of any organization.

Vision

Clarify and be able to communicate the vision of your congregation and the role that financial generosity plays in its ongoing well-being.
People want to make a positive difference in the world and to be part of something that changes lives for the better.
Examine what the message for giving to the congregation is. Is it inspiring? Does it say “Live the Vision!” or “Pay the Bills”?
Help people to distinguish between expectations for charitable giving and demands of our mass consumer culture when it comes to the perception or sources of fatigue.
How does generosity and giving contribute to the formation of your congregation’s faith identity? Does it express itself as a spiritual practice of generosity or a mandate of obligatory giving?

Ministry and Leadership

Examine the public perception of your ministry and leadership in their ability to bring the congregation’s vision and mission to life.
Donors choose to give to organizations that demonstrate their capacity with competent, effective, trustworthy, and accountable leadership.
How involved is the ministry in leading and promoting effective stewardship and generous giving within your congregation?
The lay leadership and staff can also play an active role in advocacy and stewardship, particularly if stewardship is integrated into leadership development training and workshops.

Recognition and Accountability

Support is given to organizations that are perceived to be strong, successful, and worthy of their gifts. Fiscal responsibility is critical to a congregation’s stewardship success!
Report back to your membership on how contributions are used and the difference that has been made as a result of their generosity.
Thank people as often as possible and celebrate the achievements that they have made possible.

S.U.C.C.E.S.S.!

Though exceptionally generous individuals may give unsolicited gifts to the organizations that they believe to be capable and worthy of their support, it is much more common that people must be invited to demonstrate their generosity. Your members must be asked to make a gift to your congregation!

Making a compelling case to encourage their gifts further enhances the generosity that is demonstrated; helping your fundraising “ask” to resonate with people’s hearts and minds, inspiring their giving. Elements of a compelling fundraising message include the following:

It is Simple: Keep mission and values central to your message.
It is Unexpected: A pressing need or barrier to overcome can pique donor interest.
It is Concrete: Many people are motivated to support causes that lead to definite and tangible results.
It is Credible: Not only is your congregation capable of carrying out the programs described, but they are likely to have the desired outcome.
It taps Emotion: Your message should move the donor emotionally, with an inspiring message that offers opportunities for transformation.
It makes use of Stories: Narratives and testimonies can readily convey and relate to people’s passion.
It is SURPRISING: How generosity touches lives and makes a positive difference in the world–celebrate!

Wishing you great success in your stewardship~

Giving Speaks Consulting

For more information about donor cultivation, relationships, and motivation:

Giving – The Sacred Art, Lauren Tyler Wright (available at http://www.uuabookstore.org/)

Not Your Parents’ Offering Plate, J. Clif Christopher

Passing the Plate, Christian Smith & Michael O. Emerson with Patricia Snell

The Spirituality of Fund-raising, Henri J. M. Nouwen

“Fundraising Fundamentals” Blog: http://fundraisingfundamentals.wordpress.com/

Nurturing Generosity in Children

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Posted on March 6, 2013 by Giving Speaks

The future of society may depend on our ability to make sure our children have the capability for empathy and the inclination toward generosity.

~Patricia O. Bjorhovde

Religious teachings have been highly influential in the development of philanthropic culture and giving practices around the world. Throughout American history, religious philanthropy has prompted social change by addressing the major issues and ills facing society of the times.

Congregations and faith communities fill an important role in today’s society by providing the worship and learning environments to convey the virtues and values of generosity, giving, stewardship and volunteer service. These communities provide a set of religious values and theological teachings to which young learners can link and reflect upon their daily lives. This is part of a our faith formation process as human beings, continuing throughout our lifetimes.

There are three key ways that children learn about generosity and stewardship:

Modeled voluntary behavior by a parent or trusted care-giver with the intention to help others. This begins in infancy, through the infant’s experience of caring and sharing which leads to the development of empathy.
Cognitive learning opportunities that include thinking, reflection, and discussion on the part of the learner. These stimulate understanding of the cause and effect of giving behavior.
Experiential “learning by doing” on the part of the learner—opportunities to engage in giving and serving activities from which they can draw emotional satisfaction and meaning.

How is this done? Through an intentional educational process that includes:

Presenting the concepts and stories that promote understanding of giving, generosity, and stewardship in the life of a community.
Identifying the reasons why people choose to give and practicing generosity, and the methods for stewardship and the careful tending of resources.
Providing the experiences and opportunities for individual and communal reflection.

Nathan Dungan, former financial advisor, marketing VP, author and creator of the Share, Save, Spend system for personal finance suggests that the marketing message directed at our children is “see money, spend money,” with the emphasis on the micro impact of satisfying their own needs. They rarely get the macro impact message that balances their spending with saving and sharing in intentional ways: “the choices we make with our money can change the world.”

There are a variety of helpful materials to help parents and educators create learning experiences and activities that nurture generosity and stewardship in their children and teenage youth. Games and stories, combined with experiential activities to learn these values by doing, are particularly effective teaching tools. The Stewardship Game and links to online resources below offer a starting place for engaging this learning process.

Enjoy!

Laurel Amabile, CFRE

Giving Speaks

STEWARDSHIP RESOURCES FOR FAMILIES:

Lodestone Year: Money Unit–Magnetize your Middle School curriculum by Katie Covey focusing on ways to provide fun and as well as deep teachable moments. The Money Unit focuses on the value of conversations about money as an important part of understanding the control and power of money. With this understanding, commercialism is kept in perspective and money is used as a reflection of one’s values.

Stewardship Game for Unitarian Universalist Children & Youth created by Dr. Bobbie Poole, Credentialed Religious Educator, Master Level (shared with her permission). email: bobbiepoole@comcast.net

The_Stewardship_Game_Rules

S tewardship_Game_Board

Stewardship_Game_Cards

Tapestry of Faith the Unitarian Universalist Association’s online curriculum series, particularly the Moral Tales for children and Virtue Ethics for youth. http://www.uua.org/re/tapestry/children/tales/index.shtml and http://www.uua.org/re/tapestry/youth/virtueethics/index.shtml

Learning To Give features learning and teaching resources to use for all ages, with focused materials for school educators and religious educators.

Share, Save, Spend founded by Nathan Dungan / The website features articles, tips, and resources for all ages, particularly useful for parents, educators, and organizations.

National Center for Family Philanthropy

Bjorhovde, Patricia O., Editor. Creating Tomorrow’s Philanthropists: Curriculum Development for Youth, New Directions for Philanthropic Fundraising, #36, Summer 2002, Jossey-Bass Nonprofit and Public Management Series, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Developmental Stages of Generosity

‘Tis the Season of Generosity

Posted on December 7, 2012 by Giving Speaks

‘Tis the Season of Generosity!

The Holiday Season is filled with celebrations of light, love, and community. This is the time for honoring religious traditions and practicing the rituals of the faithful. As we move through the end of the year and across the threshold of the winter solstice into the new year, we are inspired by the impulse to give. In our religious communities, this often occurs through the offering in the context of worship.

The offering has been the central act of worship for human beings since ancient times. In the earliest times, sacrificial offerings of the best livestock or first fruits of the crop were ceremonially given to the gods. In modern times, money is placed in the offering plate during Sunday morning service to support the work of the faith community. Throughout time the offering has been a way for individuals and families to contribute some of what they have to benefit their community. Making an offering is considered an act of faith: faith in the community, faith is something greater than oneself, and a tangible expression of gratitude for all received in life. In its deepest and purest expression, the act of giving out of a sense of gratitude, is a spiritual practice.

Over time, this practice of the offering has been institutionalized by religions around the world. The concepts and practices are explicitly taught in many religions. In her book Giving—the Sacred Art, Lauren Tyler Wright refers to the practice of giving that each faith tradition brings to the “table of generosity.” She continues by describing the language and expressions of giving to religion:

Each tradition brings to the table a beautiful history of sacred texts, stories, and experiences, and each faith contributes to the intricate landscape of religious giving with a beautiful assortment of expressions: stewardship, almsgiving zakat (alms tax), sadaqah (voluntary charity), dana (charity), charity, Chesed (loving kindness), Tzedakah (righteous giving), tikkun olam (repairing the world). As I write, I imagine this wide variety of religious perspectives engaging in dialogue, not debate. While we may disagree on a host of ideologies, we can all sit around the table of generosity and share our understandings of this common practice. And in doing so, I have a feeling we will discover that our spiritual journeys are more alike than we may have thought.

Though religion continues to be the beneficiary of the largest share of charitable giving, it is losing some ground as giving increases to other charitable organizations. Once the recipient of 60 percent of all charitable giving, for the first time in recorded history, giving to religion has dropped to just under 33 percent. It appears that the competition for charitable dollars is heating up and religious leaders and consultants are asking, why? What makes the difference for people in choosing where to give?

Church fundraising consultant and former parish minister, J. Clif Christopher, is convinced that religious organizations must develop appropriate fundraising strategies using current methods to keep pace with their missions and financial needs. These strategies and methods will need to include greater involvement by the minister and board leaders in active fundraising and teaching of stewardship. More analysis must take place for each congregation to better know and understand its donors, their patterns of giving, and their capacity for giving.

Finally, it is essential that religious leaders know how to effectively ask for contributions and to communicate with donors in compelling, energizing ways all through the year. In other words, we need to get better at inviting generosity that brings joy to the giver!

We know from an array of studies that people who regularly attend religious communities give more. Givers give more when they are influenced by experiencing a generous culture. People are more generous when they learn how to give according to their religious teachings, observe generous behavior, feel gratitude for their community, and have opportunities to talk about money and giving as expressions of their faith values. Religious communities must be intentional about creating this kind of culture and learning experiences.

According to Christopher and others, the three primary reasons people give to congregations and other organizations are:

1) Belief in the mission of the organization,

2) Regard for the staff leadership of the organization, and

3) Fiscal responsibility.

In addition, people clearly want to make a difference in the world, to change lives for the better, and to leave a legacy that reflects this desire and to instill a sense of accomplishment.

Faith communities today have a big job to do—to change lives. We must focus on the task of changing lives and making a difference in the world, beyond the doors of the congregation day in and day out. This level of change cannot be accomplished by busying our members with committee work and social activities, then telling them there is not enough funding and more money is needed to keep it all going.

How will your community change peoples’ lives and make a difference in the world as we move into the new year?