Leadership Attributes in Christian Fundraisers

I am pleased to share the thinking of several mature leaders who give us insights into the ways that we live and think in our leadership roles. More can be said about each, but here are a few thoughts to consider:

True Leadership

Giving one's life for the service and well-being of others - following in the steps of Jesus.

Steward Leader

Making the best use of every asset given to us. Using these to accomplish the mission of our school for God's glory, not man's.

Encouraging Giving

Even when we invite others to give. we are not trying to GET from them, but trying to help them GROW into a life of generous giving. That may mean that our school is not the direct or immediate beneficiary.

Growing Today's Young Leaders

Encourage them in their love of service to improve the community. These acts of service will naturally lead to financial generosity.

Communications

Are we spending as much time listening as we are talking? We value and our friends when we make the time to listen and learn.

Acting

While we trust the Spirit to move in hearts, we encourage the young disciples to take the first baby steps to grow in the grace of giving.

Leadership Multiplication

We are called to make disciples who will come after us. These new leaders can be our greatest legacy - are we finding and developing them now?

The Stewardship of Time and Talents

You are (or become) aware of a particular need. You become personally involved because you want to be a part of something that positively affects the lives of others. Gifts of time and talent are perhaps the best contributions a donor can make to the school.

We often overlook the importance of being good stewards of the time God has given us. "...As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work." John 9:5.

Stewardship of time is giving God first priority. In spite of all He had to to do, He took time for quiet meditation. He found time to be alone with his heavenly Father.

Stewardship of time means taking time to rest and renew your strength, evaluate your life, and focus on God's will for your life. As I get older, I have a greater sense of urgency to use my time well; I feel the clock ticking.

And it is setting apart time to be with the ones you love the most here on earth. Do we give adequate time to family and friends?

Similarly, Goad has equipped us with gifts and talents. Who benefits from them? Are they just used in our working hours - or are they used for God's Kingdom?

So, at Back to School Night, I intend to ask people how they used their time this summer. Did the time off allow them (and me?) to re-kindle their relationship with Jesus?

In summary, stewardship of time and talent for the Kingdom reminds us:

• who He is,


• who we are, and


• what our relationship should be to the time and talents He has given us to manage in His name.

A Generous Donor with a Bias for Action

Last week I met with a major donor to the school. This was our first sit down meeting where we were able to get beyond the quick conversations in the normal course of school events.

I asked him to tell me his story about family, work, and his coming to Christ. As we discussed his work I asked him to tell me about his passions. "No one ever asks about my passions", he replied.

As we talked more, this man talked about a new and exciting ministry in which he and his church are involved. It is a ministry to homeless families that requires lots of hands-on time from the church that is working with that family for that week. My donor friend says this is good way of putting feet on his faith. Direct involvement, versus writing checks, engages us in a way that has the gospel penetrating hearts more deeply.

Knowing his bias for action allowed me to present an opportunity to take on ambassador role with the school. This role will allow him to use his communications skills and his passion for classical and Christian education.

Getting to know donors at the heart level does not require that we know them for a long time. It does require that we listen well and to ask permission to present some other ideas that could fit well with their skills and interests.

What happens next? We both go back and pray that the Holy Spirit clarifies and directs. Our objective is not to get every job filled with a good match, but to see the Kingdom expand as His saints take up the mantle of stewardship of everything He has entrusted to our care. Even our entire lives are not ours.

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." 1 Cor. 6:19-20.

Stewardship Can Begin at a Young Age

Like many middle-aged administrators I find myself behind the curve when it comes to the latest advances in technology. Telephone and email are my standard electronic modalities. The "smart phone" is a recent acquisition, but many of its features go unused.

However, I know that I must stay up with the times and take advantage of the constantly-improving technologies. My latest foray is to develop a social networking strategy to link up this blog with Advance Christian Schools so that we might be able to connect with and help more school leaders.

So, right under my nose, I find one of our own students who is very proficient with Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. and I have asked him to share his abilities with me. Of course, he can set up the accounts and do the automatic links and feeds, but he started with me asking really good questions:

1. What is my passion and objective for this networking capability?


2. Who are the people I am trying to reach? What messages do I want them to receive?


3. What is my end goal or action I desire for these interactions?


4. What does success look like?

Wow! This interaction sounds a lot like the kind of questions we want our upperclassmen to be asking.

My young protege is unleashing his passion (social networking), using his provision (vast computer skills), and applying them to a Kingdom purpose (connecting and equipping leaders).

Look around your school and see if the Lord has placed a young gem right under your nose.

The Stewardship of Talent

In this blog I describe the sphere of our work to include God's gifts of Time, Talent, and Treasure. This is the reason I prefer the term "stewardship". Stewardship allows us to speak in terms of all three types of gifts.

Identifying talent for the Kingdom is an important role for the Development and Stewardship officer. Actually, it is important for every member of the leadership of the school. When done well, resources are identified and applied to the school in a way that blesses the donor as they become good stewards of their talent gifts.

Most people do not walk around proclaiming their own greatness or their skill in a particular area; that would be the sin of pride. However, it is helpful for each of us to see and assess the gifts that God gave us to use to glorify Him.

Since we know that God Himself is generous, we can proceed on the assumption that He has lavished many gifts on His people. So, we start with the "presupposition" that everyone has some talent and we can help uncover these. Sometimes the gift is not reflected in the specific vocation or experience background; we may have to dig deeper and listen longer.

Here is an example. One of our new donor friends wanted to come and learn more about where she could be of assistance. When we looked at her background of science, there wasn't a great fit, at least not at the present time. We probed further and we learned that she really wants to come in and assist a teacher in a lower grade. So, now she is happily ensconced as a Kindergarten aide one day each week. Praise God for good fits!

One word of caution is in order. As we interact with our donor friends, we must be careful to be encouraging (which is biblical) and not flattering (this is sinful). This goes to our motives. Are we doing what we do to manipulate to achieve a certain goal, or are we raising up people to honor the Lord by applying gifts for His glory and for their edification?

Raising talent can be more difficult than raising money, but it is part of the ministry to which we are called. Let us do so with vigor and confidence; this comes from God, too.

Students Learn the Joy of Serving Others

Today I had the distinct pleasure of watching our choral and string ensembles offer their musical gifts to bless the lunch crowd at the local Senior Center. This center is not a retirement or nursing home, but a daytime community center for seniors who are still ambulatory and who want some activities and fellowship.

I told our students that they get to be good stewards of their instrumental and singing gifts by using them to bless the senior citizens and wishing them a Merry Christmas. Yes, they said the Christmas word and didn't even have to apologize.

Afterwards, the guests were very complimentary and we invited them to our all-school Christmas concert in one week. Some of them took brochures about the school to see what we were all about.

Stewardship and service are part of the fabric of the school. We want to be seen as a school who is a good steward of what we have been given. Then, we can legitimately invite others to also share what God has given them - all good gifts come from the Father.

As we strive to see others be generous with their blessings, let it begin with me.

I am not the (only) "Stewardship Guy"

Delegating authority - Exodus 18:13-20

The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, "What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?"

Moses answered him, "Because the people come to me to seek God's will. Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God's decrees and laws." Moses' father-in-law replied, "What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.

Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people's representative before God and bring their disputes to him. Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform.

Stewardship by leaders requires us to delegate responsibility. Jethro encouraged Moses to "share the load" by distributing aspects of the work among other trustworthy and capable individuals within the community.

This is true within the church, where the 80-20 rule often applies. It is also true for stewardship as we, stewardship officers, seek to extend our influence with others. Here are some ideas that I have tried and am developing:

1. Remind the staff and other constituents that you are not the only stewardship person. The skills to see giftedness in others and encourage the use of gifts is not sole domain of the professional.
2. Let others participate in the process so they can experience the joy of helping others express their love for the Lord through generous giving.
3. Discover talent that may not have been used before, but is just waiting to be asked.
4. Keep repeating and explaining the basic themes until others remember and internalize them. I have many teachers come and tell me how they are seeking the time and talent and treasure opportunities.

When we delegate to others, it frees us to have some of the in-depth discussions we need to have.

And, who knows, the new talent may be a significant upgrade to what we do ourselves.

The Power of a Good Word

In the last several weeks our school had a visitor who toured and was very impressed with our

• Small classes
• Efficient operations
• "Back to basics" approach to curriculum
• Discipline
• Manners and attentiveness of the students

When I followed up with him after the tour he told me that he did not have financial resources to invest, but he would be willing to write a letter to the editor of the local paper.

Today the letter was printed on the Opinion page where he declared that here is a "school that does more with less", referring to efficiency and focus of the school. No doubt, this will resonate with people who care about education in general because they see how much is invested in the public school system.

The beauty of the world in which we work is that there is always something to offer or to give. In this case, a non-Christian can sing the praises of a school that is reminiscent of the school he remembered as a boy.

Our stewardship work is to create an environment of generosity where people experience the joy of doing something outside of their own interests. Oftentimes, this is a "Christan-to-Christian" experience, but it does not need to be.

Also, we never know how the Lord may use this introduction to lead us into the next conversation when we can discuss matters of eternal consequence.

Matching up Gifts and Opportunities

Our role as stewardship officers is to encourage people to release their God-given gifts into Kingdom opportunities. We do this by helping people see how blessed they are and by reminding them of the biblical principle of generosity, that of joyous giving.

We can be of further assistance if we help them find just the right place for their gifts. In this way, the donor has a better connection to the help they are providing. It also shows that we are listening to and caring about the donor as individuals, not just lumping them into the giving "pot".

Here is an example that might help spur some new thought.

Tall Oaks has a Science Fair this week and the science teacher needs many judges so that every project is evaluated by three sets of eyes and ears. I saw this as a wonderful stewardship opportunity for my friends that have science and/or engineering backgrounds to come and share their talent with us. In doing so, they have a chance to see the school up close. We will welcome them with refreshments and collateral material about the school that they can take home.

Most of these have never seen the school; this will be their first exposure. Afterwards, I will call each friend to see how they viewed the experience and to see if there is any other interest in being involved.

Do you have art or music programs that can use the gifts of friends? In general we love to be seen as experts in our field and we can carve out some time to help a friend and support the next generation.

The same concept works for the library, information technology, sports, drama. The list goes on and on.

The blessing to the donor is that they get to extend themselves, working on something larger than he or she. These can be wonderful connections to lead people into greater service.

This week, we had a volunteer make a substantial financial commitment to the school. The volunteer had served the school for several years in a special area and now the Holy Spirit moved this couple to have their monetary wealth follow their wealth of talent.

If we can see our work as larger than (only) the raising of funds we are operating in the theater of whole life stewardship.

God, give us grace to see the big picture.

Raising the "talent" in time, talent, and treasure

The Lord has "resourced" His children with giftedness in these three areas, time, talent, and treasure.

Time and treasure are easy to get a handle on. We have our volunteers who do jobs that we would otherwise have to pay for, thereby saving real money and building community at the same time. We also know treasure, for that is the "currency" by which fund-raising is measured.

But, what about the talent? Let me illustrate in a story that is just beginning, but could be one of these "bi-lateral blessings" where both the school and the donor experience receive blessing.

I had a meeting recently with a friend who is all for Christian education, both as a parent and as a former employee of a Christian school. He is now a free agent and seeking God's leading for his next assignment.

While I knew some of his talents and gifts I discovered more as we talked. In this discussion we explored possibilities where the students could benefit from these skills - if not now, then maybe in the future.

This fall we will have an opportunity to explore the matching of school needs with these Kingdom resources. Not once did we discuss a financial contribution. It was not the time and it would have cheapened our interaction.

This kind of "prospecting" can unearth some wonderful treasure if we are just willing to look for gold in all its forms.

But I also reminded that I am serving my friend as I help him find ways to serve the King.

"Dance with the one who brung you"

In the South, there is familiar expression about dancing - "Dance with the one who brung you". Up north, we might say, "Be satisfied with what you have and use it fully."

This is not a new expression - and is not even a new concept. Paul wrote about this back in the first century as he addressed the church at Corinth.

From 1 Corinthians 12:12-22

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.
For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.
If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.
And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.
If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?
But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.
If they were all one part, where would the body be?
As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!"
On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,

Whether you are new or old to the development/advancement work, God had gifted you with special gifts that are ideally suited to the work before you.

You may be one who can organize events - this is critical for community relations which can lead to personal relations

You may be gifted in graphic and other communications - use these for brilliant printed pieces and visualization on your web site

Gifted writer? Brochures and foundation proposals need these skills

Came from the business world? Use your understanding to develop special outside relationships.

Ministry minded? Connect first with local pastors who need to be appreciated and cared for.

I hope you see that whatever talent you have is useful for the Kingdom and should be the "lead dog" in your advancement work. So, be confident in the Lord and watch Him use you in a special way. The talents that you do not yet have can be developed - find someone with those and have him or her mentor you.

So, how and where do I start?

"The problem with this transformational approach is that, while I understand and agree with the biblical stewardship model, I don't know where to start."

Here is an approach that may help but, remember that this must be from your heart; otherwise it will come across as a formula or technique.

1. Lead with a heart of joy, gratitude and prayer. 1 Thes. 5:16-18 "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." Thank the Lord for your special work and for the giving community that is part of the school.

2. Get a list of your board members (both current and former) and have an in-person conversation with each that goes something like this:

- thank you for your stewardship to our school - you have given time, talent and material resources

- how did you get involved with the school in the beginning? What did see or believe that brought you?

- what do you see today that keeps you involved? Are there any special aspects or programs that feel really connected to?

- what do see that we need to do to better fulfill the Lord's mission for the school? What does our "future state" look like?

- do you or have you considered what you might be called to do from here on? What gifts do you have that you are being lead to share with the school? How can I assist?

- how can I do what I do in a way that conveys blessing and encouragement rather than just asking for a handout or looking at you as only a "giving unit"?

3. Repeat the above with long-term and large donors, those who have a major stake in the school.