Jerry Twombly - Funding Your God Given Vision Through Relational Development

The New Priority

Developing programs to engage new donors has always been an important part of the developmental process.   But what was once just  another function of what we do in development offices has now become our most pressing priority. 

Here's why.   

The 127 million "Builders" and "Boomers" are growing old.  These rugged individualists have been the backbone of philanthropy for over 30 years.  Their extraordinary generousity has enabled multiplied thousands of nonprofits to thrive in one of the most economically prosperous times in American history. Today these diminishing demographic groups remain responsible for giving or driving over 70% of all philanthropy in the United States.  In terms of dollars, that was about $280 billion in 2013.

The 55 million "Builders" range in age from 70-86.   Most are retired and they are dying at the rate of 1,500/day.  The "Boomers" range in age from 51-69.  They are retiring at the rate of 10,000/day, a phenomena that is anticipated to continue for the next 10-12 years.   As they retire they will have less money to give and when they die their generous gifts will cease. 

On the basis of current trends evidenced among the subsequent "Busters" and "Millennials" it has been projected that there might be as much as $100 billion that will not be picked up by the current generations.  

If we fail now in engaging these generations in the kinds of creative ways that will enable essential nonprofits to flourish in this enrivornment of unprecedeted need it is anticipated that we could lose approximately 40% of all registered charities in America.  

Donor acquisition should be one of your most important priorities.   

 

 

 

 

 

Foundations--Getting Your Share?

Last year nearly $70 billion was given by charitable foundations and corporations in support of philanthropic cuases, just like yours. 

From now until December 31st, BGW Development will provide a comprehensive report for your organization identifying foundations and corporations who invite proposals that meet your organizational profile.  

Normally a fee of $89 is charged for this service but until the end of the year we are offering a 66% discount.

Get your report for $31 . . . it might be the best investment you ever made!   For more information contact: [email protected].

The Emphasis is in the Wrong Place

In over 40 years of working with schools, colleges, churches, and a wide range of other ministries around the world it has occurred to me that most emphasize the wrong things. 

We spend a lot of time talking about outputs.  We measure success in terms of numbers, how much those we serve know, how well they do, where they go when they leave, the amount of our financial reserves, and the list goes on.

And while all of these outputs may draw attention to you, they mean little if the outcomes of your work are not reflected in meaningful ways in the lives of those you served 5, 10, even 20 years later. 

I know a charitable foundation that determines whether they will give solely on the long term outcomes of those who are seeking financial support.  If you were a school seeking financial support the only two things they would ask from you initially would be (1) to see a copy of your mission statement, and (2) to get the names and contact information of those who graduated from your school ten years ago.   

They would then extrapolate from your mission statement what "they think" a graduate should look like if you fulfilled your mission.  They would survey them and determine their level of interest in support based on outcomes . . not outputs.  

Would you pass that kind of scrutiny?

Realization

I have come to a place in my approach to development that focuses on three primary “big” ideas: (1) the absolute necessity to have a clear vision in terms of how we see the future in virtually every area of our ministry, (2) the importance of planning everything, and (3) the need to organize through strategically engaging others so that we can successfully achieve our planning goals.

It's All About Execution

A non-profit client of mine recently handed me a report.   This report focused on donor development and outlined the organization’s plans to grow deeper relationships with those on their database.  

It was an impressive report.  Really. There were statistics, graphs, charts, and spreadsheets.  It was attractively designed to the point that I really wanted to read it.   But after looking at it I simply stated something like, “Great report.  Really impressive.  It will never happen.”

You see, I’ve seen lots of wonderful reports that would win prizes in terms of content.  I’ve even written many of them.  But my experience has been that few come to fruition.   I’ve come to believe that many development officers love to plan and think big thoughts.  Hours are often spent producing documents that explain in vivid detail ways in which we can change our world. The pathetic result too often is that we don’t.

The problem is not content, it’s execution. 

After 40 plus years of doing this work, it’s hard to comprehend how I’ve failed to adequately see the absolute essentiality of “organizing to implement.” 

Good organization is precise.   It involves lots of people, most of whom out of necessity will be volunteers, who are told precisely what they are being asked to do, precisely what it will require of them, precisely when it needs to be done, and who are precisely managed and held accountable by someone else.  

The reason my friend’s program would never happen is that everyone who would read it would agree that it was a remarkable plan but none of them would do little more than compliment the writer for a job well done. 

 The problem was that the plan was woefully incomplete. It is like the elephant we want (maybe even are committed) to eat but have failed to take the first bite.   

 No one told us how!

The Global Network of Fundraising Professionals

I've had the privilege of working with several thousand ministry non-profits around the world.  God has granted me opportuntiies to share in the work of some of the most incredible people; individuals committed to using their personal giftedness to serve others.  

But one of the things I've discovered is that many people like me feel lonely, even abandoned.   They love the work  but when facing challenges, they've come to learn that most of those from whom they seek help simply brush them off claiming that this is an area of work of which they know nothing.  

So development professionals often feel they have been left alone to figure things out on their own. 

The most inspiring times of my professional life are when I'm with a group of individuals who have chosen this profession.  There's a freedom to share, ask questions, encourage one another, get input from the experience of others, and to garner practical ways to apply time-honored principles of how to relationally engage others to join us on our journey.  I leave refreshed from these meetings, inspired, and comforted in the understanding that there are people in the world who truly understand the issues with which I grapple every day. 

It was for this reason that we are beginning the Global Network of Fundraising Professionals.  The goal is to engage development professionals from around the world in a community where we can share experiences, learn from one another, and engage at a totally different level that is often impossible in our daily life. 

Membership in this community is free.  

Our web home is:  www.bgwdevelopment.com.  This website is a work in progress as we seek to add new services to those in the network.  Free webinars will be offered, blogs will allow us to share ideas, and "live streamed" events will be allow all members to participate in pertinent discussions relevant to the things we do. 

In addition there are services that we will offer that have fees attached to them.  We will suggest books that you should read, you will be able to schedule personal mentoring sessions with members of our team, and even do live on-line streaming sessions with your leadership team and boards.

Our internationally recognized professional development certificaiton program will also be offered online.  This will allow development personnel the opportunity to complete the requirements of this program online at their own pace and at a price so manageable that anyone can do it.   We will be granting two professional designations, CDP (Certified Development Professional) and CCME (Certified Church Ministry Executive).

I hope you'll join our network and become a part of the bigger family of people just like you!

Giants in the Land

Twelve years ago I began to hear about the work of Adam Otremba.   

Adam was transitioning at the time from a career representing Youth for Christ in Poland.  He boldly ministered in hard times, often under the careful watch of others, and through his exemplary life led many through his words, love, and example to Jesus. 

When I met Adam at the first Leadership Forum in 2002 he was beginning a new ministry working, mentoring, supporting, and caring for younger pastors and Christian leaders.  When Adam and Mira shared their dreams,  Sue and I immediately fell in love with them and their vision.

A few years laster Adam and Mira came to America to visit us.  Shortly after his return back to Poland Adam experienced a debilitating viral brain infection that left him without memory and unable to fulfill some of his mission dreams.  

Undeterred, Mira, surrounded by friends and family, worked to make Adam comfortable.  Slowly he began to recover, still unable to remember incidents and encounters of the past.  Doctors told him that it would be unlikely he would walk again, felt assuredly that he would not talk, and simply encouraged his care giver to
keep him comfortable. 

 

I saw Adam for the first time in seven years this afternoon.   After receiving an email the night before that they were driving to see me, I could hardly wait.   

Adam walks, he talks, and he shares his love for Jesus with everyone.  I hugged him, sat down, and looked at him saying, "do you remember me?"   He replied, "No."   I told him I knew him many years before, that he had visited our home, and he was an incredible source of encourgement to me.  

I told him that I was only one of many people whose life he had touched.  I began to rehearse with him the large numbers of young people who came to faith under his ministry and how his work had changed the course of hundreds, perhaps thousands.  He has been a giant in the land and is succeeded by two godly sons who have committed their lives to God and service.

He smiled.  And while he can't remember anything that happened in the past, amazingly is English is flawless and his recall of Scripture that he had memorized years before unbelievable.   He has a ministry of praying for others, people come by regularly to talk with him, and often he'll carefully write down a Bible verse on a sheet of paper (along with the reference) and share it with them as a word from the Lord.  When he showed up in the dining room this afternoon, I think every Polish person in the room came to recognize and honor him.

I wonder if the genes of giants are passed on to those who came to faith under one's ministry?   If they do, then Poland is in good hands. 

Jerry with Mira and Adam Otremba

A Picture for the Reunion

When you are called upon to "mentor" someone, generally you think of one of those "face-to-face" encounters where you can drill down to some of the core issues that prevent us from experiencing the fulness of the life God has intended for us. 

The challenges faced at the European Leadership Forum this year are that there are more mentoring requests than time slots to fill them.   Most of my individual sessions (every meal of each day of this annual convocation) include 3-4 people.  In an effort to encourage and inspire them to greater things, I've come up with some common themes that I know everyone that works in their field of ministry faces along the way.

After talking about new trends in the world in which we live, I talk to them initially about the difference between outputs and outcomes.  For the past 30 years, foundations and individual donors have been asking questions to organizations and ministries in pursuit of a donation.  They want to know things that might validate the request for a contribution.   We tell them the things we're doing now and often, in the past, that was enough.  

The new emphasis in the world of organizational develoment is upon outcomes.  Potential donors are asking, "what would someone you are serving today look like ten years from now?'   Because there is less money to go around, funders want to be assured that their investment will yield long-term returns reflected in the transformation among those you served ten years ago!   The results are often humbling. 

So at the end of my little talk with them (which often lasts an hour or longer) I ask them to imagine that it's 2024 and we're back for a reunion.  We come back to see one another once more and to share what God has done in the previous ten years.   I assured them we would look different and I might be using a walker!   

To hear their stories has been motivating to me and has given me hope for this generation and how they will be used of God to change their world.  I suggested that we take a picture this morning of our group.   I told them, "bring it back in 2014 and we'll reflect on the conversation we had this morning."  

Here they are, take a long hard look, these people will change their world.

The Good Old Days

My wife and I have occasionally taken the time to think back about the paths of our lives.  We have reflected on the wonderful good times we have had sharing life together and often we'll reflect on some of the hard times.  

We have been involved in ministry all of our married life.  Pursuing a vision, we created a business that has enabled us to minister to others in ways neither or us could have ever imagined.   By God's unimaginable grace we have served several hundred organizations.   There have been wonderful victories in which we have been privileged to be a participant accompanied with some difficult challenges that stretched us far beyond what we felt we could endure.  

But as we've reflected on the past, which I think is a good exercise occasionally, we have remembered how those most difficult days of trial were some of the most precious times of experiencing the sufficiency of God and the depths of our love for Him and one another.  We look back at those days as some ot the best of our lives. 

Last week in Bulgaria I had the incredible privilege of talking with an older gentleman.   He had lived under the bondage of communistic control and had been a part of the underground church.   I asked him, "do you think the church is stronger today than during those years?"

His remarks were not all that surprising to me because they were reflective of our experiences.   He said, "it's different now."  He went on to explain, "in those days there was a pretty big price to pay for identifying yourself as a Christian.  We met secretly, most always with the fear of discovery.  We were extremely close, bound together in fear and love, mutually committed to reflecting the character of God to others."  His eyes began to cloud as he went on, "we studied God's Word together and we spent countless hours on our knees in prayer.   It was wonderful!"

He went on to tell me, "it's all different today.   It's easier to be a Christian these days, there's little we have to sacrifice, and meeting together isn't  at all a threat.   It doesn't seem to mean as much any more, we don't seem to 'see' as much of God's working because we don't require it as much.  Too much self-sufficiency."

As I left my time with this gentle man, I became more mindful of how God has worked in my life.  They were good days, very good days.  And while I'm not certain I want to go back to them, I'm very grateful that they are part of the tapestry of God's work in my life.   

Today I experience a tiny little bit of what this man shared with me in the small group of which I am a part.  It's an extension of my church and frankly it's where I experience what I think the "church" is all about. 

 

Breaking the Mold

Talk about church planting in most places in the world and immediately the image emerges of a building with a cross or some other identifying symbol being built in a community where there is great need. 

I sat this morning with Tudor Maracini, a "pastor" in Romania who has been used of the Lord, along with 11 others, to establish a new kind of church in some of the most needy areas in his country.   He incorporated his organization as an NGO (Non-Goverenmental Organization) to address some of the most critical unmet needs in the country, needs like homelessness, abandonment, gang violence, pervasive poverty, social injustice, and a host of others.

Tudor was able to recruit a small group of young men and women, all of whom had committed their lives to Jesus, and asked if they would be involved in helping him to proactively address some of these needs.  They met at a local coffee shop on a regular basis to pray, study Scripture, and strategize plans to be used of God in making a difference where they lived.  7 days a week they worked hand-in-hand meeting with people, serving them, loving them, and sharing the redemptive message of Jesus with them.  None were paid; they generously gave of what they had and trusted God for the rest.

Their work came to the attention of others.   Businesses chose to become involved in supporting projects, occasional grants were added to supplement the development of program initiatives, community members joined the core team in helping, and encouraging quantitative difference began to emerge.   

The program is now being replicated in 11 other areas of the country.   Change is taking place.   Tudor explained, "this is a group of believers committed to Jesus who choose to reach out together in displaying the love and mercy of God."  He went on to say, "we have no bills, we don't have a building, we are nomads of sorts in a world that look different.  We are the church! "

The changing economic environment in the world is going to require change.  "Doing things in the same way (we have always done them) and expecting different results is absurdity."   Here was one bold move made by passionate "get your hands dirty" young men and women that accommodated their desire to be involved in facilitating change.   

Maybe they understand the church better than most.   

Jerry with Romanian "pastor" Tudor Maracne