The Lausanne Global Conversation is on the World Wide Open Network
Author: Sas Conradie
Date: 11.07.2012
Category: Resource Mobilization
To facilitate a truly global conversation, we ask Christian leaders from around the world to respond to the Global Conversation’s lead articles. These points of view do not necessarily represent the Lausanne Movement. They are designed to stimulate discussion from all points of the compass and from different segments of the Christian community. Please add your perspective by posting a comment so that we can learn and grow together in the unity of the Spirit.
A response to Rob Martin’s article: From A Wallet In The Purse of the Bride
One of my favourite programs on television is ‘The Apprentice’ where a number of contestants compete to be appointed as a prominent business person’s trainee. The contestants engage in different business related tasks after which one is fired from the losing team. A final winner is selected when all the others had been fired. In the UK they changed the format so that young entrepreneurs compete for £250,000 investment in a business venture. The money is invested by Lord Alan Sugar who gives it from his own wealth. He then owns 50% of the winning business venture. There are wonderful nuggets as contestants try to market themselves and then argue with Lord Sugar why they should be selected. My favourite quote of the program was during such an argument when Lord Sugar replied ‘and by the way it is my money and I will decide how to spend it’.
This is how ministry leaders often feel when asking for money. They have to compete with others to convince donors to give them a coveted donation. This creates exactly the overdog-underdog relationship that Rob Martin describes in his blog. In the end it is the donor (or in the case with foundations often program officers) who has the money and he/she will decide how to spend it. The result is a feeling of helplessness from the ministry leaders because the donor controls the giving. He/she made the money and as in the case of Lord Sugar can decide to whom to give it to. This can create enormous tension between ministry leaders who apply for funding and givers who control the purse strings. As Rob mentions ministries manipulate information just to get a donation that quite often is needed to help them survive as ministry. One of the contestants in this year’s Apprentice said ‘I’m right at the top of the food chain. I truly am the reflection of perfection’. I expect that ministries would not use these exact words when they ask for funding. However how often this is implied in funding proposals to show that a certain ministry deserves the donation?!
In nearly every generosity consultation and most discussions I had been involved in the past few months this tension came to the surface. Gilles Gravelle argues for a partnership between donors and funding recipients in his excellent guide to build effective 21st century relationships between donors and ministries[1]. However ministry leaders complain that even this form of partnership is a form of control since they have to pamper donors during visits which then take their attention away from ministry needs. And there is always a fear that donors can tell the ministries what to do. And that is an area that ministry leaders control!
Rob’s perspective on the mutuality between donors and ministries (funding recipients) as a communion of giving and receiving is for me a corrective on the partnership model. In the partnership model the funding remains with the donor and the ministry control with the ministry leader. In a communion of giving and receiving these controls have to fall away:
I want to call for a Body of Christ theology when we think about the relationship between donors and ministries as funding recipients. The Lausanne Standards as a series of guided conversations between donors and ministry leaders is in my view important steps towards such a Body of Christ paradigm. It is a starting point of a process for donors and ministries to understand themselves as co-workers and co-stewards. The difference between ‘them’ and ‘us’ will have to fall away. If that is the intention the conversations become an exciting journey to jointly discover God’s purposes for our mutual ministry. Then trust and accountability will be automatically developed as different parts of the same Body join in one fellowship. Such a journey will have to be transformative to both donors and ministries!
Dr. Sas Conradie Is Coordinator of the Global Generosity Network
[1] Gravelle, Gilles: ‘The Age of Global Giving: A practical guide for the donors and funding recipients of our time’, (Gilles Gravelle:2011)
Keywords: Lausanne, Sas Conradie, Resource Mobilization, donations, donors, giving, generosity, partnership, mutuality, Lausanne Standards
Views: 3163
Comments: 3
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Conversation Post Comment
United States
Sas,
You and Rob Martin make helpful points. Still, the one area of generosity that we don’t hear enough about is the degree of beneficial impact of giving generously. A donor may give very generously in accordance with the exhortations by others to do so. But how do they know if their giving is having significant positive impact? Many of today’s donors are hardened to the "be more generous" message, because they are reticent to give without some assurance that recipients will use it well. Give generously and intelligently is a more complete appeal.
Thanks for your simulating thoughts!
20.07.2012
United Kingdom
@ Gilles:
Dear Gilles
Thank you for the comment. I agree with you about the importance of giving intelligently.
Rob mentioned in his blog that trust and accountabilty are the two major obstacles in discussions between donors and ministries who receive funding. Ministries are very relational orientated and donors are much more impact orientated. That is why we need more examples of successful collaboration between donors and ministries who jointly develop relationships and impact criteria. It should be part of the journey to supporting an initiative.
I am actually very passionate about giving more intelligently and strategically. I wrote a paper addressing this theme that is in the form of a powerpoint presentation with the title ’The Global Context of Stewardship’. The presentation is one of the resources on the Conversation (search for the title in the ’Resources’ heading). Another good presentation by Daniel Rickett and Bob Morrison on measuring ministry impact is also available as resource on the Conversation (search for measuring impact).
I also posted a graph on a possible funding plumbing. You will see my suggestion that donors need to work much closer with mission movements/partnerships in getting a shared picture of needs that can then be addressed through shared planning out of which shared projects could be developed. A review group can then look at these projects for financial, context and project quality control. In the process the project can be improved that will achieve increased outcomes. Approved projects can be submitted to donors. This is one of the intermediary processes that you described in your guide (The Age of Global Giving). We tried this before but unfortunately we did not receive much interest from donors. This is pa
As you can gather from Rob’s blog and this comment, we need a much more in depth on how trust and accountability between donors and funding recipients. Perhaps we can have a telephonic conversation about it. My e-mail address is sas.conradie@cms-uk.org.
Greetings
Sas
23.07.2012
Germany
@ Sas_Conradie:
@ Gilles and Sas,
thanks for all the comments about giving and receiving in ministry. I agree it is sometimes a touchy issue yet the Bible talks very often about money and resources.
Just yesterday I read the parable of the growing seed in Mark 4 (see. text below) and a few thoughts came to my mind that I would like to share.
The Parable of the Growing Seed
26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
Gilles comment: "But how do they know if their giving is having significant positive impact?"
I would like to raise the question: Who determines what is a significant impact ?
Are we giving to people, courses, ministries or the God?
Can’t we believe that if we truely give our(rather HIS) moeny back to him that HE will take care that the ’grain’ will produce fruit and many times it will be just like in the parable ..’tough he does not know how’!
It seems like that there is a competition game going on these days who can talk and present the ’most significant ministry’
Let us not forget it is and always has been God’s business that we work for and help funding. The principle in God’s business and kingdom go sometimes against our worldy management strategies in ministry.
Otherwise how do we explain what significance had the "two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents" that the poor widow put into the temple treasury?
greetings
Thomas
27.07.2012
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