Who raises your support?

Who defeated Goliath?

Then David said to [Goliath], "You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head." (1 Samuel 17:45-46a ESV)

Who sold Joseph into slavery?

Joseph said to [his brothers], "Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today." (Genesis 50:19-20 ESV)

Who killed Jesus?

"Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know - this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men." (Acts 2:22-23 ESV)

Who is responsible for your sanctification?

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12-13 ESV)

Who raises your support?

How thanklessness destroys you

Fundraiser beware: thanklessness will destroy you.

Do you think about thanklessness as being that dangerous? Paul thinks it is:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools... (Romans 1:18-22)

That passage precedes a long, scary list of ways in which men become increasingly wicked and concludes with the terrible judgment that "those who practice such things deserve to die." Yikes! How did things get that bad?

It all began because God made Himself plainly known and clearly perceivable but we (mankind) chose to overlook those evidences. In other words, man did not come to wrong conclusions about God because of insufficient evidence; rather, we saw the evidence and purposefully threw it out. A wise individual would have observed the evidence, declared it good (as God had), and further declared that the Maker of All Things was worthy of both honor and thanks. Tragically, neither were offered. Though we claimed to be wise, we were rather shown to be fools! God, in His just and fitting judgment, gave us over to our foolishness. The downward spiral had begun and its end is our destruction.

Those who are in Christ have been rescued from that end (hallelujah!), but our temptation will be to start down that same path time and time again. With that in mind, humbly consider the following questions:

• Are you thankful for the state of your fundraising or do you complain about what you lack?
• Do you praise God for what He has provided, whether you're fully-funded, somewhat-funded or barely-funded?
• Do you thank God for your donors who give little as well as those who give much?
• Do you thank God for people who decline to give?

If the answers to these questions reveal a heart struggling to be thankful, consider spending some time in Romans to remind yourself of who you are, of who your Savior is, and of the wonderful mercies He's shown you. Let thankfulness for these things wash over you. Then, with this correct perspective toward the Lord, be both a spectator and participant in His grace as you continue with your fundraising.

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you. (Phil 3:1)

The End of Yourself

There are many things in life that can bring you to the end of yourself.

A terrible boss. Chronic health issues. Long bouts of depression. A failing marriage. A rebellious child. Ongoing addictions. Relentless sin struggles. Deep loneliness. And, of course, fundraising.

If even one of these is weighing on you, you might find yourself struggling to get out of bed in the morning. If two or more are affecting you, you may come to believe that you just can't do it anymore.

Your heart will cry out for relief. Your mind, in those rare occasions where you can think clearly, will be racing to come up with a way to escape. As option after option falls away, you are overcome with despair and cry out even more. It's a deeply painful downward spiral.

If you've never felt that way, just wait - so long as you live long enough, you will.

Yet there is hope. Not wishful thinking hope. Not "it'll all work out" romantic-comedy hope. Not even "God works all things together for good so chin up!" hope. This better hope lies before you, clear as day, but it requires making a choice.

The path you've been walking down thus far has not offered any options. You don't want to be on this road, but you've had little control over the things that have brought you to this point. Yet before you lies a fork in the road with two paths to choose from.

The first path is marked, "The End of Yourself". That path leads to you giving in. It means quitting your job. Or refusing to leave your bed. It means getting a divorce or abandoning your family. It results in offering yourself to your addictions and embracing your sin. It could mean giving up on the fundraising you've worked so hard at. Regardless of what it looks like, that path leads to you making your last stand. You will take control of something. It is the worst of all scenarios, but at least you had some say in it.

But there is another path. Strangely, it too is marked, "The End of Yourself", and it too leads to you giving in. You can't see as far down the path, so the details are hazy, but what is clear is that despair has no place there. Yes, you see pain, as it is obviously not an easy path, and it seems that you may or may not actually quit your job or get healthy or have an easy marriage or finish fundraising. But there are others there and they seem okay. Your addictions will still pull at you along the way and sin will gain a foothold more often than you'd like or expect, but it will never win. This path is not pretty, but it is infinitely better than the first path.

Consider now the words of the Apostle Paul, a man intimately familiar with the second path:

For I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
(Philippians 4:11-13 ESV)

Paul tells us that down that second path is where we'll discover the gospel. Those who run down either path will shout together, "I can do all things!" But only those heading down the second path will finish with, "through him, my Savior, my God, who strengthens me!"

The gospel tells us that while we were yet sinners, dead in our transgressions and sins, being altogether foolish, disobedient and deceived slaves, Jesus died for us (Rom 5:8, Eph 2:1, Titus 3:3). When we were at our absolute worst, without any hope in the world, God Himself came and rescued us. Nor was this just a once and done rescue - Jesus is still working that same power in the lives of all those who put their trust in Him.

That power is the hope our hearts are crying for. It's a reminder that Jesus came at our most desperate moment and it's a reminder that He has never left our side. He will be there again at our next most desperate moment, as well as the one after that and the one after that. Each time it will require coming to the end of yourself, but you find discover that you can do all things through Him who strengthens you.

Some day you will come to the end of yourself, but remember that it is not the end of the journey. In fact, it could be just the beginning.

Don't forget the rest of us

Years ago a new donor said something to me that didn't make sense at the time. This donor, who I'll call Jim, had just finished writing a check. As he handed it to me, he said, "Don't forget the rest of us."

What did he mean?

Jim was a hard-working guy whose business was doing okay - not bad, not great. He cared well for his wife and children, paid his taxes, served in his church, reached out to his neighbors and supported missions. Jim believed in the work God had called me to and wanted to help. In many ways, Jim was an "average" donor. And that's the key to understanding his comment.

Jim knew that fundraisers had a difficult, humbling and time-consuming job. He knew that I would experience ups and downs, joy and sorrow, times of plenty and times of want.

In other words, I'd be just like Jim.

"Don't forget the rest of us."

As I honestly evaluate my own heart over the past 10+ years of fundraising, I realize how important his words are and how easily I forget them. Yes, fundraising is hard. So is what everyone else does. Yes, I can get lonely. Does anyone not? There are times when I want to quit and do something else. Once again, that doesn't make me special. It doesn't matter who you are or what you do: you need to be reminded of the gospel constantly - just like everyone else.

This blog is written for fundraisers by a fundraiser. It's written because I know firsthand the struggles that come with fundraising and I also know firsthand the grace that comes with Jesus Christ. So please don't hear me saying, "Suck it up... everyone else struggles too."

Rather, hear me saying, "Don't forget the rest of us."

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.(Philippians 2:3 ESV)

I hate the phone

I hate using the phone.

Okay, so hate is too strong a word. But many of you know exactly what I mean. It just seems so impersonal. I'd much rather talk with someone face to face. There are a lot of visual cues you simply can't get using the phone. Besides, most people these days have cell phones, which results in increased call latency, dropped calls and, perhaps worst of all, speakerphone!

Like I said... I hate using the phone.

But maybe you're different. Perhaps you don't mind the phone, but you hate email. Your inbox easily gets out of control, you lose track of emails donors have sent, you worry about being misinterpreted because email lacks tone of voice, etc.

Or maybe you don't like Facebook. It's almost all pictures of babies, political memes and ad-saturated kids' games anyway.

Or it could be that you're fine with all things digital, but writing thank-you notes takes FOR-E-VER. Why can't all your donors simply join Facebook so you can thank them that way?

Now, there's nothing wrong with having preferences about communication methods. Even strong preferences are fine. But we trip up when we're unwilling to lay down those preferences...

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3-4 ESV)

I hate using the phone, but many of my donors love when I call. I personally enjoy using email, but some of my donors don't. I don't do a whole lot with Facebook, but if I can spend 10 minutes reading over a donor's timeline so I know how to better encourage and pray for them, that's time well spent.

Why should we lay down our preferences like that? Because Jesus loved us even though He didn't have to (and in fact had good reason not to.) He was perfectly happy spending eternity with the Father and Spirit before we came along. When we did arrive on the scene, it wasn't very long before we messed everything up. Yet did Jesus hold back any of His preferences or display any selfishness in His dealings with us? "Though He was in the form of God, [He] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself." (Philippians 2:6-7 ESV)

Be encouraged! Those verses mean that every time you go outside your comfort zone in an email and every time I pick up the phone to call someone, we are modeling Christ to them - whether they know it or not. And even if they don't know it, Jesus does. (Matthew 25:40, Luke 6:35)

I still hate the phone, but I use it to love my donors because Jesus loved me far more.

That's worth a phone call, I think.

They want to give!

God loves you. A lot.

He doesn't love you because He has to. He loves you because He wants to.

In that way, your donor team images God:

And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. (Philippians 4:15-16 ESV)

Your donors want to give.

They don't do it because they have to. They do it because they want to.

Let that sink in...

They want to give.

They want to give to you.

So find them.  Let them.

I can do better than this!

A few years ago while on a fundraising appointment, someone offered me a job.

While honored and somewhat surprised, I wasn't at all prepared for what they told me next: what I'd be paid if I accepted. It was a lot. Definitely more than I was making at the time (and still!)

While I did briefly consider it, I decided not to take the offer. (I was already assigned a mission and didn't think God was leading me elsewhere yet.) But the allure of the offer stuck with me for a while. After all, I could certainly use a bigger paycheck! I could save more, give more, help more and enjoy more! Plus, if I accepted, I'd have more free evenings and weekends rather than filling those times with fundraising... where I'm often rejected and ignored by those I'm trying to reach... and I'm only fundraising so that I can spend my future doing ministry... where I'll often be rejected and ignored by those I'm trying to reach...

"I can do better than this," I thought.

However, the truth is that there have been many, many people - far more skilled and vocationally valuable than me - who have turned down fantastic jobs and much higher paychecks in order to serve the Lord Jesus. And many of them did/do fundraising.

There are lawyers, doctors, CEOs, business consultants, real estate agents, software architects, professional speakers, college professors, air traffic controllers, nuclear engineers, physicists, home builders, politicians and countless others who have traded in their status and paychecks in order to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So why'd they do it? The Apostle Paul tells us:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8 ESV)

Jesus deserved more recognition, more pay and more glory than the greatest of all professionals. Yet He emptied Himself. He humiliated Himself. He put on mortal flesh. Then He let us take that flesh from Him on a Roman cross.

So why'd He do it? Paul goes on:

Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
(Philippians 2:9-11 ESV)

Jesus didn't surrender all rights to glory; He delayed it for something better than this world had to offer.

Fundraiser, you are called to surrender much - just as your Savior did.

You are called to empty yourself so that others might have life in Christ - just as your Savior did.

And someday you will be called to reign in glory - just as your Savior did.

So the next time you find yourself yearning for a high-paying job that promises that you'll never have to empty yourself, remember what your Savior did. And also remember Romans 8:18: "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." This world's sufferings are small. This world has nothing better to offer.

You can do better than this!

A better routine

When I was still new at fundraising, I developed an unhelpful routine for evenings on which I'd make support calls.  My goal was to be on the phone with my contacts between 7-9pm, but it often went something more like this:

• 6:00-6:30p: Fearfully recognize that I needed to make calls that night.  Worry about it.  Clean my desk to distract myself.
• 6:30-7:00p: Eat dinner while watching The Simpsons.
• 7:00-7:30p: Sit down to make calls.  Find things to do other than making calls (check email, clean my desk, etc.)
• 7:30-7:32p: Make my first call, leave a message.
• 7:32-8:30p: Feel bad for myself because no one ever picks up.  Check email a few more times.  Clean my desk.
• 8:30-8:32p: Make my second call, leave a message.
• 8:32-8:35p: Stare at the clock, waiting for 9pm to roll around so that I could justify being done for the night.
• 8:35p: Figure that it was getting pretty close to 9pm after all, and I should call it a night.  Better luck tomorrow...

While that 7:30-8:30p timeframe might not represent every night of calls, it was the case more often than I wish it were.  I suspect I could have been done with my fundraising months earlier if it were not for this repeated routine.

So what happened?  At what point that day had my vision for serving my Savior and sharing Him with the world morphed into that epic display of Shakespearean-tragedy-level procrastination?

I believe it started, in this case, right around 6:01pm.  That's because at 6:00pm I'd realized a fear within myself: "it's almost time to do the scary phone calls!"  Within 60 seconds, I'd have already chosen how I'd deal with it: avoid it.  So it's no surprise that "avoiding it" characterized the rest of the night.

But what else could I have done instead?  Thankfully, Philippians answers that for us:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Philippians 4:6-8 ESV)

That's about as far from what I'd chosen to do as could be imagined.  Instead of running away in fear, this passage gives me a better routine.

It tells me to prayerfully and gratefully talk to God about what I want.  The result is God's peace - peace that is so beyond me that it's literally incomprehensible - guarding my heart and mind which are otherwise so fearful.

It tells me to fill my mind with true, honorable, beautiful, excellent and praiseworthy things!  The Simpsons is great and all, but why not meditate on the amazing promises of Scripture instead?  Spending time catching up on Facebook is fine, but why not rather prepare for the task ahead by filling my mind with a Biblically-focused sermon or book or blog?

Lastly, it tells me to consider the way in which my heart and mind are guarded: in Christ Jesus.  The reason my heart is guarded rather than justly attacked is because Jesus paid the full penalty for my sin and is now interceding for me before the Father (Romans 8:34).  The reason my mind is guarded rather than eternally condemned is because God graciously chose me despite my disobedience (Ephesians 2:1-5).  These gospel truths are part of my salvation testimony - and yours - and the reason we're doing fundraising is because God is going to use us and these gospel truths to become part of others' salvation testimonies.

So don't be anxious, friends, and don't avoid the phone calls like I did.  Choose a better routine: bring your fears to God, consider more excellent things than TV and Facebook, and then share the gospel by picking up the phone and telling the person on the other side about the powerful work God has done - and will do again.