Participation–especially how to develop a Signature Participation Project for your organization–is one of the most frequent inquiries we receive on this site. So we write about it a lot.

Engagement was the subject of literally a half-month’s worth of posts on the site last year. (A good place to dig in if you haven’t yet read those is right here.)

But Ownership? As the culmination and intended end and purpose of the Transformational Giving journey of each individual champion–you know, we don’t write about it as much as we should.

So I was especially delighted to happen across the following insight from D. Michael Henderson, one of my favorite authors. Please–buy everything he wrote (which would be the top three books in the search; the nephrology thing is definitely not the same guy). You’ll be the better Transformational Giving practitioner for it. Mike formally writes about discipleship and wouldn’t likely have heard about TG, but darn near everything he writes in these books is better TG material than I produce.

In The Ladder of Faithfulness (a book so short you’ll be able to read it on your lunch break the day you receive it), Mike captures the essence of what we want to convey about ownership in the Transformational Giving process:

There is a certain threshold of spiritual maturity one cannot cross without getting involved in others’ spiritual growth. Followers of Jesus can attain a certain level of spiritual growth by studying the Bible, listening to sermons, praying, and attending classes. However, they will not move ‘up the ladder’ of spiritual formation by focusing on themselves. At some point, they must take responsibility for others’ growth. As they become channels of grace to others, that same grace will transform their own lives and characters

A channel of grace to others in the cause God has given you to champion–with that grace continuing to transform your own life in the process: That is the definition of Ownership in Transformational Giving!