I have to admit that of all the objections to Transformational Giving, this one vexes me the second most. (The objection that vexes me the most is the one we’ll be covering tomorrow. Stay tuned.)

I think the reason why some people assume Transformational Giving takes longer to produce results than traditional/transactional giving is because of Misconception 1, which we dealt with yesterday; namely, the idea that in Transformational Giving we don’t talk about money.

It’s definitely true that if you don’t talk about money, you’re typically going to be waiting an awful long time to see the champion grow in their giving in relation to the cause. As we shared yesterday, we talk plenty about money in TG, perhaps even more than in traditional/transaction fundraising.

(As often as we write it, we need an abbreviation for traditional/transactional fundraising. How about ttf?)

Where TG differs from ttf when it comes to talking about money is that in TG the relationship and the conversations within it are not driven by–nor initiated because of–the intersection of our funding need and the champion’s comfort level.

Instead, the relationship is:

• a mutual accountability relationship
• with an individual in our sphere of influence
• in which together we seek out the fullness of what the Scripture calls us toward in relation to the cause
• and we hold each other accountable to take specific and comprehensive growth steps toward that fullness.

Contrast that with ttf, where we’re dealing with:

• building a ‘friendraising’ relationship (think golf/fishing/birthday cards)
• with a total stranger (aka a ‘qualified prospect’–after all, we wouldn’t dare pull this on people we’re actually friends with)
• in which we make appeals for funds based on us convincing the ‘prospect’ that what we ourselves consider important should actually now be important enough to him or her to hand us money
• and, if he or she does respond, we offer profuse thanks (as if we’ve just been done a big favor)…and we begin the process of asking for a bigger gift.

Explain to me again how TG takes longer to see results?