Do the Word

Sigh.

You know my recurring rant:

Christian nonprofits, by virtue of what we ought to know from reading the Scriptures–everything from networking (cf. Body of Christ) to comprehensive involvement (cf. discipleship)–ought to be setting the pace for secular nonprofits to follow along behind jealously.

But this isn’t happening…because we Christian nonprofits are too busy jealously and fearfully following along behind secular nonprofits, copying the traditional transactional fundraising strategies that they are jettisoning…in favor of the very strategies we Christian nonprofits ought to already have been practicing.

I almost suspect on my most suspicious days that it’s because we Christian nonprofits don’t read or apply the Scriptures to our development efforts nearly as seriously or as boldly or as comprehensively or as faithfully as we should.

Anyway, my sigh today is prompted by a forthcoming secular nonprofit website, Jumo, being launched by Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, who also directed online organizing for the Obama campaign in 2008.

Just see if any of this sounds familiar (i.e., things we’ve been teaching Christian nonprofits for the last several years; not that Hughes has been secretly listening in, but this stuff is just in the air, friend!). Says Hughes:

We are trying to re-imagine how individuals connect to organizations that are working the change the world on the Web…

You mean, connect differently than donor “pins” stuck into a nonprofit “pin cushion” where the key relationship is the financial transaction between the donor and the nonprofit?

The goal with Jumo, said Hughes, is to create longer-term relationships between people and causes.

Connecting people with causes, with nonprofits serving as the platform? But if you don’t treat people like human ATM machines, how will they ever remember to write checks?

“If you can help people discover and truly connect with these organizations and issues, then that is where you really open up a whole set of resources that were previously inaccessible. That is a very different experience from seeing an organization that you already know and giving them $10 bucks,” he said.

But donors are a simple lot, right? If you do anything more than ask them to write a check for the urgent need of the month, they just get get all confused and fold up into a fetal position, don’t they?

From the Obama campaign, Hughes learned that “people want to engage in a more substantive level, if you just open up the information channels,” he said. While the Obama campaign helped enlist voters through the Web in an unprecedented manner, non-profits outside of politics haven’t been able to easily replicate that experience.

But that’s why all the forward-thinking Christian ministries are getting on Facebook Causes, correct?

There have been other attempts to bring social issues into the world of social networking. Among them is Causes, a Facebook application that is popular among non-profits. “Causes does a good job of enabling people to either give some money or to raise some money for a non-profit they already know about,” said Hughes. But to help make deeper connections – and more of a difference – will take a whole new freestanding site, he said.

I’m having an Isaiah 45:4-6 moment, recognizing that God can’t get His own people to embrace and practice biblical champion development strategies because they’re so afraid of running out of money that He turns to Democratic presidential campaigns and secular nonprofit organizations to raise up the principles instead. Fortunately Christian organizations won’t have to wait long to jump on the Jumo bandwagon:

Jumo, which has an informational site up today but will launch in September or October, will help people find out about new organizations and other issues, as well as donate money and skills. He hopes the free site will be particularly useful to organizations that aren’t large enough to hire new media staff of their own.

Donating money and skills as two sides of the same coin. Sigh. Who would have ever thought of that from reading the Scriptures?

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!

Let me get personal with you about your giving and my giving as we conclude this series on Donors and Their New Adventures in Giving.

When I read about Toby Ord, the Oxford prof who made headlines in England recently for his pledge to give away a million pounds in his lifetime, my first thought was, “Wow–I bet he’s the only philosophy prof in the world named Toby.”

My second thought was slightly deeper.

Professor Ord calculated the amount he is likely to give away to charity in his lifetime.

Have you ever done that?

Now let me hasten to note two important things:

1. I think the amount someone gives to charity is irrelevant. I think the percentage of income someone gives to charity is key–along with the comprehensiveness of the causes to which they give (i.e., are they giving only to their area of passion, or does their giving reflect the breadth of God’s concern as identified in the Scriptures?) and the maturity reflected in their giving.
2. Luke 12:20 keeps bouncing through my mind as I write this. Bear with me for a sec; I’m after a thought exercise here, not a personal legacy seminar.

So my question remains:

Have you ever calculated the amount you are on track to give to charity from now to the end of your lifetime, should Jesus tarry and you tarry and your income tarry at about the same level it’s currently tarrying at?

The reason I ask is that even for most ordinary Westerners, given our comparatively high standards of living, it’s amazing how close we will come to giving away a million dollars–or, in some cases, considerably more–in our lifetimes simply by being faithful to basic biblical giving principles.

That being the case, is it fair for me to ask:

What are you seeking to accomplish–what are you called to accomplish–through that million-odd dollars of giving…and are you on track to accomplish that? And if not, what changes are necessary to bring you on track?

I can’t shake the picture of sitting down with Jesus when it’s all said and done and having Him sift through a manila folder busting at the seams with receipts from the nonprofits to whom I’ve given. His brow is furrowed, lips pursed, as he thoughtfully reviews first one receipt and then another. He turns to me and cocks His head, pausing before He speaks. At last, He says–gently, but inquiringly:

“So I gave you a million dollars to invest for My purposes…and this is how you distributed it?”

“Um…yes, Lord,” I reply. “I gave when people shared really compelling needs and proved themselves credible to accomplish impactful outcomes.”

He stares at me blankly. Blinks. Then returns to perusing the receipts.

And how will you invest the million dollars He’s given to you to accomplish His purposes?