Do the Word

E stands for Engagement, which is the second progression champions pass through on the way to full maturity in the cause.

The first step, Participation (P), should be thought of as paving the way for Engagement. The third step, Ownership (O), should be thought of as flowing naturally from it. In other words, Engagement is the sine qua non of Transformational Giving.

Champions are recruited into a cause through Participation (P) in a cause-related project. Good Signature Participation Projects are:

• short-term
• high touch
• high yield
• understandable without external reference
• synecdochic

That last piece is really the key: Like Russian nesting dolls, every good Participation activity must have a little E inside it.

Engagement is different from Participation by kind, not degree. That is, Participation, Engagement, and Ownership should never be thought of as lukewarm, heating up, and on fire for the cause.

Or, stated differently:

P + P + P + P ≠ E

Engagement is the phase of transformation wherein a champion comes to grasp the cause in all its fullness, making an explicit commitment, often at the invitation of a coach, to grow comprehensively in the likeness of Christ in relation to the cause, as guided by the scriptures under the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

Whereas at the Participation level the focus is the project, at the Engagement level the focus is the champion. The champion isn’t just doing stuff. The champion is being changed–maturing into the image of Christ:

• The Bible defines what comprehensive maturity in Christ in relation to the cause looks like;
• The Holy Spirit empowers the process;
• The coach assists the champion in the ongoing discernment of both of the above.

I used to say that whereas Participation was about project, Engagement was about lifestyle. That’s true, but incomplete. Engagement is really about self-identity. It’s about learning to reflect the fullness of Christ in relation to the cause. At the P level, the nonprofit/coach gives me meaningful stuff to do. At the E level, the nonprofit/coach holds up the image of Christ and invites me to let the Holy Spirit mirror it through me.

Big difference.

And a person doesn’t fall into Engagement. When you cross that threshhold, it’s because you’re choosing to do so, almost always in a moment of great resolution and transformation (and, not infrequently, travail).

In fact, the P to E move looks exactly like this:

1One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,[a]with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 2he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down[b] the nets for a catch.”

5Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” 11So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

An interesting thing happens when we cross over from P to E:

Learning more about the cause, we wonder whether we set the cause back by doing P in the first place.

More on this in our next post.

I and my Mission Increase Foundation Giving and Training Officer posse are hotly and heavily planning now for what I have the sneaking suspicion will be the most important workshop in last three years in the development of Transformational Giving, namely:

A January 2010 workshop on Engagement.

I think the Engagement workshop will be even more seminal than the newly updated Transformational Giving (TG) seminar (now on DVD) and the Coach Your Champions book, and here’s why:

The TG seminar and the Coach Your Champions book are TG through and through, and yet both have diggable nuggets that can be dislodged and applied by nonprofits that are still straddling the great gulf between traditional transactional fundraising (ttf) and TG.

Engagement, on the other hand, is a thoroughly crazy body of practice that no one in their right ttf mind would contemplate. To do the kinds of things we’re going to advocate you do in Engagement, you have to have the Apostle Thomas level of commitment to TG:

Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

To plunge into Engagement with your champions is to drink the TG Kool-Aid without a sippy cup lid. I’ve seen ttf devotees who profess interest in Signature Participation Projects and the Realm of P. I’ve even had chats with ttf’ers who nod in agreement when I talk about Ownership, Replication and the Realm of O.

But I’ve never seen a ttf practitioner be able to avoid making the Bill the Cat face when we talk about Engagement.

That’s because Engagement is the sine qua non of Transformational Giving, which is the fancy Latin way of saying that unless we’re doing Engagement as the central element of our development program, we’re really not doing TG.

Much of the cool stuff we’ll be saving for the Engagement workshop. But in the interest of spilling a bean or two, I’ll be devoting my posts over the next two weeks to sharing a thing or two about Engagement, the best and most distinctive part of TG.

We’ll start Monday by asking the crucial core question:

Um, which one is “E” anyway?

China Inland Mission founder Hudson Taylor famously said, “God’s work, done God’s way, will never lack God’s supply.”

This is one of the most commonly cited quotes among Christian organizations when it comes to their fundraising, and it is one of my favorite quotes as well…though for a different reason.

Taylor’s quote is typically understood to mean, “If we just stay faithful to doing the ministry God has given us, we’ll have enough money to pay the bills.”

But notice that’s not quite what Taylor said.

It’s the final phrase that’s the kicker:

God’s supply.

Whoever said that God supplies in clean, crisp, unmarked hundred dollar bills?

A quick check of the Old and the New Testaments reveals surprisingly few occasions where God, like a gracious grandparent commemorating a birthday, sends cash.

One could certainly protest that this is because in Bible times cash was a rarity. But really now…

There’s a common thread that runs through all God’s giving, namely:

When God gives a gift, the recipient must be transformed in order to be able to receive it.

In fact, you’d almost think that what God was seeking to accomplish through His giving was not only provision but transformation…

Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Mt 7:9-11)

I suspect one of the grave ways we impoverish ourselves as missionaries and nonprofit ministry organizations is that our engines run only on cash; every other kind of gift (and here I’m not talking only about gifts-in-kind but people, especially the various and sundry kind, offering themselves as if they were treasure–the audacity!) just seems to choke the motor.

Taylor’s promise was not that God’s work, done God’s way, will never lack for our supply. Rather, his contention was that God would supply as a good Father giving good gifts to His children. Kids always want cash, but sometimes parents know that other gifts are far more needed by their children.

Think through the scriptures at the gifts God gave, and how each one required an “engine conversion” for the recipient to be able to run on it.

Think through the gifts God has given your ministry–and is continuing to give your ministry–and ask yourself, “What kind of ‘engine conversion'”–i.e., personal and corporate transformation–“is God calling me/us to in order to be able to ‘run’ on this…without growing weary?”

That kind of approach might lead us to suspect that in the midst of recession there’s really no downturn in giving at all…