Do the Word

I’m still exulting over the lead my Generous Mind man Jon Hirst gave me yesterday, forwarding me a copy of the free Masterful Mentoring e-newsletter from Triple Creek Associates, specialists in open mentoring to the corporate world.

(Why, oh why, are we consistently behind the corporate world in principles that we Christians once knew but increasingly neglect? I suspect on my worst days that I might learn more about biblical discipleship working for Quiznos or Kinkos or Cheerios than a church, since churches are still imitating the business practices that corporations are now eschewing, and corporations are blind squirrels stumbling onto biblical nuts with astonishing frequency these days. But I digress.)

Anyway, this month’s Masterful Mentoring e-newsletter focuses on generational impact on mentoring. Well worth a thorough read; absolutely relevant to Transformational Giving from beginning to end. By far and away the highlight is a chart summarizing the core elements of each generation’s understanding of mentoring:

I’m already overlaying this in my mind on top of the behavior and outlook of different champions I’m coaching from different generations, and I’m liking how it’s helping me to understand certain behaviors and attitudes I’ve observed.

For example, I’m realizing I’ve got to be cognizant with Millennial mentees that their default is to view my mentoring as situational, transactional, and temporary. That definitely squares with my experience, but I’d not yet recognized it as a generational characteristic. I’d always thought it was a character shortcoming in the specific young people with whom I was dealing. “Where’s their commitment?” I’d roar. “How can they tell me one day they’ll give their life for this cause, and then the next day they’ve found another cause to devote their lives to?”

I’m also seeing aspects of Baby Boomers’ and Generation X’s understanding of mentoring that gives me hope that we can engage these groups more constructively through Transformational Giving (TG) than has been possible through traditional/transactional fundraising (ttf), where these groups have hardly distinguished themselves by their commitment.

Finally, I see why many of the older TG practitioners I mentor doubt they can mentor their long-distance champions. As the chart indicates, Traditionalists believe mentoring only happens face to face. I hope they’ll check out the post from yesterday for an alternate take.

Worth asking yourself: Do you fit into your generation’s view on mentoring in the chart above? And does the chart help you to gain any insights that may be useful in shaping your champion coaching program with champions of various ages?

“I love TG, but we’re an international ministry [or I’m a missionary heading to the field] and my champions aren’t local. How can I coach them?”

It’s a valid, vital question and one I receive a lot.

That’s why I was flat-out thrilled when my Generous Mind man Jon Hirst turned me on to the Masterful Mentoring free e-newsletter produced by Triple Creek Associates.

(I always direct TG practitioners to steer clear of fundraising books and towards books on coaching and mentoring, as well as the scriptures. TG has far more in common with the latter disciplines than with the former.)

TCA’s February 09 e-newsletter is all about mentoring at a distance.

If you’re even remotely serious (or even just curious) about coaching your champions at a distance, you’ve got to read the whole piece. I myself am going to print it out and tape it to my forehead. There are unusually good practice exercises and reflection questions, as well as counsel on identifying and overcoming potential challenges and trouble spots that distance mentoring typically trips over, and strategies for strengthening distance mentoring.

The best part of the e-newsletter, however, are the detailed meeting guidelines by proximity. Take a second and drool over this chart with me:

Where has this chart been all my life???

Thanks for the lead, Jon. You are truly a Generous Mind.

I loved Kristin Ivie’s whole piece on millenial activitism (Is it activism 2.0 or slacktivism?). It’s worth reading in its entirety, but she definitely buries the lead:

Research on what motivates people to give shows that people are more likely to give when there is a difficult event or action required along with the donation.

Let that sink in just a bit.

Research–you know, not anecdotes or common sense or “what we’ve always done”–proves that when you require that champions perform a difficult action in addition to sending in a gift, they are more likely to give than when you just ask them to cut a check.

What pops immediately to my mind are missionaries who present their polished PowerPoint presentations in churches and, when asked by teary-eyed congregation members, “What can we do?”, they reply:

The most important thing I need is your prayers.

Hm.

Dear missionary friend, do you realize that the next time you present your polished PowerPoint presentation in churches, when you are asked by teary-eyed congregation members, “What can we do?”, statistically you have a better shot if you say:

The most important thing I need is for you to fly to Africa with me for a special Christmas outreach I’m planning there next month. We’ll be gone two weeks, and you’ll need to raise $1,000 towards the project above and beyond your airfare.

You know who understood that idea better than anyone?

Jesus.

A certain ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother.’ ” He replied, “I have kept all these since my youth.” When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “There is still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”

You, dear astute reader, may quickly protest, “Yes, but the rich young ruler said no to Jesus’ high-degree-of-difficulty invite!”

But notice Peter’s reply:

Then Peter said, “Look, we have left our homes and followed you.”

Translation: high-degree-of-difficulty offers were the only kind Jesus made.

This line of thinking is part and parcel of Transformational Giving (TG).

When I was serving as President of the Los Angeles Mission I can recall the flack we took when we did an about-face with our marketing campaign and started telling people:

Look, if you’re serious about changing the situation of homelessness in L.A., it’s going to take more than your check. Your check is necessary but not sufficient. You need to come down to Skid Row the day before Thanksgiving and prepare, serve, and eat a meal with homeless people. Yes–cook the turkey together. Eat it together. Clean up the mess together. Only by mixing and mingling and celebrating with them will you ever be convinced that they’re not a different species.

What was the result of asking for people to come with their hand attached to their check?

• 20% more volunteers showed up.
• Giving to the campaign increased by 12%.

As a direct result of increasing the difficulty of what we were asking for, people gave more.

What would it look like for you to require your champions to pair their next check with an exceedingly difficult deed?