My Volunteering and my Financial Giving: Any connection?

 My strong belief is that if you are a believer and member of a local church, you should be supporting your church. That should be priority #1

I believe that our first priority  is to use our God given gifts and abilities in our local church.  Whatever our passion for ministry is, we should make every effort to use it for God's glory in our church. Sometimes that may be a challenge...Then we may have to search outside the local church to see where we can be most effective in our ministry. There should be a balance. A local church can't do everything!



So is there any connection between  our volunteering and giving?
Should there be?

If we have a passion for a certain ministry that operates on a national or global scale, we can make an effort to see if they have a local chapter in our city where we can volunteer.. 

 

  If you are passionate about this organization...let them know! Tell them you want to sit down and talk! See if they are interested in using your skills, etc. 

 If one has been giving to an organization...maybe they can use your  Passion, Skills, Abilities, Strengths and past experience to further their mission!

Am I interested in volunteering with this organization?
Why?

We can even volunteer if the organization is thousands of miles away!
 How?

Have I contacted them to see if they would be interested in me helping them in some way?

Call them. Find out! 

Do I know my S.H.A.P.E?  Spiritual Gifts, heart or Passion, Abilities, Personality and Experiences? Have I taken the S.H.A.P.E. Assessment?

 How passionate am I in using my S.H.A.P.E with this organization?
What am I going to do?

My SHAPE      More info on what my shape is.
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How to make wise choices in your charity giving.

Due Diligence Checklist

From The Eternity Portfolio: A practical guide to investing your money for ultimate results.

Permission given to use by author Alan Gotthardt

Met with him in Atlanta last year. 2013

Alan is updating his book and there will be a revised edition in the fall of 2014!

Richard’s comments are in RED.

This book specifically addresses how to be a good steward and using God’s money wisely in a non profit Christian ministry. However, these ideas can be applied to a secular investment also. Some of the points do NOT necessarily apply to a business investment.

These principles apply to making substantial investments in an organization, whether it is in the 100’s, thousand’s or millions of dollars!

Again, the comments in RED are solely Richard Dassow’s and NOT Alan Gotthardts. 

When you’re considering whether to fund a specific organization, there are many issues to consider. Here’s how to get started!

Review marketing/collateral information such as the organization’s website, brochures, annual reports, and presentations. 

Is the following symbol on their website?

 

Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) accredited institution. ECFA accreditation is based on the ECFA Seven Standards of Responsible Stewardship^TM, including financial accountability, transparency, sound board governance and ethical fundraising.

If possible, conducted a site visit or vision trip to examine the operation firsthand.

For large gifts, meet with leadership to better understand who they are and where the organization is headed.

 Have they approached you for an investment or did you search them out? What are your goals and motivations in making an investment in this organization?
 

Either through a face-to-face meeting, telephone call, or collaterral information, try to get a sense for the following:

 1. Organizational Purpose

1.       What is the mission of the organization?

          How clear is the mission statement? Has there been mission drift?

What specifically are the major problems/issues it is trying to address?

2.       What makes this organization unique?

Have they established a clear need? Is the organization Passionate about what they are doing? Their mission. Is the Ex. Director passionate?  What are their resources? How is Need, Passion and Resources combined for exponential growth? Do they have the right people on the “bus”, the wrong people off the “bus” and the right people in the right seats? 

3.       What is the scope of the organization’s activities (local, regional, global, country-specific)?

4.       Are there well-developed, high-level goals that have been established to mark progress and give guidance to staff and donors?
           How do they measure performance?

B.      PEOPLE

1.       How well do I know the leadership?

Are they visionary? Capable of leading? Passionate about the mission? Do they value relationships?
Is the Ex. Director passionate?  What are their resources? How is Need, Passion and Resources combined for exponential growth? Do they have the right people on the “bus”, the wrong people off the “bus” and the right people in the right seats? 

Is their a list of Board members & their bio's on the site?

2.       What qualifications do those in leadership have?

3.       Does the board of directors represent a cross section of skills and qualifications needed to successfully guide an organization of this type?  Is there a job description for the board members? 

Is the board limited to policy making or do they do a lot of the work? If so, is this good or bad? 

Are the board members investing financially in the ministry in a significant way?  Do we know what percentage of the total funds come from board
 members? How important do we think that is?

4.       Do the staff members understand the organization’s missions and exhibit a genuine concern for their area of ministry? Do they seem content and motivated?  How do I know this? Have I talked to them? Taken some of them to lunch? Is this important? Why?

C.      PHILOSOPHY

1.       How receptive is the organization to feedback and questions?

Do leaders appear transparent about problems, successes, and failures? Are staff interested in even talking to us? How important is that to us? Obviously with a small donation it may not be important.00… but if we have a significant financial investment to make it is or should be! Can we make a designated or restricted gift…and work with them in the planning?

How about accountability? Can we structure the funds to be released as progress is being made? Are they open to this? How involved to we wish to become? 

2.       How are donors treated? Is there a demonstrated accountability for the faithful use of funds? How are volunteers recruited, trained, and utilized?

3.       Does the ministry seek to create leveraged results for the kingdom (i.e., multiplication)?

4.       Do there seem to be any “integrity fault lines” running through the different aspects of the ministry? It’s fund-raising? Programs? Communications?

D.      PROCESS

          1.       Is there a written strategic plan for the ministry?

                   A 5 and 10 year plan?

          2.       As it carries out its mission, how is the organization

perceived within the community?

3.       What are some of the new initiatives or activities the organization is undertaking? 5, 10, 15 year plan.

4.       Where does the financial support come from? A small group of major donors or a broad audience? How willing are they in sharing this? 

          5.       Are thee audited financial statements?

6.       Does the organization appear to be staffed appropriately to execute the mission?  Good to Great concepts?
 

E.      PERFORMANCE

1.       How does the organization measure its progress toward accomplishing the mission?

Are there specific targets and objectives for the leadership as well as staff within the organization?

2.       Does the organization communicate regularly and effectively with the donors? What is the frequency?

 3.       Is the organization accomplishing its mission?

11.   PROJECT ASSESSMENT
                    If we are investing in a specific project.

A,      ORGANIZATONAL FIT

1.       Does this particular project  address one of the core objectives of the ministry? In other words, is it part of a focused, concentrated effort toward accomplishing the organization’s purpose, or does it go outside of core competencies and mission?

2.       Is this project or activity already being conducted successfully by another organization, and if so, are there reasons to duplicate?

          3.       How much of the funding is already committed?

B.      PROJECT REVIEW

1.       Is this a onetime investment for a project that will become a 
self-sustaining activity?

2.       Other than in the area of funding, where are the faith hurdles? In other words, where must God supernaturally create the results for the project to be successful?

3.       Do the financial projections seem reasonable? Are they too optimistic? Do they leave anything out? Is there a plan for contingencies?

4        Are there specific, measurable objectives to be accomplished?

          5.       How will progress be reported?

III.   FINAL ASSESSMENT

1.       Have I (we) spent sufficient time seeking God’s will through prayer Bible study, and wise counsel? Do I (we) have any wrong motives or conflicts of interest that should prevent this investment?

2.       Assuming all indications are positive, are there any nagging questions or concerns that should be resolved?

3.       Whether or not this appears to be a great opportunity, do I (we) feel specifically led to be involved at this time?

          Have I (we) asked the 4 questions from Ben Carson’s book: TAKE THE RISK; Learning to Identify, Choose, and Live with Acceptable Risk.

Additional Resources:

Generous Giving   www.GenerousGiving.org

Paul Polak:  Out of Poverty: What Works When Traditional Approaches Fail.   
 http://www.amazon.com/Out-Poverty-Traditional-Approaches-Hardcover/dp/1605092762

Quote from his book;  P 186  One major flaw in the way current donors deliver the funds they invest in poverty-eradicaton initiatives."

"What Donors Can Do to End Poverty"
"Development donors don't insist that every investment produces measurable positive impacts and that these impacts can be scaled up to reach millions of people." 

Take the Risk: Learning to Identify, Choose and Live with Acceptable Risk.

Money, Possessions, and Eternity, Randy Alcorn.