Issue No. 234 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting asks the “What if?” question about generosity. This week’s book has 21 “light the fire” stories on generosity. And this reminder: check out my Management Buckets website with dozens of resources and downloadable worksheets for your staff meetings.
Igniting Generosity
What if…there were so many men and women in your organization’s “generous givers” circle—that when you reviewed possible future board member prospects, you had ten times more qualified candidates than open spots?
What if…before your organization mailed the monthly appeal letter, hundreds and hundreds of generous givers—prompted by the Holy Spirit—sent in their checks and made online gifts BEFORE you asked for the contribution?
What if…the stories of sacrificial giving in your church were so numerous—and so life-changing—that a revival broke out even before your pastor broke out his sermon?
What if…God prompted you to use the funds you’ve saved for a special “this is for me” purchase…and you diverted the money to a friend in need? No fanfare. No name. No tax deduction. And…what if you realized that this act of generosity (and obedience) actually produced more joy than your original plan?
If any of these “what if’s” capture your imagination, then you’ll resonate with the quick-reading message of Igniting a Life of Generosity, a 21-day journey to help Jesus followers experience the joy of generosity.
Published by ECFA, this 60-page powerhouse will impact your head, your heart and your wallet with 21 short stories and call-to-action ideas like:
Day 1: A 20-something receives a company car and so he tries to sell his personal vehicle. No buyers. He prays. God speaks: “What are you going to do with the money if I sell your car?” Oops! Plan B kicks in. His deal: “OK, God, if you sell my car, I’ll give a sizeable portion to this [needy] family.” No surprise—car sells. Anonymous cash delivered to needy family. No surprise—immense joy experienced by a young steward.
Day 13: (You gotta read this one!) In the late 1800s, a young girl in a Pennsylvania church, Hattie May Wiatt, was prompted by God to begin saving money for a larger church building. Yet she dies in her youth. Good news: the pastor took the 57 cents she had saved and inspired his congregation to multiply that into $250—and the multiplication continued so that by 1912, the church had expanded and grown to over 5,600 members.
Day 14: A graduate school student learns the power and joy of giving monthly (in six-month specific commitments) rather than writing just one check—and being done with it. The author says that igniting the generosity gift also involves faithfulness and asks, “When you think of wanting to become more faithful, what is one thing you believe God is nudging you about?”
So what if…instead of hassling givers, manipulating givers and shaming givers, our churches and nonprofit ministries actually INSPIRED givers and challenged their heads and hearts with Scriptures and stories—so that their check writing and online giving would be prompted by their attentive ears to the Holy Spirit’s nudges?
Light the fire and share this powerful mini-book with your generous givers and those who have not yet experienced the joy of giving.
Note: Bulk pricing is available in packs of 5, 30 and 100 from ECFA Press.
To order from Amazon, click on the grahic below for: Igniting a Life of Generosity, by Chris McDaniel.
Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions:
1) The author notes that the contract for the rock band Van Halen required that the host venue provide a bowl of M&Ms backstage, but with every single brown M&M removed. Why? That strange request was stuck in Article 126 of the detailed contract regarding stage set-up logistics. If the band’s stage crew arrived and found brown M&Ms, then they conducted a thorough safety check—because it was likely the host had not read and implemented other more critical contract requirements. So McDaniel asks on Day 5 of the 21-day journey, “Can You Be Trusted?” What’s your answer?
2) On Day 21, the author asks, “What are you here for?” What’s your answer—and how might a thoughtful answer ignite a life of generosity in your own giving and in the lives of those people who look to you for leadership and inspiration?
The 7 Accountability Standards - Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Nonprofit
One of the big ideas in the Budget Bucket, Chapter 15, in Mastering the Management Buckets is to be accountable to others in your financial, stewardship and governance practices. The gold standard for accountability is ECFA, the accrediting organization that serves more than 1,600 nonprofit Christian organizations and churches.
ECFA’s Seven Standards of Responsible Stewardship™ address seven key areas including: doctrinal issues, governance, financial oversight, use of resources and compliance with laws, transparency, related-party transactions and stewardship of charitable gifts.
For more information on ECFA and other resources, visit the Budget Bucket webpage.
Last Workshop of the Year!
Oct. 25-26, 2011 (Tues. & Wed.) – The Rolling 3-Year Strategic Plan Workshop (Sponsored by Neighborhood Christian Fellowship and Arrow Community Center, Covina, Calif., and hosted by Christian Community Credit Union, San Dimas, Calif.)
P.S. News Flash! Gospel Light Worldwide announced this week that the publisher, Penerbit Gandum Mas, has just published the Indonesian edition of Mastering the Management Buckets. This country of 17,500 islands (6,000 inhabited) has a population of 232 million. According to the book, Operation World, Muslims comprise 80 percent of the country and Christians represent 15.85 percent of the population. In this Buckets edition, the three legs of the stool, "Cause, Community and Corporation" are translated as "Alasan-alasan, Komunitas and Korporasi."
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