I have just returned from a long weekend in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I call it long because I am an African who grew up on a 75 degree temperature diet 24/7. And guess what we were consuming in Winnipeg; Minus 10. If freezing doesn’t mean anything to you, it means a world to me. I could literally feel my face turn into ice. And it didn’t matter how many layers of thick wool I threw on my samsonite-size body, the heat was just not finding its way into my skin. When I was finally dropped off at the airport by one of my best friends, I sure was not ready to part company with him and his family, but I was certainly ready to kiss the snow goodbye. I am glad I am back in drooping-rain Portland. I can definitely handle the rain but not snow. Anyways, enough of my cold adventure rumblings.
Lat week I started a discussion on money and giving and I thought we should pursue it further. Thanks for your comments. Let’s dive right into motivations for giving.
Organizations today are hiring topnotch sociologists and marketers to study consumer habits. Someone on Madison Avenue right now is feeding information into his computer about your spending habits and will send that information to marketing experts who will in turn send you junk mail relevant to your consumer habits. All of us who buy goods and services have become laboratory specimens for marketing experts. Next time you buy running shoes ask yourself why you did not buy Adidas but Nike. You know very well that this is your fifth pair of Nike’s and you are just not about to change your consumer habits even if Adidas will do pretty much the same job. The same goes to your third Toyota Camry even though the Honda Accord would provide the same accord to your family of three. Marketing experts know how to dig deep into our emotions and pull out those things that sit deep in our decision-making modula operandi.
The scary thing though is that some Christian organizations and churches are not innocent in this rat-bisecting, consumer-driven probing of donors and supporters. Some Christian organizations are hiring marketing experts to study trends in donations and to come up with a strategy that would maximize their donor gifts. These organizations are asking questions such as “what are the motivations for giving and how can we positively harness these motivations?”
Callahan in his book “Giving and Stewardship in an Effective Church” has listed five motivations for giving: They include compassion, community, challenge, reasonability, and commitment. Motivation is basically internal, not external. Manipulation is external. The above five motivations are the major internal resources out of which people internally motivate themselves to become part of an organization or congregation. In his article “Fundraising: Why People (and Foundations) Give Away Their Money,” Robinson mentions credibility and referral as being some of the most important motivations for giving. As far as credibility is concerned, donors want to know if the organization is well-organized, competent and legitimate. Referral is about friends referring friends. People are most likely to give if they were referred to the organization by their friends, family members, or colleagues.
Personally I have given a dollar or two here and there, and may be will continue to do so. I know that you have done the same too. My worry though is that most people are giving money to organizations based entirely on compassion, community, challenge, reasonability, referral, and commitment. What about efficiency and effectiveness of these organizations? Are these organizations doing with your money what they said they would do in the literature? I think that its high time we donors started bisecting the numerous organizations with a sharp surgical razor to find out what lies on the inside of each one of them. We need to be more responsible with God’s resources and give to those causes that are making a real impact- organizations whose effectiveness is measurable not in terms of its balance sheet at the end of its fiscal year but in terms of real needs met and real problems solved. Period!
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2 comments:
How well I know what you are saying! As Christians we too frequently assume that the organization or people presenting the organization are perfectly legitimate. It is proper stewdardship and makes good sense to check out the organization to see that the I(s) are dotted and the T(s) crossed before giving graciously of our/God's money.
Don
Hey Amon – you raise a lot of good points here. I know bisecting and dissecting organizations is probably a good thing to do, as it is important be a “good steward”. I just wonder however if the motive for giving should be more from a perspective of obedience. In other words, when God asks a person to give somewhere they should just give it and let go. Once we give it is no longer our responsibility as to what the organization does with the donation after all we were simply obedient and gave it. A huge principle in the kingdom of God (it’s an upside down kingdom) is, after we give the money is no longer ours. It is something that we as Christians and as parents must comprehend. It is much the same as giving years, effort and money to ones children, we must never say to the child afterward that you owe me and were irresponsible with how you handled the resources I gave you. (think of the prodigal son) Last blog you mentioned that the best form of giving is found in John 3:16 where God gave his only begotten son. I am glad he did not do an analysis on myself to examine how I would spend the grace and mercy that he poured out.
Portage Bill
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