What is fundraising?

 
by George Verwer

1) First of all, fundraising is God's work.  It is His will that we

raise the money to do Kingdom work, let there be no question about it.

The Apostle Paul did it as he pleaded with the church in Corinth.

 

2) Secondly, it is teamwork. In OM we do need to understand this

concept. It involves typing and sending receipts, answering the phone,

sending thank you letters and reports.  Maybe someone has a meeting in

a church, but does not see any great gift come in.  Another person,

visiting the same church later on, receives it.  It is not one man's

success. This should keep us all humble. We are working together on

this.

3) Fundraising is hard work.  Many times it is harder than praying. 

Prayer can easily become a cop-out. Often times, as I commit something

to the Lord, he turns around and commits it back to me. That extra

phone call or that extra letter - it can be hard work to get it all

done. Every newsletter is a lot of work.

 

4) Fundraising is fun.  If you want, you can use the word joy instead.

 If you like to interact and work with people and you like to see

specific things happen, then you will love being involved in

fundraising. I love roller coasters, but when I write letters, phone

and talk to someone and then see a big gift come in for God's work, it

makes roller coasters a bit dull to me.

5) Fundraising is fruitful.  It is a lot easier than, for example,

planting a church in Afghanistan. They need to work for many years

before that happens.  People in that sort of ministry are our heroes. 

People working in the Muslim world are as much my heroes as Billy

Graham, because we are a mission movement and our work is on the

mission field.  Just think of 'Project Light' in India with the aim to

give the Word of God to a hundred million more people.  If that

doesn't get you exited, then you desperately need to see the doctor

and get your blood pressure checked.

6) Fundraising demands consistent prayer and godly living.  I do not

think you can separate them from this ministry. There are many verses

in the Bible that show us that if we do His will, He will hear our

prayers.  Our walk with God and staying broken, oils our prayer life. 

If someone wants to get involved in fundraising, I ask that person:

How is your prayer life?

 

7) It is spiritual work. We need spiritual people to do this and not

just anyone who seems to know a lot of people with money.  Individuals

in the ministry of fundraising need to be the right people otherwise

what starts as a blessing can easily turn into a nightmare just

because there is not a foundation of godliness and spirituality to

make it happen long-term.

We desperately need to see more people get involved in this on every

level.  We need those that are not afraid to talk to influential

people and go after the bigger gifts.  I dream about Operation Ten

Million where we can see an extra ten million dollars come in to help

the work around the world, not just extra income for OM, but also to

help other groups.  We in ICT can often bless other individuals, who

struggle more than us.  Yet, it is not just the bigger gifts, but also

the great many smaller gifts that are crucial!  Everything, large and

small, is vital.

Praise God for Board members, accountants and bookkeepers, who help

ensure that the money is spent properly.  We must be militant on that,

if we want to avoid the pitfalls that come into Christian ministry. 

Too much money is often linked to immorality.  Money can easily be

such a curse, which is also true of fire and many other things.  We

must saturate this ministry with prayer, claim the blood of Christ and

keep the full armour on.