A timely introduction to the fundamentals of fundraising
Fundraising workshop - European Christian Mission International
“I was apprehensive because I’ve been previously involved in fundraising which wasn’t totally successful. The presentation by David was very good and suggested clear strategies and methods of approach. He kept to the brief, delivered it well, he engaged with us and overall we were very satisfied.”
Dave Allen, International Trustee, ECMI
Background
European Christian Mission International (ECMI) is the umbrella organisation for European Christian Mission (ECM), which comprises eight Mobilisation teams working through a covenant agreement to resource mission in Europe. It had reached the point where it needed to become more involved in fundraising in order to fulfil its strategic goals. With a growth in ministry and the employment of a communication officer and IT manager resulting in rising costs, it needed to grow its annual income.
The chair of the International Trustees, Dave Allen, made contact with David Saint as a result of a communication about the Christian Resources Exhibition in Solihull, at which David was exhibiting, and asked if he could help.
Brief
To deliver a short fundraising workshop to the ECMI Board.
Process
ECMI gave David the background to their financial planning and budget for the next three years, along with the strategic goals. One of these was to fund first-culture workers, to work in countries where Mobilisation teams are not readily available. The other key driver was the recognition that there would be other areas in which ECMI would possibly need to recruit specialist staff as the organisation grow.
With this context, David prepared a two-hour workshop to run over the fundamentals of successful fundraising and how they should be applied to ECMI’s circumstances. The workshop was held off-site to coincide with the annual get-together of the International Trustees in a hotel near Heathrow Airport.
It was attended by ECMI’s International Director and nine trustees. The chair of trustees had several conversations with David beforehand to agree the scope of the presentation.
Outcome
“It went down well,” said Dave Allen. “We gave David a spontaneous round of applause at the end, which is unusual. We recognise there is a tension between trusting God and His provision, and approaching people for support on certain projects and activities, which will need funding on an ongoing basis.
“We plan to test ideas and make applications to Trusts to see how things develop. We have started work on a fundraising strategy and discussing proposals on fundraising for first-culture workers. This has resulted in initial discussions with a Trust.”
Consultant’s insight
It can be quite a challenge for a charity with a long history of not needing to fundraise to achieve that cultural shift to become a fundraising organisation. This is even more the case for Christian charities, where there is a strong sense of God’s provision, and dependence on that rather than trusting in our own strength.
As a Christian myself I absolutely understand that tension – although I don’t claim to have any special theological knowledge or training to help address it! But over the course of 34 years’ consulting with Christian charities and churches, it seems to me undeniable (and perfectly Biblical) that it is not always (or even often!) the case that God provides “manna from heaven”. More commonly, Christian causes have to strive hard to generate the income they need to fund their ministries. In my view there is absolutely nothing wrong with this – but it is a difficult cultural shift. Happily, ECMI’s Board was open to this approach and it is really encouraging to see that they are already starting to apply some of the principles I shared – in an appropriate way.