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John Pearson Associates
 

 

Issue No. 26 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting is about generous giving.  Jesus said in Matthew 6:21 (NIV), “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Randy Alcorn says, “God owns everything. I’m His money manager.” .

   

 


More than 600,000 copies of The Treasure Principle have been sold—but have these remarkable biblical principles on stewardship really made a dent? Are you experiencing or hearing take-your-breath-away stories of generous giving?

Senior pastors, ministry leaders, development directors and every God-honoring Christian should understand and practice the simple, but radical principles of Randy Alcorn’s book, The Treasure Principle: Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving. Principle #2 reads, “My heart always goes where I put God’s money.”

Many ministry leaders assume the right direct mail technique or heart-tugging project will move non-donors into the donor circle. But there’s a key spiritual principle at play that is often ignored: generous giving flows when a person truly understands how money affects his or her own heart.  “God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving,” writes Alcorn.

Send this book to the top ten percent of your current donors and test it with an appropriate segment of your non-donors.  Then host a prayer meeting and pray that these people will hear from God—not just for your ministry’s financial benefit, but for their own spiritual development. Alcorn’s 31 discussion questions are probing and powerful.

 

   

Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions:
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1. “Five minutes after I die, what will I wish I had given away while I still had the chance?” (See Question #31 in Randy Alcorn’s book.)

2. Are we helping our donors understand these biblical principles of generous giving? Do our fundraising programs feed unhealthy motivations in people? Do we raise givers to a more biblical lifestyle?

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Insights from the Management Buckets Workshop Experience

Go to www.GenerousGiving.com for an incredible list of 24 “Common Excuses for Not Preaching on Giving.”  Here’s a sample excuse:

Excuse: I have a very generous congregation. Giving isn’t a problem in my church.
Response: A generous congregation is good news, indeed. But we should also pause to ask ourselves: By what standard do we call a church generous? Do they give sufficiently to meet the budget? Or, do they give more than other churches in town? A more important question is: What is the Bible’s standard for generosity?  (Click here for the entire response.).

Generous Giving hosts conferences for major donors. Their robust website also has excellent resources for pastors, ministry leaders and every Christian. In our Management Buckets Workshop Experience, we integrate The Donor Bucket with 19 other buckets to maximize your development efforts. It’s all part of the 20 Critical Competencies Required for Leading and Managing Today’s Nonprofit Organization. .

Email me to reserve space in the May 9-10 Management Buckets workshop or the May 11 Nonprofit Board Governance workshop, both planned for Orange County, California.

 

 

Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions:
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1. Should every team member here (staff member, board member and key volunteer) be a generous giver to this ministry? Why or why not?

2. What are some of the biblical principles that guide our organization as we communicate the need and host fundraising events?

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Download the Management Buckets brochure


 

 

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