Here I am... haven't written in about three weeks. I keep saying some version of "The weekly rhythm will come after..." I'm with Trina at an airbnb in Spirit Lake, Iowa. We are attending the Okoboji Bible Conference. It's been several days of impactful teaching and restorative moments of slow paced living (and of course some thrifting). So naturally what I will write about today is May and June fundraising (I promise to write about this week another time).
I sent a newsletter to my ministry partners a week ago. I didn't say supporters or donors. I said ministry partners. Ministry Partner Development (MPD) is a phrase we use in InterVarsity. We believe partnership is more than checkwriting (or setting up EFT in a brief moment and then mostly forgetting about it).
During May and June I finally acted on the thing I have recognized for several years. I don't have enough giving commitments to meet our annual budget. Knowing about it and acting on it have not proven to be synonymous. But this spring (with some supervisory pressure... er, encouragement) I set aside a lot of time to MPD. Fundraising can be a drag. Most of my team and colleagues don't list it as a "top 10 things I love about my job." It turns out that in contrast, Ministry Partner Development is amazing! I have completed 26 years of service with InterVarsity. You'd think this wouldn't be a new lesson for me. And maybe it isn't new, just the 2025 version of something God needs to do in my heart from time to time.
The picture below is "The MPD Cycle." We set a lot of goals in the engage and follow up portions of the cycle. If you reach your engagement goal then asks will naturally follow. The identify, thank, and report stages are where we spend time procrastinating the time we should be spending in the engage and follow up stages. And that, my young padawan, is how you turn the MPD cycle into the fundraisin cycle (that thing no one likes). I had a lot of asks the past couple of months (which those of you taking good notes recognize as requiring a lot of engages). I'll be honest. I have loved it! When you meet with a potential partner you talk about the things God is doing. And, surprise, talking about what God is doing is encouraging (to the prospect and to me)!
I have been describing my experience this way: "My hard work has given me a chance to see God's provision." God provided for a $10,000 year-end deficit I was facing (along with the June support I needed to finish the fiscal year, and then some)! And as I work to address the annual deficit in giving commitments I'm about 70% toward a goal of $12,000 in new, ongoing support annually. Amen, praise God, hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus.
Part of my sabbatical plan is to read old newsletters and blogposts as I reflect on what God has done in these 26 years. Today I read blogposts from 2007 (my first year of blogging). That's about 8 years into my time with InterVarsity (and it would turn out to be just a year or so away from God calling us to Belgium and an intense season of MPD). 8 years in student ministry definitely qualifies one for veteran status. So when you read the following excerpt from June 6, 2007 feel free to ask (as I did when I read it today) why was that guy so clueless?
We came home from our mission trip to Pine Ridge a few days ago because our funding came up short. I don't even know if I wrote that sentence right. Should it say...
We came home... because we didn't raise enough money.
We came home... because God didn't provide for our whole time there, or didn't want us there the whole time.
We came home... because people didn't give as God led.
[You can read the entire post here.]
Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on my 35 year old self. It was actually a difficult decision (and now that I'm a manager I realize the difficulty it must have been for my supervisor to endorse that decision as well). But today I am encougaed to remember God has provided for 26 years of ministry. And as I said, May and June (and July and August) have given me much encouragment.
And now back to that that newsletter I mentioned recently sending to my partners... It made sense to detail my funding situation. I told a couple of stories to illustrate that this kind of life can be hard. But those stories were intended to set up this punchline: this life of dependence is so incredibly rewarding! I'm a little afraid the punchline didn't land. (After calling this life "amazing" and telling a poignant story from our time in Belgium) I wrote, "A life and ministry that is dependent on fundraising has it's challenges, but I have a hundred more stories like that because we have depended on God and his people to provide." In case I wasn't clear I'm saying it here: This. Life. Is. Amazing. I'm so thankful to know God as our provider (Jehovah Jireh if you're into Genesis stories, Hebrew words, or Elevation Worship).
In response to that newsletter, a friend who lives outside the U.S. replied, "Thank you for such an open email. Somehow I have always assumed that funds and fundraising were never really a problem for Americans in America, I'm so sorry. I will be supporting your work from now on on a monthly basis."
Did I just write a world class, manipulative fundraising letter that led to a new donor, or did I open up in such a genuine way, focused on God's goodness that I got a new partner? Sounds like the kind of question my 35 year old self would ask.
I replied to the email with many words of gratitude and these words, "I hope that it came across as me saying I wouldn't trade the struggles and the life of dependence for the world." I said it because it's true. I hope when my 68 year old self is looking at the words of my 53 year old self he will remember it, too.
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