Change Your Perspective on Fundraising!

Excerpted from Never Do Fundraising Again
By Ken Williams, Ph.D. and Gaylyn R. Williams

At the beginning of our missionary career, we focused quite a bit on the money we received from partners. But as the years went by and we saw God so faithfully supply every need, our focus turned almost exclusively to the incredible joy of sharing our lives with precious lifelong friends. We’ll share more about this throughout the book.

It can be too easy to get into a mindset that says, “We’re the getters and others are the givers.” Or, “Our job is to get and our partners’ job is to give.”

Frank was pastor of a small church with his wife Marion. The church fell on hard times and this dear couple who had partnered with us was struggling financially as they anticipated moving to another state.

We joyfully gave to them in their time of need! That opportunity lingers in our memories as more fun than receiving gifts from others. Over the years we’ve learned to help our partners in practical ways, using the gifts God has given us.

At first, it seems odd to think about relating to partners as a God-given ministry, not an added burden. It’s not about getting support. It’s about having a whole different group of people to minister to over the years. We often have a longer term relationship with our partners than to others we minister to.

One of the ways we minister to our partners is by giving them an opportunity to be blessed. We allow them to be a part of something they could never go out to do themselves. But by partnering with us, they can have a larger ministry. One partner couple, when describing their relationship with us for forty-five years, said, “We’ve been blessed a thousand times over!”

This does require a commitment of time and effort, although not as much as most people spend in constantly raising new support. Also, when we consider it a key part of our life ministry rather than just writing donors, we see it in a new light. It doesn’t have to be burdensome!

Most of our partners have been involved with us for forty to fifty-five years! Imagine the incredible power of ministering to the same people for that long. We know their lives are different, yes better, because of our ministry to them, and theirs to us. We’ve come to see this as one of the most joyful and productive areas of our life and work. When we get to Heaven we may find it was what was most important in God’s eyes.

Go to www.RRbooks.org/ndfa to get a discount on Never Do Fundraising Again. Or go to our Facebook page: http://fb.rrbooks.org for a 50% discount. While you are there, would you like our page?

Ken Royer, D.Min., Director of Pastoral Care, Link Care Center Fresno, said the following about Never Do Fundraising Again:
“An outstanding book, applying Biblical principles to partner development in Christian missions. The focus is not “how to do it” in fun raising, but “how to BE it” in letting the Lord’s love flow through each one in the partnership. I recommend this book for all missionaries — with the goal that we may return to God’s plan in building a team for effective outreach to a world in need of the Savior.”

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