Successful Fundraising Requires Qualified Prospects

In the introductory post, fundraising success is defined as raising enough of the right money to sustain a Christ-exalting seminary until He comes.

It should go without saying that raising the funds necessary to undergird a seminary or any robust, Kingdom-advancing endeavor requires financial partners in ministry -- real, flesh-and-blood human beings made in the image of God -- but it must nevertheless be said. If I had a dollar for every random name dropped or off-the-wall, raise-money-fast gimmick or event, we would be well on our way to meeting our financial goals for this fiscal year.

Gifts from corporations, corporate foundations, and large charitable foundations are wonderful and can often be significant, but these institutions are not the primary source of charitable giving in the United States. When counting bequests and small family foundations as individuals, more than 90 percent of the billions given each year comes from individuals, and much of that is contributed by a small fraction of all those who give. In other words, major gifts make the major difference, but we will have more on that in a future post.

The importance of individuals for overall charitable giving means most giving is determined and directed by human beings who have minds, passion, interests, and a story. People who make gifts that build, sustain, and transform institutions do not just want to know their gift is used wisely; they want to know the people of the institution using their gift.

A qualified prospect knows much more than what you do and why you exist; a qualified prospect knows who you are. And, you know them. There is a reciprocal and mutually reinforcing knowledge of one another's needs, hopes, and gospel-centered, gospel-driven desires. Those shared and Spirit-led desires in turn drive the organization to pursue her mission with an ever-increasing level of excellence. The story of the organization becomes the story of the donor, and vice versa. This story, all driven by the mission of God in Christ and a profound appreciation for the gospel likewise inspires the prospect to give generously, even sacrificially and with great confidence in the God Who established the organization and Who is providentially at work to inspire the vision and provide the funds sufficient for the task.

The emphasis on qualified prospects is critically important. Having a name on a sheet of paper is generally not enough. Sure, there are those "miraculous" exceptions, but, in general, a person is not a qualified prospect unless they are capable of giving at the level desired and until they enjoy real relationships with the people of the institution. Qualified prospects know, understand, appreciate, and are invited to evaluate the institution's mission as well as her greatest hopes, challenges, opportunities, and needs. Only a qualified prospect can give the "right money."

This is why we talk about "qualified prospects" in our office. A database full of names is not nearly as helpful as a group of men and women who love Christ and understand how your institution connects to the progress of His gospel to the ends of the earth.

Yes, we would be grateful, tremendously and profoundly grateful to God if He sent Tim Tebow, Dan Cathy, Kirk Warner, Steve Green, Hugh Maclellan or any other financially-blessed and faithful Christian our way. And, I often pray that God would open the right doors at the right time for us to establish such relationships and ask for partnerships in the work of equipping students to serve the church and fulfill the Great Commission.

But, we should not expect gifts where there is little or no relationship. Fortunately, the cause of equipping students to serve Christ by reaching the nations in His name should resonate with every Christian, famous or not, wealthy or not. What is needed in our ministries are deep, lifelong relationships which, in time, yield gifts that astound us and glorify Christ both now and forevermore.

While I do hope that God sends you a few surprises along the way, my prayer is that all the people who comprise your organization will get enthusiastically engaged in the work of cultivating deep and lasting relationships with the men and women you already know or could easily get to know. For the most part, these are the people God has given to you who will make the gifts that make the difference. Your institution only has to get to know them.