Make it Transformational: A Blog for Champion Discipleship

I hear this comment enough that I thought it apropos to write on it.  In fact, it came up in this month's workshop as we discussed ways that nonprofits seek to market themselves, one of which is to find a celebrity to speak for the cause.

We all know the success stories, like Lance Armstrong raising millions for Leukemia research, or Angelina Jolie raising millions for Doctors Without Borders and wonder (or dream) about who we might get to speak for our cause that would result in millions of new dollars (we'd even settle for a few hundred thousand).

Problem is, we are all too tempted to overemphasize the success of these types of endorsements while underestimating the extreme unlikelihood of this happening for our organization. More importantly, we often fail to see how putting any energy in this at all takes our eyes off the real goal for the parachurch--helping Christians mature spiritually as they interact in community around kingdom causes.

First, let me help you get realistic about a celebrity endeavor...A great article in January's Ad Age by Peter Daboll reported on a study that found "big names don't pay dividends."  The title of the article was "Celebrities in Advertising Are Almost Always a Big Waste of Money" (no hidden meaning there!)

A few things worth noting: 1)Today's consumer is more likely to be influenced by someone in their social network than a weak celebrity connection. 2) Today's consumer is informed, time-compressed, and difficult to impress, and IF they are influenced by ads it is because they are relevant and provide information they were looking for. 3) Today’s consumer doesn't want to have products pushed at them, even from a celebrity. 

The bottom line is that the study empirically showed that a celebrity has little to no impact on an ad's effectiveness. In fact, regardless of gender or age, ads without celebrities out-performed ads with them.

If that doesn't shake your longing for a celebrity then I'm not sure much will!  But, let me take it one step further.

Consider...has our great Lord and Savior called you to the position you're in now just to extract money from people's wallets?  Of course not!  Even if you were able to raise millions and millions of dollars from people to support the cause, what gain is it if none gave with a heart toward God?  What gain is it if through their giving people didn't come to know Christ more deeply, or see him more clearly?  If we keep our eyes focused on the right things then we'll realize that the amount of money we raise, or the amount a person gives, is never the object of importance.  Like the widow's mite, or like Zaccheus, or like the Macedonians, it's all about the heart and mind being transformed.  It's about giving generously, whatever that looks like for each of us, as we rejoice in who Christ is and eagerly serve him through the gifts we've been given.

In this month's Mission Increase Foundation workshop, we'll be teaching about what marketing looks like for a parachurch organization. There has been some great discussion already around this topic, but there is one particular conversation I’d like to bring to you for consideration...

Which comes first--knowledge or action?  In other words, does a person need to be educated about your cause before they take action?  Or, do they take action and then learn about it?

Contemporary marketing would say that people need to know first so that they can be persuaded to act.  But how much knowing is necessary before we can act?  You’d almost think that we were waiting to become experts before we took our first step!  And, organizations are happy to continue feeding us information until we feel up to par to act.

How about for us, the parachurch?  As an extension of the church, what is our role toward the body?  Feed them information until they feel confident, or comfortable, or willing to act in a cause that all Christians are commissioned to partake in as laid out in scripture (which, by the way, may never come)?

You might already sense where I stand on this, but let me give you a short history lesson before I spill the beans completely.

Believe it or not, this quandary takes us back to the rise of the Hellenistic era! I appreciate how Alan Hirsch explains it in his book, The Forgotten Ways Handbook.  He explains that "a Hellenistic view of knowledge is concerned about concepts, ideas, and the nature of being." And so what you find under a Hellenistic approach, and what we see today, is an emphasis on gaining knowledge, learning, and spending time in the classroom. This is in stark contrast to a Hebraic view, which is the approach we find Jesus employing.  The Hebraic approach is "primarily concerned with issues of concrete existence, obedience, life-oriented wisdom, and interrelationship of all things under God" as Hirsch puts it.  Jesus didn’t set up a physical classroom for people to learn how to be a disciple of him – he made life itself the classroom.  His disciples learned as they watched and as they did themselves. Sometimes they succeeded and sometimes they failed (like not being able to drive out demons in Mk 9!), but they were learning and being sharpened through each of their experiences.

Here's another thing to consider...in his book, The Change of Conversion and the Origin of Christendom, Alan Kreider explains how the early church was concerned about people going through the motions to be part of the church, and so they were sincerely interested in people’s motives and sincerity.  One of the things that they did was ask people to begin changing their way of life before they were accepted into the community.  It might sound crazy (or legalistic!) but Kreider explains, “Christian leaders assumed that people did not think their way into a new life; they lived their way into a new kind of thinking.”  They did this in order to nurture and strengthen communities whose values would be different from the rest of the world.  Could it be that someone could know all about what it is to be a Christian without ever being one?  Could it be that someone could know all about your cause without ever really championing it?

So, is knowledge important? Yes, but it can be weaved into the process of inviting people toward action so the result is “informed action”--just enough information to take the first step, and the beginning of a journey of growing and learning through continued action.  The result hopefully is a body of believers growing and learning what it means to be a disciple of Christ through their work and service in the kingdom cause you yourself are championing.

The Boston city council is asking the largest nonprofits in the city to pay their “fair share” of taxes for city services – or at least a percentage of what they would owe if they weren’t tax exempt. (You can read more about it over at the Chronicle of Philanthropy.) Now, no one is arguing that nonprofits don’t benefit from police/fire services and similar provisions – and some of them even voluntarily pay to support those services. It might seem logical when only looking through a small lens to think these larger nonprofits are capable of paying their own way and not being a burden on the city’s resources.  But what happens if you look through a different set of lenses, ones that tend to show a bigger picture?  Are these organizations really a burden – and what does that “burden” look like when you consider the benefits the city is receiving from these nonprofits?

On the surface, it may seem like a minor issue, especially as Boston is only looking at the “rich” hospitals and universities (what does Harvard’s endowment stand at again?). Boston’s city council, like so many municipalities, is coming up short in the revenue in/revenue out game, so on one hand, you can’t really blame them for trying to get creative. But suddenly being able to tax any group capable of adding another $404 million to the  city budget is going to be like putting a big fat chicken in front of a starving fox.  To their credit, the foxes on Boston’s city council only want to nibble at 25% of that chicken – just a leg and a wing…or two. But we all know the problem with foxes is that they are rarely content with a wing or a leg…or just one chicken. How much longer before they start looking longingly, past the plump chickens and at the rest of the flock?

Boston may be the first to officially start this hen-house invasion, yet it’s been a hot topic for quite some time and it’s often been focused on churches. Think about it…churches, are seemingly “raking in” all that cash every Sunday, and they don’t get taxed on it! There’ve got to be PILES of money just sitting around, or so the thinking goes, and those churches aren’t paying their “fair share” for city services. And let’s not forget the myriad of nonprofits out there as well.

But are churches and nonprofits really sitting on piles and piles of cash? What if, among the other things they are doing, churches are actually reducing the costs of services the city would otherwise be forced to absorb in an amount far and above the other services they receive from the city? What value do churches, and the nonprofits we work with, provide back to the community?

Earlier this month, Christianity Today carried an infographic based on a Univ. of Pennsylvania study by Ram Cnaan, that showed the break-down of services a church provided to their community. Cnaan’s 1997 study found that urban congregations provide, on average, $140,000 worth of services annually and in 2009 he revised his estimate to $476,663.24. In an upcoming study that measures more intangible benefits, he has identified a church whose contribution to the community which may actually top $6 million. Granted, not all churches and nonprofits would be in the $6 million range, but the premise that nonprofits contribute back more than they receive is sound.

Simply revoking the tax exempt status of a community's nonprofit organizations won’t fix our cities’, counties’, or state’s financial burdens. In all likelihood it will exacerbate the problem even more as they would be suddenly saddled with the added burdens once met by those very organizations. But cash-starved cities don’t see that – they just see the big, fat chicken. And in some ways it’s not their fault because we haven’t taken the time to help them realize the benefits of moving from a fox-hen relationship toward a more symbiotic one.

We all recognize the intangible results ministries provide to their communities and often see them doing a good job highlighting the personal impact in their newsletters. Yet when was the last time we saw a nonprofit make the case to the community that alcohol intervention programs result in more stable families (fewer Family Service Division cases/expenses), fewer DUIs (lower burden on the courts/jail system) and therefore contribute a financial benefit (even transformation) to the community? It wouldn’t be hard for city councilors to see that $20,000 or $30, 000 in potential property tax fees is far outweighed by $476,663 in services rendered to the community through the nonprofit.

Nonprofits need to help cities like Boston remember they are sharing the burden together. Here in Portland, our mass-transit buses are known for their bumper stickers promoting the benefits of mass-transit - “Because of me, 218 cars aren’t on the road today.” It’s time nonprofits started a campaign of their own that says “Because of us, $476,663 of tax-payer money was saved.”

I’m sure you have heard this, and most likely you’ve even said it, “I’ll know it when I see it.”

The reality for most of us is that we think we have seen it. Yet, all we have done is to have settled for second best without ever truly finding what we’ve been looking for.

Many of today’s Christian organizations (NPO’s and churches) believe they are doing a good job connecting with their champions/attendees. Yes they do a great job of welcoming individuals (at events and with their communications), share a meaningful thought/story and then give the strong impression that they would like to see and connect with them again. Yes they are friendly, but still people aren’t getting involved with them as they would like them too.

What they really want is to move their champions from being mere participants to becoming fully engaged in their cause. They simply haven’t quite learned, or seen how, to do it right.

In the book, Faith in Real Life – Creating Community in the Park, Coffee Shop, and Living Room, Pastor Mike Tatlock shares, “As shepherds, it’s our responsibility to discover why people get lost in the transition to full community.” We need to find out what is keeping people from connecting and getting involved.

Are your champions fully engaged with your cause? Really?

Pastor TD Jakes once said, “You can’t do better if you are not exposed to better. Once you have been exposed to it, then you can tell the difference between this and that.” He went on to further illustrate this by saying, “the cream you know to be white will always pass for white until you are exposed to white.”

You see, far too often organizations/ministries will mistake something for being effective, but they won’t see how ineffective it is until they are exposed to something that is effective.

So…how is what you’re doing working for you? Are only some of your champions engaging with you? Do you understand why those who don’t engage are seemingly complacent?

One of the best ways to start on this path of discovery would be to connect with those organizations that are doing a great job of engaging their champions. Another way would be to attend one of the best workshops Mission Increase Foundation will put on this year.

During the month of October, we at Mission Increase Foundation are focusing our workshops on the topic of Direct Mail. Many of you have said you are not seeing the response to your direct mail campaigns as you would like…and others have said that direct mail campaigns are dead and you have given up.

Before you decide to put that last nail in the coffin of your direct mail program, please ask yourself if the results you have seen are real or merely perception. Is what you are seeing really the color white, or is it the color cream you merely believe to be white.

These workshops are going to be packed with great information about how to connect and engage champions through a direct mail campaign. You will be given many examples of what effective organizations are doing.

Also, at every MIF event you will find that there’s a great opportunity to build community with other leaders just like you who are seeking to have great impact.

As you seek, I am sure you will find…

Every day I hear about wonderful ministries doing remarkable things.  So what does it take to get my attention and get me involved?  Genuine cause coaching – someone taking the time to educate me about a Biblical cause and providing me meaningful ways to engage in it.

Gary Haugen, president and CEO of International Justice Mission (IJM), gets this.  When he visited my church last month, he delivered, hands-down, one of the best presentations on a particular cause I’ve ever heard.  Why was I so impressed?  Instead of talking about what IJM was doing to stop human trafficking, Haugen focused on what he clearly sees is his real job – engaging God’s people in the Biblical cause of justice and liberty.  While most nonprofit leaders still confuse their organization for their cause, Haugen took the time to educate and equip me about the cause of justice – rarely even speaking the name of IJM.  He looked at Biblical examples and language for each Christian’s role seeking justice and liberty for the oppressed.

What Haugen and IJM did equally well was the follow-up.  After he spoke, there was an IJM table filled with meaningful opportunities for me to get immediately involved.  Right on the spot, I was able to sign a prepared postcard to my representative in Congress urging support of The Child Protection Compact Act.   I also bought Haugen’s book, Good News About Injustice, that had a wealth of information in the appendices alone to help readers learn, explore and engage in the cause – everything from tools for developing a simple action plan to advice to students considering a career in international human rights. 

This experience prompted me to discuss the cause with Justin Hime, MIF’s GTO in Raleigh, North Carolina, who’d recently encountered the cause in a new way as well.  Don’t let this slip by you – because of our recent encounters with this cause – two ministry professionals, whose jobs involve daily contact with Christian ministries, were prompted to begin spreading the cause in their own spheres of influence.  Justin observed that by comparison those involved in the cause of justice have mastered the art of articulating their cause. We noticed how well we, as relatively new champions, had been prepped with the causal language that allowed us to have a spirited and meaningful discussion.   Because a Cause Coach had worked with Justin, I learned from him that the three biggest commodities in the world are guns, drugs and women.   Because of Gary Haugen’s visit to my church, I was able to fill in some opportunities for action.  Staggering information that incites action; I want to do something. And isn’t that what IJM wants? More importantly, isn’t that what God wants?

Hats off to Gary Haugen and IJM for being a shining example of cause coaching!

This month MIF is offering workshops on Fundraising Banquets. While executing an effective banquet is the main focus of the workshop, a Big Idea this month is the fact that every speaker at every event your organization holds should be a coach for your cause. Even if you don’t have a banquet on your calendar, the workshop will help you and any of your champions become coaches for your cause. Register here today.