Seeing TG @Work |
Jan 12, 2010 |
As the newest member to the Mission Increase team it is with great excitement, anticipation, and admittedly a little in trepidation that I write my inaugural post on the Make It Transformational blog. By way of introduction, I'd like to briefly share how we got to this point and perhaps just a couple of preliminary observations on how I see TG at work in our community.
How Did "We" Get Here?
Over the past 2 years I've had the privilege of serving as the director of the Barnabas Way Foundation in Raleigh, NC. As a foundation, we've made it our passion to build partner-based relationships with both ministry leaders and givers alike in our community over the past 15 years. And while the impact made has been significant, it was in this past year that our founders decided that some significant decisions needed to be made concerning our future direction. So, after months of prayer and deliberation, a decision was made last December to merge with Mission Increase - a decision that we are extremely optimistic about.
Seeing TG @Work
As a fundraising-based foundation, we, like you, rely upon many key partners to impact our cause. Key among them, are the generous families that make the foundation a regular part of their yearly giving. Though I have much to learn concerning TG, I wanted to share a couple of initial observations as they relate to these generous families and how I see a few of the TG principles already at work.
Principle 4: Champions connect with organizations for the purpose of enhancing their mutual impact on the cause, not primarily for the purpose of funding organizations to impact the cause on their own.
Champions champion! No matter the degree of their affluence, when individuals have a passion and are resourced through engagement, they will leverage their influence relative to a cause. Most intriguing from my perspective has been watching individuals or families take ownership of a cause to a degree that's even greater than that of an individual organization. One such gentleman that stands out is nothing short of a walking sandwich board for the cause of the poor both in our community and beyond. His passion and understanding of the issues involved exceed that of any individual ministry, though he does have a few favorites, it's for the poor and everyone he meets knows it - or soon will. He to me is a wonderful example of what a champion is and does!
Principle 7: The relationship between champion and champion is as important as the relationship between champion and organization.
Watching champions relate is something to behold. In my early days at the foundation, I often perceived this to be more politically motivated back-scratching than Kingdom-centered influencing. But, given some time and the vocabulary of Transformational Giving, I've come to the conclusion that these interactions are in fact what is meant by champion to champion relationships. What stands out most as I've observed, is how quickly things move. Their lively back and forth is codified in its own language of sorts, built on understanding and trust, exercised in a thoughtful manner, and decidedly driven towards action. From what I've seen, when champions talk, things get done!
I find it encouraging to see these principles already at work within the community of people we serve and I can't wait to see all that God will do as we began to share them more intentionally in the days ahead.
Again I'd like to reiterate how excited we are to be a part of the Mission Increase team and join the learning journey with you. I look forward to writing future post and look forward to interacting with many of you in the days ahead.
