'Tis the season to get engaged |
Dec 4, 2009 |
MIF will start out the new year with a bang in its January workshop titled ‘Engagement: the heart of your development program.’ If you’re thinking ‘everybody involved with nonprofits these days is talking about engagement,’ you’re right. That’s why it’s so important to drill down into this level of involvement to see how it fits into the transformational giving model.
What constitutes engagement anyway? And with engagement central to participation architecture, how specifically do we help our champions get to – and beyond - this level of involvement?
I touched on this question a few months ago when the ED of an inner-city youth sports ministry emailed me to request feedback on their latest newsletter. I was pleased to see a section in the newsletter on volunteer opportunities, which illustrated the organization’s desire to encourage champions to do the ministry alongside the staff.
I noticed that all of the opportunities were suitable for those who were immersed in this organization and its work. Here’s what I said:
‘I like the section on volunteer opportunities but I notice that most are 'high commitment' and long-term obligations. They are opportunities for Es and Os but what about Ps? The descriptions scare me, especially if I don't know much about your organization or if I even like or connect to the work you do. What if I just want to help out once for a few hours to check out your work?’
My point was the importance of providing different opportunities for people at different levels of involvement in relation to the cause. While this ED needs to beef up his participation or ‘come and see’ offerings for newcomers, other ministries need to build up their owner offerings.
And what about the ‘engaged’ opportunities for champions, you ask? If your ministry is like most out there, you don’t have any…and you’re at a loss as to how to identi fy or develop these opportunities. Why is that a problem? Well, like the sports ministry experienced, it’s hard to move your champions down the road towards ownership of the cause when critical infrastructure - in the form of suitable volunteer opportunities - along is missing along the way.
What about you? Do you need some help creating or strengthening this section of your champion discipleship infrastructure? Register for January’s training to learn more.
