CFG Writers

9 Ways to Simplify Your Life

Jessica High — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:34:59 GMT

Simplify your life in 2012. Okay, let's go for it. Let's work on cutting out some of our noise. Here's a few ideas:

1. Go through your closet and donate everything you've not worn in the past 6 months.

2. Unsubscribe from every email newsletter/bulletin that you've not read in the past month.

3. Go through your house, your storage unit, closets, garage, and clean it out. Donate everything you've just let sit there. If it's got dust, donate it!

4. Simplify by deepening. Reconnect with a few old friends. Start a real conversation with them. Maybe even do the unthinkable and write a letter-- a real one.

5. Go for a walk at a nature park. Count the number of clouds.

6. Journal every week on your past.

7. Declare a "no media" da-- cell phone, email, Facebook, TV...

8. Take a 24 hour retreat by yourself. Take only a Bible and a notebook.

9. Don't buy any new possession for 6 months.

So what are your ideas? Share your simple living tips, and maybe, just maybe we can get back to what's important.

William High is the Chief Executive Officer at National Christian Foundation Heartland. He may be reached at whigh@national.christian.com

It takes time and effort to find Grantmakers

Jackie Jones — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 17:51:13 GMT

It takes time and effort to find grantmakers that are truly good prospects, but the results can be worth the research efforts you expend. Keep your expectations realistic. Foundations and other grantmakers will not likely meet even a majority of your financial needs. Individual donations still account for the great majority of the funds given to nonprofit organizations. Currently, foundations and corporations combined only provide about 17 percent of philanthropic gifts, and only a portion of this is given for Christian projects. However, these funds can make all the difference for your project!

Do not focus all your efforts on one or two "perfect" funders. Many grantseeking churches and ministries have important missions, so you must seek a reasonably broad base. Develop a list with several viable options. Even experienced proposal writers often receive multiple letters of rejection for each successful grant. On the other hand, avoid compiling a lengthy list of "long-shot" prospects; mass mailing is a waste of everyone's time. Grantseeking should be viewed as a highly individualized process to be conducted in a businesslike manner.

Should you pay a grant writer by percentage?

Bill High — Thu, 12 May 2011 00:39:57 GMT

A frequently asked question by non-profits about grant writing is can you pay a grant writer a percentage of the grant? In the for-profit marketplace, people are frequently paid on commission. It’s a standard mode of operation for sales executives to be paid a base salary, plus commission. In other words, they are paid a percentage of what they bring in. In the non-profit arena, some consider this practice to be unethical. Donor trust is vitally important. To earn and keep that trust, every aspect of the non-profit activity must be absolutely ethical. Nowhere is ethical behavior more essential, nor by its absence more damaging, than in charitable fundraising.

             Founded in 1960, the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) is a professional association of individuals and organizations who generate philanthropic support for a wide variety of charitable institutions. For 50 years, AFP has been the standard-bearer for professional integrity in fundraising. AFP created a Code of Ethical Principles and Standards to reflect ethical fundraising practices and offer guidance to those working in the industry. The code is meant to help members steer away from conduct that might damage their personal reputation or that of the non-profit being served.

            AFP believes that individuals serving a charity for compensation must accept the principle that charitable purpose, not self gain, is paramount. AFP states that “percentage based compensation can encourage abuses, imperils the integrity of the voluntary sector, and undermines the very philanthropic values on which the voluntary sector is based. AFP stands firm with its Standards which prohibits members from working for percentage based compensation or accepting finder’s fees.

            The AFP Standard No. 21 states: “Members shall not accept compensation or enter into a contract that is based on a percentage of contributions; nor shall members accept finder’s fees or contingent fees.”

The objective for this Standard is to

1)      Ensure donor intent. When a donor gives a dollar for a non-profit, they assume that 100% of that dollar will actually go to the non-profit. If a percent is shaved off for the person fundraising, this is deceitful to the donor.

2)      Prevent personal benefit. No individual should benefit from the act of asking for or receiving a donation on behalf of a charity. If someone were to be in a position to benefit, they might put undue pressure on a donor to give, which could result in irreparable damage to the relationship between the donor and the non-profit.

            In other words, a Fundraiser (or grant writer) should be hired for their knowledge, experience, and expertise in helping to obtain funds, not on a percent of what they raise. The organization should keep in mind that you get what you pay for. Ultimately, the decision about whether or not to pay a grant writer a percentage of the grant or from the grant itself lies in the hand of the funder. If a funder allows compensation by percentage, then it is allowable. If a funder says, "No," then it's a mute point. You won't get the money anyway.

Reference

AFP (2009). Association for Fundraising Professionals: Vision and Mission. Retrieved May 8, 2011 from http://www.afpnet.org/About/content.cfm?ItemNumber=726&navItemNumber=508

--Jackie Jones is the Marketing and Communications Director of Christian Foundation Grants. She may be reached at jjones@christianfoundationgrants.com.

The Giving Family

Bill High — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:48:34 GMT

By this time of January, the holiday glow is off, but with it comes time to reflect on what just occurred.

At Christmas, we take time as a family to sit down and make monetary gifts as a family. Typically, we make allocations according to age—the older ones get more to give away. (We may be ending that practice soon given what I witnessed among my younger boys.)

Let me say that children, my own included, amaze me. Their capacity to think and feel is far richer than I credit them. So here’s our scenario: we are sitting around the living room talking about where we want to give away. We’ve got some of typical year end gift opportunities. We’ve got some new requests from people as well. Some strike our core—our areas of interest. Others are rejected.

But it’s my 15 year old son, Nathan, who amazed me. He wanted to look beyond the groups, the organizations, and in some cases the prayer letters and the three color brochures. “Dad, is there a family we can help?”

On the one hand, I’m embarrassed. He’s so right. Help a family. On the other, I’m glad—glad that my son is getting it. He’s getting the idea that giving is not just about making investments in organizations. It’s about seeing people with needs, and how we can help.

How often we need to be reminded of this truth again and again. This life is not about us. It’s about an eternal God who calls us and loves us not because of our own merit, but because He chose to do so. And in realizing the wonder of His choice, we turn and offer back to him and others all that we are and all that we have.

God gives us family. God gives us children—our children—to teach us about how He gives to us, and how we should in turn give.

--William F. High is the President/General Counsel of the Servant Christian Community Foundation (www.servantchristian.com). Servant’s mission is to inspire, teach and facilitate revolutionary biblical generosity

Browne is the color of generosity

Bill High — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 13:32:50 GMT

What color is generosity?

We just completed our 9^th Annual Passion Awards. For more, visit www.celebrateministrykc.com. The Passion Awards is like the Academy Awards of ministry where we award grants to ministry but also make a few individual awards as well.

As our staff gathered after the awards, we reflected upon the best part of the evening. Everyone agreed that it was the individual award that we made for the Servant Leader of the Year. That award went to Jim Browne of Jim Browne Productions. Let me explain.

Jim came to us seven years ago. I’m not sure what connection brought him to us. However, we need a production crew for the Passion Awards, and that was Jim’s business. I never really spent a lot of time with Jim that first year. I didn’t know if the event for him was just another job. I’m sure he thought we were a little weird. After all, who gives away money and doesn’t ask for anything at an event?

But I guess Jim was hooked because he came back and helped us the next year, and the year after and the year after. He told us proudly that we were his favorite client.

It certainly wasn’t because of the money we paid him. He charged us a fraction of what it should really cost. But the event came to mean more to him than a job. It was a calling.

In fact, he would call us to get us going to start planning next year’s event. He shared our dream that we could show the Christian community how to celebrate with excellence. So he went all out: top notch videos, top notch sound, top notch everything! People would come to our event and just say, “Wow!” We had others say that they “just had no idea of how big God was.” And of course, some tell us that our event is the only one they’ll attend.

But earlier this year Jim started feeling poorly. The diagnosis? Cancer, and of all things it was cancer of the appendix, which had been removed seven years earlier. (Oddly, they went back to the hospital that did the surgery and they still had the appendix and tests confirmed that the cancer had been present at the time of the appendix surgery.)

Jim’s fought the battle valiantly with cancer, and in the same way that he’s served at the Passion Awards—with excellence. So at our 2010 event, it was an easy decision to give the Servant Leader Award to Jim. (As a side note, how often we fail to honor those around us until they’ve passed away.)

The Servant Leader Award is always a secret. So how do you keep the award secret from your production guy? You just don’t put it in the script. At the time of the award, I was up on stage setting up the awards describing Jim without giving his name. And there was Jim back in the production booth frantically flipping through his notes—“what in the world was Bill doing? None of this was in the script! We’ve got to get a slide he told his production team!”

But the production team told him, “Jim, the award is for you!”

“No, it couldn’t be, “ he said, and went back to searching the script notes. The production team had to drag him out of the booth to the stage to receive the award.

There were tears in his eyes, and his wife’s eyes as they headed to the stage. A strange twist: the production guy—the behind the scenes guy—was now front and center stage. The servant being served.

It seems to me that Jesus spoke of this idea. It goes something like this: the more we try to hold on to the things of this world, the more we lose. The more we try to possess, the more we seem to let a little more of life’s energy ooze out of us. But the more that we give away, the more that we try to show the excellence of Christ—even in quiet behind the scenes kind of way—the more that we receive the joy and the goodness of the Father.

Thanks Jim for showing us that the color of generosity is Browne.

--William F. High is the President/General Counsel of the Servant Christian Community Foundation—www.servantchristian.com. Servant’s mission is to inspire, teach and facilitate revolutionary biblical generosity. He may be reached at whigh@servantchristian.com.

“All I Want to Do is Change a City…”—Part II

Bill High — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 17:49:38 GMT

After serving on the mission field for 15 years in Peru, Rudy thought it was time to retire and go be with the grandchildren. But God had different plans. After leading a missions trip to another part of Peru—Cusco, Peru—Rudy sensed God’s calling once again.

This time the calling just didn’t make sense, however. He was old, and a bit tired. He didn’t have the time or energy to make the impact he thought needed to happen. But the call was irrevocable. So Rudy left retirement and the grandchildren for Cusco, Peru.

I met Rudy in the Fall of 2000 when he was trying to raise the first $750,000 for the project. At that time, the work of the Foundation was just beginning and there was little we could do. Still, I remember Rudy’s plea: “All I want to do is to change a city…” Rudy left that day, and I’d not heard from him since.

But on Sunday, October 3, 2010, our church announced that we would have a guest speaker. I gave it little thought until he was announced and I saw him walk to the stage. It was Rudy Johnson—moving slower now but the same wry humor, and the same plea: “All I want to do is to change a city…”

This time the message was different. The screen showed pictures of a church, a camp, a school and all kinds of progress. The city of Cusco held a parade and they invited the ministry to participate. With the approach of the school and the teachers they were given robust applause. The multiple buildings on the campus were all debt free. It appeared that Rudy was well on his way to being God’s instrument in “changing a city.”

Where have all the Rudy’s gone? Where are the dreamers who still dream dreams of affecting a culture, affecting a city gone astray? May God give us more Rudy’s. May God give us more who are willing to give their lives away in light of that which cannot be taken away.

--William F. High is the President/General Counsel of the Servant Christian Community Foundation (www.servantchristian.com). Servant’s mission is to inspire, teach and facilitate revolutionary biblical generosity. He may be reached at whigh@servantchristian.com.

“All I Want To Do is Change A City…”—Part I

Bill High — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 12:57:32 GMT

In 1960, Rudy Johnson, his wife and 3 young children headed to Peru to plant a church. The work was hard, and they were not joined by any co laborers for nearly 7 years.

But the church grew through persistence and faithfulness. In fact, the church planted more than 40 more churches. It’s been estimated that this church has now influenced 128 million people.

By 1976, Rudy and his wife were ready to retire so they returned home to Miami, FL. There, he bought a house next to his son and his grandchildren. As a favor to his son, he agreed to lead a missions team to another part of Peru—Cusco, Peru.

Despite his objections, Rudy sensed God’s calling to Cusco. He sold his house, and returned to the field. I met Rudy in the Fall of 2000, where he indicated he was looking for the first $750,000 to acquire the property and start a church and school in Cusco. To this day I remember Rudy’s plea: “All I want to do is to change a city…”

Read about the outcome of Rudy’s plea in my next blog. But for now, focus upon his words and their challenge. How many of us would pray for a city, and ask that God use us to change that city? Perhaps, we should start today. Such is the generous life.

Why Give Even When Down

Bill High — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:08:06 GMT

I had a cup of coffee with a friend of mine the other day. It had been awhile since I’d seen him. I knew from our email trail that the days preceding had been hard. Business challenges. But little did I realize how severe…

He was ready to take his life so that way his family could have the life insurance money. A real estate development had gone sour and left him holding the bag with mounds of debt. Their large house was emptying rapidly with the effects of Craig’s list sales. Even his kids had gotten into the act by selling Ipods, TVs, video games—anything that would bring a buck.

But in the midst of their trial, they looked up and saw their neighbor. When they saw him at the mailbox, his shoulders were slumped, and the car didn’t slip out the garage anymore to head off to work. He was evasive, but they managed to catch him in the yard one day, and he confessed: they were down to eating peanut butter and jelly. His neighbor was planning to take his own life in his despair.

So what did my friend do? He and his wife wept—not for themselves but for someone else. And as they did, they sensed God asking them, in their own trial, to make a gift to their neighbor. When they presented the gift to their neighbor, he protested—“You can’t give this to me! You need it yourselves.” But they told him firmly, “don’t deny us the blessing of giving.”

And so they gave. The chapter of their neighbor’s life is still unfolding. Disaster averted. For them, they walked away—not with their own problems solved—but a renewed sense of the generosity of God.

--William High is the President/General Counsel of the Servant Foundation (www.servantchristian.com). Servant’s mission is to inspire, teach and facilitate revolutionary biblical generosity. He may be reached at whigh@servantchristian.com.

CFG Summer Update

Bill High — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 20:23:20 GMT

Read on for important announcements, fundraising resources, and Jessica's final summer post.

First off, we are completely excited to have released our new book "Grants for Christian Ministries and More!" You've seen a little information about it on the blog, but now we have a page up on our website where you can get more details. Whether you are an international ministry, a Christian school, a grant writer, development director, this book has the answers for you. We have been receiving phenomenal reviews from many elite groups all across the USA. Visit the webpage to see what people are saying!

Secondly, just a look ahead, but we are going to have more authors writing for our blog this fall. To make sure that you don't miss any posts, click the "Syndication" tab on the home page of the blog so that you can begin following all the posts. Here is the direct link for you to subscribe to the feed: http://blogs.christianfoundationgrants.com/Rss.aspx

Third, if you are looking for more fundraising resources, be sure to join our e-newsletter. Go to www.christianfoundationgrants.com and you will see a sign-up box there at the bottom of the page. Our monthly newsletters will inform you of upcoming grant deadlines, provide grant-writing tips, and keep you up to date with the latest non-profit news.

Fourth, you saw all the changes we made to our website design, so now we want to invite you to enjoy the many inside changes we have made. We have been working on adding even more foundations to our database! For instance, we just did research on the state of Texas, and there are now are 450 Texas foundations in our database that all accept applications and have a history of faith-based giving! Learn more about how you can find foundations in your state by using the CFG Insider.

Lastly, a note from Jessica:

Hello friends! Thanks for following along with my writing this summer. It has been fun to respond to emails and learn about ministry life from all across the world. I will plan to continue writing with CFG, but it will be on a more limited basis. Still, if you want to ask me questions, just send me an email or find me on LinkedIn (see the bottom of this post for that information)

As I close, I want to encourage all of you to continue in the good fight. Life may seem daunting, but live life in Christ. The chaos, uncertainty, and tragedy will not make much more sense, but it is not our call to understand. Let us live the questions. There is a foundation of grace & Christ's beautiful sovereignty upholding us through it all.

The story is going to be good. I know I have said it many times, but keep perspective. When you have lost so much, remember the riches of Christ. When you feel alone, remember that He is Emmanuel. He is trustworthy. Live well, friends. Grace to you! ~Jessica High

Want to talk with me about these ideas? I now am on LinkedIn! http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jessica-high/23/235/477 (Or click here to email me!) Connect with me there; I am happy to answer questions and engage in discussion.

-- Jessica High manages marketing and research at Christian Foundation Grants (www.christianfoundationgrants.com) which is a subscription database of foundations that provide grants to faith based organizations. iDonate.com is a website (www.iDonate.com) that allows ministries to receive non cash gifts online

Fundraising: Signs of Hope

Bill High — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:51:03 GMT

Your ministry is needed, and your work is valued.

Often, we in the field of ministry go for long times without hearing words of encouragement or hope. This economy certainly has not provided any of that, yet I challenge you to take a moment of reflection. There is still cause for hope.

Because I help research private foundations, I have followed the giving trends. You might actually be surprised at what you find. Though there was an overall decrease in giving, many foundations sought innovative ways of giving and others even increased their giving. Grants for faith-based organizations and other organizations close to people’s core values have remained fairly stable.

In other words, your story is not forgotten. People do care.

At the end of May, I wrote a post encouraging you to “pause a moment” and think about the larger story. I would like to challenge you to continue with this theme. Part of your fundraising success is dependent on your perspective after all. If “dismal,” “defeat,” and “dark” are the words you are thinking of when it comes to fundraising, you probably will not even want to bother with the process.

So what is this real sign of hope? It is something a lot larger than just fundraising. It comes back to the idea of story.

Life is a love story. This does not mean it is a picture-perfect, sappy story. I am talking about the classic romance rather. Think about it. You are engaged in a story filled with the clash of good & evil, a broad cast of characters—some of whom you never even realize have an impact on your story, fierce battles, dismal nights, small victories, and at last the hero’s return.

This metaphor has multiple applications, and I hope you think through some of them for your ministry. What is life worth if we have spent it feeling defeated? What is life worth if all I have given you is statistics on online giving and more ‘how-to’ articles? No, there is something far deeper of greater worth that we both must strive for. In fact, I would say life is worth celebrating.

Celebration is a difficult thing in the face of tragedy, but keep perspective. It does not mean a huge party, but it is the consistent delight in the hand & heart of God. Though you may not always see it, He is the wonderful author of this divine love story.

Be at peace.

I welcome your feedback as I continue writing this summer! Click here to send me an email.

--Jessica High manages research and marketing at Christian Foundation Grants (www.christianfoundationgrants.com) which is a subscription database of foundations that provide grants to faith based organizations. iDonate.com is a website (www.iDonate.com) that allows ministries to receive non cash gifts online