Clear and Compelling Vision

In the spring of 1996, more than thirty expeditions representing teams from America, Taiwan, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Japan, Russia, Tibet, Norway, and other locations camped on the flank of Everest at 17,600 feet. Though separated by nationality and language, their mission was the same—29,035 feet—to reach the summit. To accomplish this mission, one had to endure altitude sickness that could render a person unconscious; frostbite that made amputated toes and fingers a real possibility; and the fickle nature of Everest storms that could quickly turn a trip to the summit into a fight for one's life. Even after six climbers died in the spring of 1996, a seemingly endless stream of climbers, intent on reaching the pinnacle of Mount Everest, hiked past bodies still frozen in their final resting places. With such a visible reminder of the dangers of Everest in front of them, why would they possibly continue? Two words—the summit.

In our combined twenty-five years of consulting with churches and a variety of nonprofit organizations, we have discovered compelling similarities between mountain climbing as described by Jon Krakauer in Into Thin Air and achieving the "summit" of effective and enduring Christian stewardship. While Christian financial stewardship education and annual commitment campaigns do not share the physical challenges and dangers of an assault on Everest, many pastors and the chairpersons of pledge programs can relate to these words by Krakauer: "I quickly came to understand that climbing Everest was primarily about enduring pain. And in subjecting ourselves to week after week of toil, tedium, and suffering."

Whether conducting a Christian financial stewardship program or attempting to climb Mount Everest, having a clear and compelling vision is a crucial first step. In the not-so-distant past, clergy could announce to their congregations, "We need money for ...," and, for the most part, people would contribute appropriately. But in the last few years the landscape has changed drastically, and the number of solicitations has grown exponentially. Between 2000 and 2009, the number of nonprofit organizations (501[c][3]) in the United States increased from 819,000 to more than 1.2 million. Now instead of one or two worthwhile organizations asking for charitable contributions, we are bombarded with requests from nonprofits every day. Organizations ask us to help find a cure for cancer or provide food and water to starving children. Pictures and videos of people who have suffered the effects of malnutrition or of birth defects create great emotion. A world where children have enough to eat and clean water to drink is a worthy goal. If a close friend or family member has been afflicted by an illness, prospective donors will likely have an affinity for supporting the organization that is trying to eradicate it. To everyone who has been touched by the effects of cancer, a cancerfree world is a compelling vision. A compelling vision inspires generosity.

And yet for many churches, when it comes time for the annual pledge program, the finance chairperson stands up and talks about how utilities have gone up, the pastor hasn't had a raise in three years, and how requests from the denominational headquarters have increased once again. But is this really the vision God has for your church? Isn't God calling your church to be something more than a static place for maintaining your facilities and Sunday morning worship?

The most important question in any fund-raising program (church or otherwise) is not the question of how much—How much do I give? or How much do we need?—but instead the question is, why? Why should I part with my hard-earned dollars? What will be the effect of my giving to your organization? And much more important, what will be the effect of my giving on people's lives?

Perhaps one reason some congregations struggle to clearly articulate their vision is that they don't really believe that people's lives are being transformed as a result of their ministries. In one church where we worked, the congregation was trying to raise funds for a new building because they were out of space. One of the leaders said, "We can't advertise; we can't invite new people because we have no space, no place to put them." We asked them, "What if you knew you had the cure for cancer and decided to keep it to yourselves? Wouldn't that be unthinkable? Wouldn't that be almost criminal?" They nearly shouted back, "Of course!" So we asked another question: "Do you believe you have the answer for a world that is broken and hurting?" Again they answered, "Yes!" In the end, a clear and compelling vision for transforming lives led to a highly successful capital campaign for a new church building. Climbing the mountain of Christian financial stewardship requires a clear and compelling vision— and just paying the bills and keeping the doors open isn't it!

At this time, stop reading and reflect on the following questions:

1. How has your life or the lives of the people you love been transformed because of participation in the church?

2. What do you see happening in the lives of others that makes you excited about giving to your church?

Mission vs. Vision

In A Spirituality of Fundraising, Henri Nouwen says:

Fundraising is proclaiming what we believe in such a way that we offer other people an opportunity to participate with us in our vision and mission. Fundraising is precisely the opposite of begging. When we seek to raise funds we are not saying, "Please could you help us because lately it's been hard."Rather, we are declaring, "We have a vision that is amazing and exciting. We are inviting you to invest yourself through the resources that God has given you—your energy, your prayers, and your money—in this work to which God has called us."

Nurturing generosity in the church sends us back to the question of, What is this work that God has called us to? This is the question of mission and vision. Depending on the source, mission and vision can be described and defined in many different ways. For the purpose of C.L.I.M.B., our definitions are relatively simple. Mission is the basic and most fundamental reason we exist as a church. You might call it our unchanging driving force or our unyielding intent. The mission is the same for every Christian church in every denomination. Our mission is simple and was given to us in the Great Commission:

Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of...