The Point

I talk about money every day, seriously.

I get paid to talk about money.

But when it comes to asking for money for my own need, I get nervous and proud and light headed all at once.

There is something about realizing that you have a goal that is beyond your own ability to meet that is frightening, humbling, and energizing!

That’s where I am today.

 I shared last week that the total costs for our adoption will tally nearly $30,000. A major portion of which is due in less than a month!

As I stared at the number for a while, I realized a couple things- that’s more than I can do alone…AND if I’m going to ask for help I might as well DO MORE.

I have decided that it’s not enough to simply adopt a child and get them out of an orphanage in Africa, we also need to change Africa. So today I want to introduce you to A Glimmer of Hope. Their work on the ground in Ethiopia is helping the country make great strides towards sustainable income, lower infant mortality, and higher standards of living.

So, in addition to asking you for money to help rescue an orphan, I’m also asking you to help build a better Ethiopia.

If every Twitter and Facebook friend gives $2 a month for the next 6 months…

Together we can raise all the funds for adoption and enough to drill two wells in rural Ethiopia!

Some of you can give a lot more, if we raise more than the goal, all additional funds will go to build additional wells.

To give via credit card you can click the box to the right of the page, if you’d rather send a check, shoot me an email and I’ll give you our mailing address.

Let’s do this…it’s time!

Water: A Global Crisis from A Glimmer of Hope on Vimeo.

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This is a Re-Post from Will Mancini, he says it better than I could so I’ll let him, you can visit his blog here–

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This is my website.

As you have noticed I spend a fair amount of time discussing non-profit leadership, that’s a big part of me.

But an even bigger part of me is my family, and that’s something I also share about from time to time.

We decided to start the adoption process early this year and after spending time researching the process, the places, and the people(organizations), we decided to adopt from Ethiopia through AGCI.

Since that decision, we’ve had numerous emails and calls with the agency and made it through the initial paperwork and fee without putting together a good plan for how we’d raise the rest of the money.

Now we’re to a point where it’s time to come up with some good fundraising ideas…

Here is the breakdown of costs and dates due, earliest date is a real deadline, the others depend on the Ethiopian and U.S. government a bit.

$7,390+$1,000 for homestudy    September 24th

$920                                                          October 30th

$5,190                                                       November 30th

$5,050                                                      December 31st

$7,640                                                      January 31st,2011

That’s $27,190 to raise in six months or less…whew. So we’ve got a few ideas, but would love any ideas/input you may have as well…

And don’t be surprised if I ask you for money the next time we talk

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“Organizational decline is more about what you do to yourself than what happens to you.” –Jim Collins

There was a time when I’m not sure I believed that quote. Spending most of the last year working with struggling non-profits has confirmed its truth.

With the crisis consulting I’m involved in today, most calls come to me when a church is about to lose their property or some other dire event is occurring.

What I find after spending some time with these ministries is that these situations don’t come out of nowhere.

Where we find ourselves today is the result of many small steps we’ve taken in this direction!

Sometimes the way out of this mess isn’t to continue bravely forward, but to make the decision now to change directions.

So, how do we get out of the pit?

1. Acknowledge the situation–I see far too many situations made worse by denial to admit that what got us here won’t get us out, or worse that there is nothing wrong with where we are (it’s not what we’ve done but what’s been done to us mentality)

2. Seek counsel– Every organization has talent they are not utilizing, both internally and in your network of contacts, there are people who can help, seek them out and then hear them out.

3. Communicate clearly and fully- In the situation of a church in a financial emergency, almost all of them initially want to hold this information within a very small circle of leadership, when ultimately the solution to the problem lies in the vast majority of people who may help if given the full story.

An important thing to remember is that you can get out of today’s mess, one small step at a time…

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…is important.

In order to maintain momentum in any endeavor, it’s essential to stay motivated.

This could be a grand post for church planters, but today my mind is on running.

When I was younger I ran, fast. I stopped for a few years. Starting again was hard…and slow. Now I’m running again.

For me to continue this lifestyle change, one thing that helps is to put goals at regular intervals that are close enough to be trained for, but consistent enough to keep me going.

So, here is my race schedule for the next six months. I’ll continue to keep about a six month lead of races at least every eight weeks to not allow myself too much time between to get comfortable and complacent…those can both be enemies of success.

August 28th- Chattanooga Mud Run

October 16th- Dalton Half Marathon

December 4th- Savannah Bridge Run Double Pump!

January 7-8th- Ragnar Relay Miami to Key West

February 13th- Mardi Gras Half Marathon

See you out there!

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Every week I sit down and talk to Pastors and ministry leaders and the first question I ask is always the same

“How are you doing?”

           Sitting across from the guy they called because they needed or wanted to talk money they go immediately into the church budget and how good or bad the recent offering trends have been, important stuff to be sure, but not really what I was asking.

It’s important for your staff to stay healthy. Spiritually, Emotionally, Physically, Mentally…

If you, like me, sometimes find yourself not feeling as well as you should, here are a few tips that I use to write the ship-

1.  Take a break-sometimes this is just a Starbucks run and sometimes it’s completely unplugging for several days. We often need to step away from a problem to see the solution.

2. RUN-This has become one of my go to stress relievers, but it’s not just running, wrestling with the kids, biking with the wife, anything to get your blood pumping and your mind off of whatever its been obsessing over.

3. Read a book- I often find solutions to problems I’m wrestling with in the pages of a good book.

4. Talk about it-  sometimes you just need to unload, and you’d be surprised how often this alone makes you feel better.

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My wife asks me the question all the time…What were you thinking?

So today, I thought I’d share a few random thoughts from my random mind…

Why do we do it this way?

What if there is a better way to do this that nobody has even considered yet?

Who is doing things differently and getting results?

Would what’s working there work here?

What can I do better than anyone else?

Why am I not doing more of that?

I try to ask questions a lot, when it works I get better, when I stop asking questions I often stop getting results and almost always stop getting the results I want…

GO.

THINK.

ASK.

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Last week we talked about some things that help ensure a visitor makes it to the front door, today let’s talk about some things to do once you get them there.

Friendly greeter/greeting- Seems like a given, but I’ve been to some that made me feel like I was intruding on their private gathering. They don’t need to be over the top, but a smile and a handshake go a long way to making someone feel welcome.  This is in addition to the parking area greeters that offer a smile, wave, and point me to the visitor parking area.

Literature/information- I’m NOT a fan of the bulletin hand out at the door, but that’s just a personal preference, I don’t yet have any proof that it’s helpful or hindering so I’ll leave that to you. What I KNOW works is a central point of distribution for information for visitors as well as breakout material for more info on small groups, special events, etc. The best I’ve seen have a sort of welcome desk hub that is manned by friendly and knowledgeable volunteers that can do more than hand out the right brochure but can actually talk to the information requested. 

Kids drop-off- This one is HUGE! There are few things worse than coming into a church with my two young kids and staring around blankly looking for some direction, someone showing us where to go, a sign, anything! The check in process itself can take many forms, I prefer an electronic check in, to me it seems more secure, and when I’m dropping my kids off with people I’ve never met, security is IMPORTANT.  On the positive side, Kids ministry done well makes everything else secondary, I GUARANTEE if the kids want to come back you’ll see the family again!

Cafe/Other- I love a well located and quality cafe at church. Of course I’m also an early thirties on and off church attendee,  so if your target is the lifelong church-goer, this is probably not an area of much interest. But if you are attracting the same people you’ve always attracted, maybe it’s time to change things up. This catch all is mainly centered on the look, feel, overall experience of your environments outside of the worship spaces. It should be relevant to the crowd you are trying to attract…

Going to a new church is uncomfortable enough without having to go through additional awkwardness because of the smell, poor signage, or other hurdles we unintentionally put between people and God.

Next time we visit this subject of visitors we’ll look at what happens in the seats and then things  you can do to encourage return visits and involvement.

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By some estimates, over $8,000,000,000 is funded in church loans…every year.

So who are the institutions that loan money to churches?

Banks- Some big players among banks include, Bank of the West, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, BB&T, Regions, and hundreds of regional and community banks all over the country. They tend to have the most standardized approach and are both reasonable in price and service. Most churches look here first.

Credit Unions- Unique because of their membership requirements and restrictions, some of the church lending focused credit unions include ECCU, ACCU, and CCCU. They generally specialize and offer a level of service and expertise that few banks can match, but they also have a smaller deposit pool to fund from which can limit their potential to do loans in certain size, denomination, or geography.

Bond Companies- Church bonds are one of the oldest bonds of any kind and these companies have gone in and out of vogue for a long time. There a lot of companies in this category with few real leaders, but a few I run across with some regularity include Ziegler and Share.  The  benefits of bonds for some churches, long term, fixed rate, are also the disadvantage to others that may have more than one phase planned which could complicate and increase the cost of such funding.

Other Sources- Congregants, private money(Hard money) lenders, and pension funds are among some of the other creative sources of financing for churches. These often come with additional stipulations and challenges that make them a second or third choice…

In each of these categories there are a lot of options and the right fit for an individual ministry can be unique from one to the next. I’ll be doing a few posts in the future talking about things to consider with each type of institution and also steps ministries should take to ensure that when the time comes to borrow funds, they’ll be well positioned to have the request approved.

I’d love to hear from church leaders who have had a memorable experience in the church loan process, good or bad!

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I originally wrote this last summer, as I was trying to figure out what to write today this is what came to mind…

I don’t remember where I saw this video first, but…It’s AMAZING!
Watch the whole video, you won’t get it if you don’t!

A few things we can learn from this video…
1. One man can start a movement.
2. A movement need not be started by the most skilled.
3. When you look around and nobody else is joining your dance, just keep dancing.
4. When the one guy who joins your movement slowly fades away, keep going.
5. Before you know it, the people joining your movement won’t even know you started it.
6. When your movement takes a life of it’s own, just let go… There will be no stopping it.
7. The very people who are staring at you like your nuts, as you “movement” alone, will be the same people dancing the hardest in the end.

It’s time to start your movement, or if you already have and it doesn’t seem like anyone has joined the dance…keep dancing!

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