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From “Survival” to “Significance”

What does it take?

By Dan Mirgon, CFRE

A lot of small ministries we talk with have a problem. 

Many are working 24-7 to serve an ever increasing list of people in need - and all are struggling to find funding. 

When asked about their greatest financial need, the most common answer is, “more!”

These ministries are in survival mode.  There is always too much work and not enough money.  As a result, conversations often sound like the famous credit card commercial, asking, “What’s in your wallet?” 

Clearly, there has to be a solution.  Something that rescues them from drowning in stress and that positions them to display God at work.

The answer?  A well written “Case for Support”

By definition a Case for Support is:  the general argument why a charitable organization deserves gift support.  For the Evangelical Ministry – the definition is expanded to include, “reasons for Kingdom Investment.”

The Case begins as an internal document that outlines and defines your ministry in the following ten areas:

1.      Mission Statement

2.      Goals

3.      Objectives

4.      Programs and Services

5.      Finances

6.      Governance

7.      Staffing

8.      Service Delivery

9.      Planning and Evaluation

10.  History

This document becomes the official “story” of your ministry and the information in it is the basis for all your “external” case expressions.  Brochures, website language, and other resources draw their information from this “information inventory” and allow all of your team to speak the same language. 

The Case also does something very important.  Taking the time to sit down as a team and write this document makes you address some very important questions like, “why are we in ministry in the first place?” and “what does it look like when we are meeting the need?”

We have also found that for any ministry to be fundable, four elements need to be evident:

1.      A clear Call from God:  Confidence that God actually called you into ministry to do something for His kingdom.

2.      A History of Impact:  Footprints that lead back to changed lives.

3.      The Commitment to Growth:  Growth defined as serving more people, (not making payroll).

4.      A Realistic Vision:  People give to impact and join an effort that looks like it has a chance to succeed.

So why go through all this trouble when you can just ask more people for money?  Simply put, you don’t have anything but “needs” until you have a “Case” for them to get excited about.

So where do we go from here?  I have yet to find a ministry leader that wants to stay in Survival mode.  Everyone I talk with wants to move up the ladder through the following stages:

§    Stability:  Able to manage the ministry and funding is adequate

§    Significance:  Reaching a new level of Impact, with funding to match the growth

§    Legacy:  The ability to have lasting results for the years ahead

Image a day when more people are investing in God’s work through your ministry; that you have growing family of partners praying for the work; and you can look back and see more and more lives impacted for Christ.

Reaching for the life preserver might seem like work now, but it won’t then.