Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category

Fundraising tip #37b 1/2

Published
by
hardlynormal
on June 23, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

If you run a campaign that is successful by bringing in a $40 average gift the smart move is to focus on increasing the amount of $40 gifts instead of trying to acquire larger gifts. Fight the temptation to be greedy. Augment what is working instead of trying to increase the size of the single gift.

Also, premiums in the current economy may be a little tricky. For example: besides being viewed as a gimmick, if you are offering an Ipod Nano as a premium for a larger gift, the donor who can fork out that amount of money is probably going to realize the “gift” is bought with their own money. It may actually backfire and the premium offer will have the opposite effect. There is an art to running a successful premium campaign and my best advice is to not be in a hurry and consult with a professional.

When measuring a campaign you must also consider the effect the campaign has on the whole organization. For example: alone total donations of a campaign may look like a success yet what influence did it have on church growth? Were new visitors turned off by a fundraising video before, during and after service? During the campaign did the church grow or subtract? It is so important to look at total effect because in reality the campaign may have lost money. Using another example churches often host really great events that bring in new people, but more focus is given to selling food items then attracting membership. My advice has always been if you are going to host a movie night, car show or other similar event - give the food away. You will raise far more money from one tithing member then hundreds of hotdogs and soda. Besides, chances are the church down the street is not charging. You never get a second chance on a first impression.

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I am confused – connection to God question.

Published
by
hardlynormal
on June 22, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 3 Comments

Ok please hear my heart. I am not criticizing just trying to get some understanding. Plus, I usually stay away from this type of discussion (and politics) because all I need to know is God is good and God works. The truth is no human can fully understand God and the Bible so all the debates, too me, are dumb. They usually lead to arguments and I prefer peace.

Anyway,

A few times I have heard the teaching that God won’t work with a hurt, bruised or broken spirit. Only through a positive spirit does God supposedly work. Basically if we are down and depressed we lose our connection to God is what the teaching is saying.

Here is my issue and my confusion. The times in my life that God worked the most was when I was broken. The most significant spiritual revelations come to me when I am going through a severe challenge accompanied with lots of pain. Being honest, during those times I do lose MY connection because I stop praying, reading my bible, etc. But that is when I feel the closest to Him, and it is when He speaks to me the most.

Matthew 5:3

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
      for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

And again being honest, when I was living in a park in Hollywood homelesss I was not rejoicing (or tithing). I was spiritually bankrupt and God delivered me. This last year was crisis after crisis after crisis. When I had lots of faith and believed, fasted, sowed and staying positive through the storm things kept getting worse and worse and worse. Now that I am broken I see more clearly though my spiritual eyes. Now that I am broken God is starting to work miracles.

Please know I really am confused here and my only motivation is to find understanding.

Any thoughts?

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Feel sorry for us we’re poor ministers and deserve a discount.

Published
by
hardlynormal
on June 21, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 2 Comments

I am having a fire sale on craigslist and one email I received attempted to manipulate the price by stating he was a campus pastor. Basically he was implying that I should feel sorry for the vocation he selected and give him a break. After all ministers don’t have money, right?

Well I called him on it. And to be honest, I have tried to play this card myself a few times. If you are in ministry chances are so have you.

I believe years ago it was even listed on license plates and clergy were given special treatment. Times have changed and even though many of the old school leaders want to bring the respect and protocol back, it is not going to happen. Actually I somewhat agree it should come back yet talking down to people will never bring respect back. I have seen firsthand a pastor alienate people by chastising them for not having military like protocol when addressing him. Some real truth for you. People don’t respect ministers and chastising them won’t bring that respect back. It just separates you more. We are in a new era and the religious and rigid views of yesteryear are long gone. Right or wrong they are gone forever!

This is where we are today. A few years back I was in a coffee house in Hollywood with a pastor friend of mine. A guy asked him what he did for a living. My friend gladly said he is a pastor thinking this is going to open a door. The guy then responded “so you like little boys?”

It is not the peoples fault. It is ours. We created this. The office of clergy, or reverend, or pastor, or bishop, or whatever title you want to give yourself, is no longer respected. And can you blame people?

I am not referring to the major highly publicized immoral failures. I am talking about how as Christians we are known to be cheap. Just ask any wait staff and they’ll tell you we’re horrible tippers. Plus, we try and manipulate people in the hopes of getting a reduced rate on a sale. There is more, you fill in the blank. We are jerks, liars, cheats, manipulators, and freaks!

10 years ago I was riding in the passenger seat of a brand new SUV crawling down Sunset Blvd. The driver was the son of one of the most famous pastors of our time. It was a nice day and we had the windows down just moving slowly in “parking lot” LA traffic. All of a sudden a LAPD motorcycle officer was parked on the side of the road only a few feet from my door. We were fast approaching and neither of us had our seat belts on. The cop was looking right at us so it would have been too obvious to quickly buckle up, so I simply opted to smile and say “hello officer”. “Hello”, he returned and followed with “pullover”, which we did. Now at the time I really was a poor minister. My income was $25 a week. The driver, son of a very famous high profile celebrity pastor, tried to talk his way out of the ticket by telling the officer how we feed the homeless and do the work of the Lord. That we don’t have much money because ministers that follow Jesus are poor. With registration in hand the officer asked if this was a new SUV. The driver said yes. The officer handed him the ticket and walked away. Of course, I honestly did not have the money for a $200 ticket and I had to go to court to request community service. If you have never enjoyed the LA court system or community services it is a treat.

Continue reading ‘Feel sorry for us we’re poor ministers and deserve a discount.’

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