The Vision Mission Plan Money Connection

Part of a Year-Long Special Series on Nurturing Stewardship

There were days when people would give to your congregation out of loyalty — because they always have, and to help keep doing what you have always done. Some of those folks are probably still around, but they are getting fewer and fewer.

These days, donor studies show that people give to charitable causes with their heads and their hearts. People want to be inspired and feel like they are making a difference with their giving – this makes their hearts feel good. Plus they want to trust in the organization, and see that there is a strategy and the implementation capability to deliver results – this makes their heads feel good. Some people are more head-oriented givers, some are more heart-oriented givers – but most have some mix of both.

Sidebar

Studies show people say they are more head-oriented, but their donation patterns show they are more heart-oriented. UUs have been known as an “ears up” denomination; this might give you ideas. 😉

I realize this is simplistic; people’s giving motivations are complex. They might give because it is part of their family culture, or it is a faith-based or justice practice, or a host of other reasons. But more and more donors are getting the strong message to looks for high-performing nonprofits, and to look for plans and “measurables” to understand the value of their donations – head-oriented elements.

[Tweet “A vision provides a how-it-can-be story that appeals to hearts AND heads.”]

You will notice that to be inspiring, to show how you make a difference, to engender trust, and to demonstrate the ability to deliver results all take an explicit vision. The heart part of folks requires a vision to inspire them and the head part of folks requires a vision so they know that the ship is being steered somewhere specific. And a vision is not enough; a mission to under-gird that vision, resources to achieve that vision, and the implementation plan to get there are needed. As a set of essential elements, these show people that their giving will make a difference and deliver results.

Now I know that talking about mission/vision/resources/plan causes eye rolling. 🙄 This is particularly true of UUs, who tend to be part of organizations – corporations or nonprofits – that have gone through long and painful strategic planning processes. That old-style strategic planning sometimes resulted in a big binder that sat on a shelf getting dusty. And probably better that it did, as that binder was full of a bunch of stuff that no one agreed with anyway (except the people who wrote it), was unrelated to the capacity of the organization to deliver, or was so fuzzy that it gave no sense of how to actually implement it.

Let me put this another way, no one is going to give you more money, and certainly not a lot more money to keep doing just what you are doing already. For that you only need the minimum amount to keep going. People will give you more money for doing something else or something better – which you might be able to do without any vision, but will start to feel unplanned after a while (our donors tend to be engaged, and for many years, so will notice). People will give you a lot more money for doing something extraordinary, something visionary.

[Tweet “People will give you a lot more money for doing something extraordinary, something visionary.”]

Here is a great visual that tells this story. It is a version of a chart create by Frankie Price Stern who is now retired from consulting with our program. Still I am grateful for her intelligence.

Bottom line: to have a vibrant and sustainable stewardship program, you need a (current and engaging) vision, mission, and plan. Then you will have a reason to ask people to give generously to your congregation, so you can tell that how-it-can-be story to appeal to their hearts, and show the get-there steps to appeal to their heads.

Mark Ewert is a stewardship consultant with the Stewardship For Us team. Mark can be reached at mewert@stewardshipforus.com, via the UUA’s Congregational Stewardship Network, (http://www.uua.org/finance/fundraising/index.shtml), or through your regional staff. BTW, we do help congregations with visions, missions, and plans – so send a message if you want to know more about that work.

This blog has a new posting no less than once a month. You may find it and more at our website, www.stewardshipforus.com. You are welcome to sign up for stewardship updates at the blog. Comments and discussion are always welcome; share your experiences with us.