How to Grow Giving - The Art of Sowing Seeds

The Executive Director of Impact City FC, Aaron DeLoach, asked me a couple of years ago to plan his capital campaign to expand his exceptional soccer ministry, https://www.impactcityfc.com/. I love starting things from scratch, so after receiving confirmation that the Lord was in this opportunity, we dug our cleats into the turf and went to work!

After developing the campaign name, branding, and inventory of projects to be funded, we discussed who Aaron knew in the St. Louis area who might join a leadership committee and make a major gift commitment toward the vision of building a new clubhouse and several indoor and outdoor fields to serve hundreds more families in the area.

Within weeks, we developed a strong list of Aaron's connections, many of whom were amazingly talented parents of active soccer kids in the program. We narrowed our list of parents to those we thought could fill volunteer leadership roles, then began meeting with each person to get to know them and ask them if they would join the leadership committee and make a gift.

This is where things became interesting!

We met with the elusive Charles Shinglesworth (pseudonym, of course). Charles had been giving to Impact City FC through a small monthly gift for years, but we didn't really know him.

After Aaron and I invited Charles to the first leadership committee meeting, Charles quietly entered the room and listened carefully throughout the presentation. Following the meeting, I visited with Charles to learn what he cared about and if he had an interest in supporting the campaign. He was favorable in his response, and I found that he was a fascinating man with outstanding leadership skills and the capacity to make a major gift.

The first seeds of relationship had been sown, and I was excited at the prospect of walking alongside Charles to see how he would lead and give.

Then, somewhat abruptly, Charles stopped attending the monthly meetings, which caused us to think something must be wrong.

So, like a gardener waters his plants before they wilt and die, Aaron and I called Charles to hear his thoughts about the campaign and learn what was keeping him from participating. The call meant the world to Charles, and we learned that he recently accepted a major role with his company and couldn't take on anything else for the foreseeable future. He still loved the ministry and offered to request a company grant to help the campaign raise its goal.

Our reaching out to Charles showed him that we cared about him as a person more than the money he might give, and the seeds we had sown were developing into strong relational roots. Most people simply saw all the fruit Charles could give, but we were focused on what people chose not to see, which were the things Charles cared about and what he was going through in his personal and business life.

Months later, Aaron and I asked to meet Charles and his wife, Rhonda, to catch up and offer them a proposal. Charles and Rhonda quickly agreed, and when the time arrived for us to meet, we found them to be happy we would make the time to visit them at their home. They were curious how they could further help the ministry, so we shared with them why we thought they were the perfect fit for a project selected just for them.

A common misperception in fundraising is that offering a proposal will ruin a relationship if the person being asked isn't interested, but that's just not true. People are flattered to be asked and what ends up happening is relationships are strengthened through the discussions following the request. There is an organic progression of getting to know people, asking them to support something good for them, and walking together through their decision-making. The relationship that grows is a beautiful thing to experience!

Charles and his wife decided to give $50,000 toward the campaign, which was their largest gift to the ministry! Imagine if Aaron and I hadn't continued watering the seeds sown months earlier because we feared what might happen if we reached out to Charles after he stopped attending the leadership meetings. The relationship would have withered and died along with their chance to be generous in a special way to the ministry. Their gift was a blessing for so many other families in Impact City FC, but also to Charles and Rhonda because they were elated to find an impactful way for their resources to make a positive difference.

There is an art to sowing seeds and growing giving, and the art is simply this:

care about the roots more than the fruit.

Remember to ask in love.

Bless you,

Derek

Derek Bechtel is the Founder and CEO of RDK Philanthropy,

whose mission is to grow the impact of faith-based individuals and entities through expert-level philanthropic services.