Episcopal Press and News
Academy for Episcopal Philanthropy Urges Church to Move Beyond 'Scarcity Thinking'
Episcopal News Service. November 30, 2000 [2000-214]
(ENS) Exploring the paradox that "generosity begets the Abundant Life," the Episcopal Church Foundation (ECF) hosted the inaugural session of its new Academy for Episcopal Philanthropy at All Saints' Church in Atlanta, Georgia, November 8-11. Thirty-eight people from 23 dioceses attended.
The academy is the foundation's response to its research into leadership issues in the Episcopal Church, which revealed that vast amounts of energy and time are spent by church leaders worrying about finding the resources for their ministry. The foundation's Cornerstone Project research into clergy health and wellness showed that 50-75% of clergy stress is directly related to finances. So the foundation decided to design and operate a comprehensive, collaborative, consistently professional experience to teach church and agency leaders how to raise money.
There are many programs available to teach annual giving (pledging) through various agencies of the church, such as the national church's Stewardship Unit, the Episcopal Network for Stewardship, and the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes. But there are few opportunities for church leaders to learn about capital or special giving, or about planned or "ultimate" giving, the most effective means of funding future ministry.
"For so long, church leaders, even our national church's Executive Council, have been agonizing over how to cut the pieces of the pie ever more thinly to fund important ministries," said Fred Osborn, the foundation's director of gift planning and program director for the Academy. "It's scarcity thinking. We need to learn to think abundantly, to think about making the pie bigger."
Osborn's approach is to teach both a sacred and a secular approach to fundraising. "The sacred approach is based on God's being a giver, on our realizing that all we have are gifts. Our response, once we realize that we've been given to, is gratitude. When we couple that gratitude with a sense of abundance -- the sufficiency of the gifts God has given -- we beget generosity," he said.
He reviewed so-called "secular" fund-raising principles, which the church has for years "avoided, ignored or belittled." These include the need to tell your story convincingly, to cultivate people through stages of emotional involvement, to connect the people with the work that their gifts accomplish, and to thank, recognize and appreciate givers.
"It's the melding of the sacred and the secular perspectives that makes the academy such an effective experience," he said.
Glenn Holliman, academic dean for the academy, and his wife Barbara, delivered comprehensive information about the organization, structure, and conduct of capital campaigns.
Charles Gearing, director of diocesan gift planning programs for the foundation, reviewed the structural requirements for setting up endowment programs.
Pam Wesley, ECF's director of marketing, presented sessions about building awareness among parishioners for the opportunities available. She stressed the importance of having our values reflected both in how we use our money, and in the plans we make for how others will use our "stuff" after we no longer need it.
"What's exciting about the academy," said Bill Andersen, ECF's executive director, "is the hope it brings to our church. Can you imagine how successful and effective our beloved church will be when it has both learned leadership and adequate resources? Why, this is not just another program. This is the program that empowers all the ministry we do."
The next session of the academy is scheduled for April 25-28, 2001 in Chicago. It will be geared to dioceses and church agencies, though the principles apply to ministries at all levels. (Call the Episcopal Church Foundation at 1-800-697-2858 for information.)