I was shocked to read this in Donor focus seen as key in recession:

“The recession has stimulated fundraisers to have to be more creative, more personal, more deliberate,” says consultant Karla Williams of the Williams Group in Charlotte, N.C. “Just as the donor has become more discerning, the development officer has become more discerning.”

Shouldn’t the primary concern of every organizations be building a last relationship with the donor? Did we really need a recession to discover that every NPO lives and dies by the freewill, faithful giving of our constituency?

What does all of this have to do with churches?

The “Divine” check-and-balance system that exists within churches is this: God gives the vision to the church leader, but He gives the resources (time, talent, and treausre) to the person in the pew. It’s the job of the church leader to cultivate that which God intended to accomplish the vision they have been given.

Since the work of the church cannot be accomplished by anyone else or anything else, it is of utmost importance that we be creative, personal, and deliberate in connecting with the person in the pew. Do we really need a recession to remind us that people come first?