DISCERNING POTENTIAL GIVERS

How do we know who might be willing and able to give a Witness Gift? The three most important tools in this process are listening ears, a good database and a small discernment group of people willing to pray and think about who the witness givers might be.

Listening

Listening begins in Phase I and never ends. Listen for interested voices asking questions and offering enthusiasm. Record the names of those who attend vision/mission discernment activities. Note comments and ideas to serve as future reminders of both ideas and individuals who spoke them. Listening is the intangible tool that will depend heavily on the tangible database.

Database

The database is the place to note the names of the interested. It should also contain accurate information about all of the individuals who will be asked to participate in the capital campaign. Those individuals who are potential givers have to be identified, and information systems have to be established to indicate the potential givers’ past support and known interests.

Setting Up The Database

• Begin with the congregations mailing list.
• Check the completeness of the list.
• Check the accuracy of the list. Are names spelled correctly? Are you using the correct honorific (Mr., Mrs., Miss, Ms., Dr., The Rev., etc.)? This can be subjective. For example, widows of one generation may resent being addressed as Mrs. Mary Smith because when they grew up the use of a woman’s first name meant she was divorced. Wives of a later generation may be equally resentful to be address as Mrs. John Smith as they feel failure to use their first name discounts them. If you are going to send information to young people, do you know their names as well? “And family” or “and children” doesn’t set well as a mailing address for most teens.
• Record relevant data. This will include leadership roles, diocesan leadership roles, and other activities activities and affiliations. It will also include indications of interest in specific ministries and response to the vision and mission of the congregation. Don’t depend on your memory to store insights as to the way in which people are discerning God’s call to them. Use the technology available for this vital, pastoral work.
• Add the names of potential foundations.
• Record results of giver discernment here. Entries should include whether the individual will receive a leadership or witness gift invitation or be included in the congregational gifts phase. If a witness or leadership gift invitation is indicated, record the name of the person who will make the invitation.
• Once the offering work begins, record results in this same database.

Phase I, Create the Vision is not too early to begin work on the database. In fact, as you proceed with Phases I and II, you will find it helpful to record the names of those who participate in the vision creating and refining activities, especially those who demonstrate more than ordinary interest.

Giver Discernment Group

Ask God’s help in calling a gift discernment group together. This is not a formal committee and might actually be several small groups pulled together in different parts of the diocese for a single session. Invite persons who have a wide range of relationships in their region, a strong commitment to the diocesan mission, and possess the capacity to support the diocesan work financially.

Their task will be to compile a list of persons who will be invited to make a Witness Gift ($5,000 or more) to the Alleluia Fund. During the meeting they will need to assess the following:

• Capability of the potential giver to support the annual offering
• Ideal person to talk with them about it
• Possibility that the potential giver might be recruited as a worker in the annual offering
• Relevant information about the giver that will be helpful in the invitation to give, including the potential giver’s relationship with the diocese. This may include selection of a specific aspect of the project for which the individual’s gift will be sought.

Inevitably, potential giver identification will be an ongoing activity. The major portion of this activity should be completed in a timely fashion so that potential giver discernment activities can begin on time.

Adapted from The Alleluia Fund:  A Guide for Dioceses and Congregations