Our Relationship With Money
As Henri so clearly states “The question is not how to get money. Rather, the question is about our relationship with money.”
Deeply embedded in the fundraising process–and all interactions between people–are those attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions that we each “bring to the table”. What is our attitude toward money? How does our view of money influence the fundraising process? What is its impact on how we relate to others who we perceive to have financial gifts far beyond our own?
Interesting–and important!–questions. What are your thoughts?
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October 15th, 2005 @ 4:00 pm
Money is a tool. It can be used for much good and when it is the Lord blesses it. Christ paid taxes. He gave to the poor and received from the poorest of the poor. Giving is great because we then entrust ourselves to Divine Providence.
October 16th, 2005 @ 10:17 am
Clearly money is a tool as you say……and clearly one that can be used both for good and for bad. Why is it that, in our society, so many people view money as a measurement of their self-worth and “who they are”?
It seems to me that when it comes to fundraising, our understanding of money serves as a “lens” through which we-and others-see our work. For some, the lens through which they view fundraising results in it being an activity that “takes something from the other person”. For others, the opportunity to give–and ask people to give–is a vehicle for partnership and community building.
Any thoughts?
October 18th, 2005 @ 5:12 pm
I am probably being way to philosophical when I reflect on this question but there is something about fundraising that just pushes parishioners’ buttons. There is tangible evidence of parishioners’ being generous so it is certainly not a lack of generosity. One only needs to think of the many natural disasters that have occurred in our world over the past year and the financial support coming from our people is overwhelming. And so maybe the question is not so much about our attitude toward money as it is about our attitude toward church and how much a part of our church that we feel. Do we feel that we have personal ownership in our church? Is church a place where we feel spiritually renewed and challenged to grow deeper in our relationship with our Lord? I get the feeling that for those that are nourished as church and within the church, financial giving is not an option but an obligation and a privilege. The question then becomes one of a challenge to create our worshipping spaces in such a way every parishioner feels a part of their local church and consequently wants to get involved through the sharing of time, talent and in this case treasure.
October 18th, 2005 @ 9:48 pm
Rita, you raise an interesting point. The primary challenge is often not “how to motivate people to give” but how to develop a community/environment that is a powerful enough force in people’s lives to make them “want to give”.
November 3rd, 2005 @ 1:27 am
I get the sense that community is the key word in Church. Belonging to the Church is much different than registering or even attending services on religious occasion. Belonging to my church involves participating in prayer with other members. Learning from them and putting into practice what is relevant to my mission in life. Sharing the table of gathering together for consolation, relief, advice, and someone to lean on in difficult times. Meeting the other people at Church and learning how precious they are is so important to me that I dare not forget their presence. The impact of these little ones means they pray for me and my family prays for them. Going to Church means learning who else is in this activity I call sowing and reaping. I may meet a brother from the far side of town who is great at what he does, and I learn about his way and how I may contribute to making the work better by doing my part.
November 3rd, 2005 @ 9:22 am
Just a comment … I’m not sure what your plans are for this blog, but having about four posts in six months will not encourage people to re-visit this site. It seems “dead” and people will not want to come back again if it is not “active.” If someone does not leave a comment on a post, then post another post. I’d suggest at the very least one posting a week if not more. I would love to see this blog take off … but it won’t do so with so little posting on the owner’s part.
God bless you!!
November 5th, 2005 @ 2:22 am
There is definitely something to be said for participating in activities together. As a family my wife and only daughter eat regularly together. We cook together, speak regularly about many issues, and listen to the radio together. As a family I feel very much always in the presence of them whether close or faraway. Whether I am at work or at play, they are always present in some manner. Church to me is very similar, when I go to Church, depending on how involved I am with the other person, that person is close to me through prayer and interaction in meaningful apostolic work. One thing I tell people as a social worker was that I received my vocation as a child by selling school raffle tickets with my mom to nearby neighbors. If I think of God often, He is that much more present, if I think of Him on an infrequent occasion, then his message becomes more distant. If I never think of Him, the message may not give fruit. It is similar to human relationships, if I think of those whom I love and ought to love, then they become that much more present in my life near and faraway. Thinking and loving are two ends of the same pole. I think I want to love, therefore I can love. When I think about buying flowers for my wife, I try to for the most part do so. If for whatever reason it is not feasible, then I try to substitute it for another act.
Love is an action. Faith is a firm thought. Hope is a positively oriented feeling. These three theological virtues all lead to loving and acting charitably to God and neighbor. Any thoughts?
November 5th, 2005 @ 8:31 am
A response to weewillyd (#6). I appreciate your feedback regarding the blog and your constructive suggestion as to how to make it more useful to those who want to participate. To be honest, this is a totally new experience for me (and Frances)….and we entered this with little idea as to how these things work. Your suggestion about entering a new question each week is a good one. (And I will enter a new one today.) One other aspect of “blogging” that I have yet to grasp is how to keep conversations “on track” with the question that was originally raised.
Again, thanks for your feedback. Is there a particular topic related to Henri’s insight regarding spirituality and fundraising that would be of interest to you?
November 5th, 2005 @ 9:50 pm
So glad to be of help
Your new posts are great.
Some times people don’t answer your question, but your question may stir up something they are dealing with themselves.
I suppose just a gracious response is all we can give at that point. If the posted response is way off the wall, you can just delete it.
It’s my understanding that blogging is like journaling, you just post someting when you have something important to say and people reply to it if they like. Blogging is also “current” in that it often deals with something that happens in your life or the life of someone you know and you write about your experiences that just happened in light of the topic of the blog … like an experience you had as a consultant, and then people interact with you on it.
Blogging is different than a message board where people have different “threads” that follow one specific topic. Often in blogging it is the only the “current” posting that is read, or the most recent ones, anyway. Once a person reads it, they want to read a new one the next time they log on.
November 6th, 2005 @ 10:12 am
Thanks so much for your helpful–and supportive!–comments. As I mentioned earlier, “blogging” is a new thing for me and, at 57, anything having to do with a computer doesn’t come easily (as it does for my children).
I am intrigued by the fact that those entering the blog seem to go directly to faith based answers (or “biblical language”) in responding to the issue of how we relate to money and whether or not we relate to people differently based on their financial resources.
It seems to me that “what we should do as Christians” is the question to answer after determining “what our actual practice is”.
Specifically, how does a person’s financial resources impact (if it does) how you relate to them?