Raising money "is not begging but being a follower of Christ"
A meeting between the representatives of various Taiwan Catholic NGOs emphasizes the importance of experiencing fundraisers as "a personal conversion". Fundraising is a ministry, "and ministry first of all means 'to receive the blessing of God' for those we serve". Each year Taiwanese foundations provide services to the tune of one billion dollars.
Taipei (AsiaNews) - Generosity "gives rise to more generosity. And this is true in a particular way when generosity is rooted in the fertile soil of this bond” said the prof. Lin, secretary of a great foundation that helps blind people in Taiwan, Taichung opening an informal meeting among directors of fund-raisers of some prominent Taiwanese Catholic foundations, along with members of the clergy and lay people who wanted to improve their fundraising activities required for the mission.
The meeting was held on May 9: "When we opened our Foundation - sais Lin – it would have been impossible to think about doing just one-tenth of all that we are doing now. With an open mind you can always find points in common with the people we meet. The donors generosity in terms of money flows from an even greater generosity that characterizes them as people".
The assistant pastor of the largest parish in Taipei, Fr. Wang added: "To raise money is to proclaim what we believe in a manner that allows us to offer to others the opportunity to be protagonists of our vision and our mission. For this reason, fundraising is a daily invitation to follow Jesus, to which we are called to have a greater self-esteem, knowing how to cooperate in the mission of God, and to do so joyfully becoming even happier and more confident in ourselves. "
What stands out most from the meeting was the emphasis on the spiritual aspect of fund-raising, something we rarely consider. The various interventions also revealed doubts and frustrations: "We can think about raising funds as necessary but not pleasant, with the aim of supporting spiritual goals. Or we may think that raising funds reflects a flaw in planning or lack of trust in the providence of God for our needs. Certainly, very often raising money means responding to a crisis situation, "said a lady who controls an assistence fund for the elderly.
In this regard, the steward of the Eastern Diocese of Taiwan noted: "If suddenly our organization or our community does not have enough money, then we begin to say, 'How can we raise the necessary money? We must begin to ask for money! 'At that moment we understand that we are not used to doing this. We may feel inadequate or embarrassed, not suitable for this important mission. And we begin to worry: 'Who will give us the money? How can we ask for it? '. In a spiritual perspective, we must instead think of the money collected as a ministry. And the ministry first of all means 'to receive the blessing of God' for those we serve. "
Fr. Chen, a southern parish of the island, says he learned a lot not only from the generous supporters of his parish, but also from a famous book by the American writer Henri Nouwen on the Spirituality of fundraising, which hopefully will soon be translated into Chinese. He says: "In an evangelical perspective, raising money does not mean responding to a crisis. Raising money is first and foremost a form of service, it is a way to announce our vision by inviting other people to participate. Vision and mission are so central in the lives of God's people, without vision and without the mission we get lost. Raising funds is to proclaim what we believe in a way that manages to give others the opportunity to participate in our vision and mission.
A question posed from the floor as whether this means not being afraid to beg for a project. Fr. Chen replied: "Collecting money is precisely the opposite of begging. When we aim to raise money, we're not saying, 'Please, can you help us because lately it's been tough!'. Rather, we are proclaiming: 'We have a vision which is amazing and exciting. We are inviting you to invest yourself through the resources that God has given you - your energy, your prayers, your money - in this work to which God has called us. " His intervention generated a loud round of applause because it underpinned the deeper meaning of a positive fund-raising for each significant project.
Sister Tsai instead is touring the island looking for stories of real 'miracles' performed by the Catholic Church in Taiwan in recent decades: "There are amazing works of unknown assistance carried out by the Christian community on this island. I remember when I asked Sister Helen Chen how she managed to build a nursery for children of Aboriginal families, she said: 'For me, years ago when I arrived in this village, I experienced a real conversion. We needed funds. So I felt that raising this money was a call to conversion '. According to Sister Elena conversion means to experience a profound change in our way of seeing, thinking and acting. Raising money, as a service, presupposes a real conversion. "
A country priest spoke of how his village was home to many seniors who only want to be listened to. Fr. Gou said: "Collecting money must always aim at creating a lasting new relationship between those who give and those who receive. Once a generous donor told me: 'I'll give you money if you accept the challenge of being a better pastor, if you stop being so busy and attend to your vocation more calmly, if you listen more to the people around you ! '. This was an important lesson, I stopped always being busy and - surprise! - I have seen firsthand the generosity multiply in the following months".
Mr. Wang, a professional accountant, is in charge of a medium size foundation. His speech starts with an example: "In raising funds, the people who do it as a profession are often much wiser than the people who do it for the ecclesial community. Those involved in the big business know that you never obtained a large amount of money if you ask for it as an act of charity. I remember visiting a famous fund-raiser in Shanghai, one of those who can bring in millions of dollars in one day, whose office was decorated with very beautiful objects. I told him: 'How can you have the courage to ask for money in this office?' He replied: 'My office is part of my way to introduce myself to people. It aims to communicate that I am aware of how you should invest your money, I know how to make capital grow. This inspires confidence in the people I meet here in this office, because they know that their money will be invested in the best way '. He taught me about being professional when meeting people (although glitz in my opinion can become counterproductive) with the underlying spirit: 'We demand funding confident in what we do, not apologizing, but rather because we are convinced that we offer something important '. That practitioner asked people to share his vision without hesitation, without having to apologize".
The president of the foundation for which he works probono, reinforces this message: "Exactly! If we do not have this confident approach, then we are disconnected from our vision and we loose the direction of our mission. We will also be cut off from our donors because eventually we will end up begging and they in turn will be just signing a check without understanding the significance of their contributions. There will be no real connection and unity of purpose, because we will have no way to communicate the spirit of our mission to them. We will have succeeded in making a money transfer, but we will not create a meaningful relationship. "
The meeting concluded with an informal document of the Bishops' Conference on the points on which to focus in this fundraising work. Two years ago was a scandal linked to the use of funds by a Buddhist foundation, resulting in a renewed insistence on total transparency regarding revenue and expenditure: "We need extreme transparency in the use of funds, we must always use them for the purpose of agreement with the donor, who trusts us in a mission that he or she alone could not accomplish. A profound attitude arising from prayer is therefore important: if we place our trust in God and not in the money we are asking for, we first create a relationship of understanding with those who are donating the money, and further clarify the meaning of the mission. God bless your work. "
The work of many Taiwanese foundations, not only Catholic, is crucial in helping people in extreme difficulty. According to recent statistics, Tzu Chi (慈濟), the largest Buddhist organization, collects more than $ 300 million each year for emergencies and ordinary needs in different projects on the island and internationally. Altogether, the Taiwanese foundations reach nearly one billion dollars in services provided each year.
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