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Are you missing a hidden responsibility in your leadership?
As with driving a car, if you don’t pay attention to your blind spots in leadership, you’ll likely have some accidents. Similarly, if you don’t address fundraising with your staff you will bypass their personal felt needs—and you’ll have some accidents.
But we’re not without guidance! The Bible has plenty to say about fundraising and leadership, and this book explores six biblical leaders who faced the same fundraising-leadership issues confronting you today. So fasten your seatbelt!
Blindspots explores:
- You:
- Blind Spots in Your Personal Outlook
Your Team:
- Blind Spots as You Lead Others
Your Strategies:
- Blind Spots in Your Fundraising Practices
Your Organization:
- Blind Spots in Your Organizational Structure and Systems
Scott Morton serves as International Funding Coach for The Navigators. After graduating from Iowa State University and starting his journalism career, he moved from part-time ministry with college students to full-time ministry with The Navigators. That’s when the fundraising adventure began. After serving on campuses in the U.S. and for short stints in Asia and Europe, he joined The Navigators U.S. Development Department in 1985. In 1997 he led U.S. Navigator fundraising strategy as Vice President of Development and took the International Funding Coach role in 2010. Scott has written four books, including Funding Your Ministry: A Field Guide for Raising Personal Support. He has also authored Down to Earth Discipling, Tired of Do-List Christianity?, and For You, My Friend.
Introduction
WHEN GIFTED, CAPABLE MEN AND WOMEN step into ministry leadership they get a surprise — fundraising! Maybe they saw the fundraising line item on the job description, but it was ‘glossed over’ in favor of more interesting leadership topics. Soon fundraising becomes a huge headache.
In driving a car we look to the front, back, and side to side, but every car has ‘blind spots’ — areas we cannot see. It is similar in leadership. Fundraising blind spots in leadership are invisible, and they cause even good leaders to make mistakes.
Leaders likely are well-trained generally, but in fundraising or creating fundraising strategies they are expected to ‘figure it out.’
They look to consultants, seek board members’ advice, or they try to delegate ‘this funding stuff.’ To no avail. Sadly, gifted, energetic leaders are minimized because of fundraising challenges thrust upon them, their teams, and the organization.
But here is hope! In this book I share my own blind spots in funding and those of leaders from around the world. ‘The fundraising Goliath’ (as my friends in Africa call it) is being defeated!
Rather than knee-jerk into pragmatic solutions, we’ll start with the Bible. Blindspots comes out of my many years study of six Bible leaders who overcame the same financial issues facing you. It also comes from grappling with the raw, on the ground challenges faced by leaders from many cultures. It’s not theory!
Whether you are responsible for 200 field staff in Sub-Saharan Africa, six campus reps in Kansas City, or two interns in Kuala Lumpur, this book will help you identify fundraising blind spots in your leadership and organization and will serve as your hazard map as you lead your team through the rocky terrain of nonprofit fundraising.