After every conference we get questions that did not get answered at the conference and this year is no exception.  I’m going to take a few and give my thoughts and invite yours.  Each of us has different styles of giving and my perspective is going to be different from yours so I want you to feel free to throw in your own thoughts.

We have mostly given based on prayer.  We just pray and listen to God and he has told us whom to give to and how much.  And I think that is still a great way to give.  But we learned that we can also ask questions about the organization’s capacity develop closer relationships with those to whom we give follow up to hear how things are going and pray for their needs.

Now that we’ve seen all these amazing sectors where you can give (e.g. human trafficking church planting medical aid etc.) how do you organize all those interests into a giving plan?  Or do you not “plan” and just give as God moves you to give?  Does having a plan really matter?

My first response is most of us who have been doing this work do not pray nearly as much as we plan.  Don’t give that up or think you can pray less!  That is at the heart of what we do and yet we do not take it as seriously as we should.  At one of our meetings for professional staff we set aside a time to pray for each other and our grantees and many said it was the best session of the conference.  Keep prayer as a central part of what you are doing.

Plans are good but I would also advise you to think about what Peter Drucker called “shooting at targets of opportunity” just to see what people organizations and causes fit who you are and the way you most naturally operate.  Don’t be random but don’t allow a plan for giving to constrict you too soon in your learning.  If you are just getting started you really don’t know enough to come up with a plan.  Experiment. Try some “low cost probes” that give you a feel for what you like and the way you like to work.  The time will come for you to have a plan but don’t push to get there too soon.  Make notes and engage in conversations and then sit down six months from now and see if there is a pattern to what you are learning and who you are meeting. 

The hardest advice I ever received was from Dr. Ray Bakke when I was just starting out learning about an area of interest.  He told me to not do anything for six months – just listen.  It was good advice.