You'd be hard pressed to find just
one monthly letter appeal from HWA from the hundreds he personally wrote without hearing a need for more money, some great impending financial crisis for the work, or at least an emphatic request for bigger donations, lest one be found guilty of "robbing" from God's Work.
It's not hard to be critical of the effectiveness of HWA's guilt trip fundraising techniques, but he managed to get over over a billion dollars in cash donated over his lifetime. Indeed, he raked in a lot of cash without having to account for how he spent it, to the very people who provided it.
In more recent, leaner times, the WCG has become a member of the Christian "Stewardship" Association (CSA), turning to it for financial advice on how to "milk" the donor cows for the best yield. Dan Rogers (with little Joe, no doubt) and scores of WCG ministers have attended CSA conferences.
Articles on the CSA website include such stewardship advice as:
10 Biblical and Practical Reasons to Teach People to Give 10%; 10 Practical Ways to Help Increase a Congregation's giving 10-25% (or more); 7 Secrets to Teach About Biblical Giving (I hope keeping the financial statements and unincorporated association bylaws a secret isn't one of the 7 “Secrets”); 90 day Giving Challenge; 100 Stewardship Verses and Ideas; How to Encourage Generous Giving Through People's Wills and Estates.
Hmmm... Could David Pack or Gerald Flurry use the practical wealth extraction techniques found in any of those CSA golden "nuggets"?
CSA is having it's upcoming annual meeting at the Hyatt Regency/Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, NM Jan 31- Feb 2, 2998. Cost to attend the three day conference, with preregistration by members is $740.00.
Workshops and seminars hosted by CSA at the Albuquerque conference include:
How Data Mining Can Increase Net Income for Ministry; Ten Mistakes You Shouldn't Make with Donors; Developing a Personal Solicitation Strategy; Slay the Gospel Bird: Fundraising Banquet or Free Chicken Dinner; How to Acquire Even More Donors; How to Get Out of Debt by Applying God's Principles; Getting More Bank For Your Buck From The “Hired Gun”; and How to Add Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars to Annual Budget Without Finding New Donors.
You can find a copy of the CSA conference schedule at their website here.
These clever modern ministry fundraising techniques have been criticized by Phil Cooke, a ministry media consultant to ministries and churches (unrelated to CSA). He has this to say about modern ministry fundraising techniques:
"For churches and ministries across the country, fundraising has
become a vital tool that ís used to raise the necessary money to make ministry happen. It ís a noble effort, because people need to understand that without financial support, significant outreach is
nearly impossible. However, in many cases, the tail has started to wag the dog, and some ministries focus on raising money more than their actual mission.
The science of fundraising has become a massive business. It has spawned financial consultants, direct response companies, fulfillment businesses, telemarketing, and more. Helping ministries raise money has become an industry in itself.
The fact is, the "personal" ministry letter you receive each month was probably not written by the ministry leader at all, but by a direct mail strategist, and designed by a graphic designer for maximum response. Today, color scheme, spacing, layout, and structure are some of the most important features of monthly letters and and the most effective fundraisers can even compare responses based on different colors of the envelope. They mail the letters on just the right day each month so it arrives when people get their paycheck either from the mail or direct deposit. Statistics prove that if it is only a few days late, the response will drop considerably. I've seen people fired from ministries because they mailed the monthly letter 48-72 hours behind schedule, it ís considered that important.
In fact, I spoke to one Christian fundraiser who said that the single most important thing is getting a person to open the envelope - and he would be willing to do anything to make that happen.
Even lie about what ís inside.
It ís important to note that I'm not against fundraising with integrity. There are some marvelous ministries out there doing great work because of effective relationships with their supporters and partners. But I do think you need to know how the business works, because believe me, it's a business, and they're trying to work you.
Here are some suggestions to consider as you pick up the next fundraising letter from your mailbox:
1) They have timed the letter to arrive when you have the most money in the bank. Giving will be easier for you, but that shouldn't control your decision.
2) The cute little underlines, exclamation points, and arrows that look like the writer inserted with a pen after it was written - weren't marked by a person, but a computer. Each one was strategically planned for placement and effect.
3) The amount of the suggested gift on the reply was calculated by a computer based on your past giving history, and often with the goal to nudge you to give a little more.
4) Even the color of the paper was researched based on past responses to that particular shade...
5) You're more likely to give because they ministry sends you something in return. Sadly, we wouldn't even need fundraising if Christians gave as the Bible teaches. So am I suggesting that we stop fundraising? Absolutely not. As I said before, great ministries are impacting the world because good people give. Plus, there are many gifted fundraising experts who are ethical and operate with utmost integrity. Frankly, I wish people gave more to deserving churches and ministries.
But I am suggesting we become informed givers. Don't be a ministry zombie and give on impulse for any reason. Give because you have researched a ministry, believe in what it's doing in the world, have confirmed its integrity and track record, and then prayed about the gift.
Giving for any other reason, is usually a waste of money."
With all the above in mind, I humbly present the:
Church of God
Donor's Bill of Rights
When you give, be sure the church employs standards and policies that assure you of your ten rights as a Church of God donor. You have the right to:
1. Know exactly how the funds of the COG organization are being spent, where Christian stewardship is not just a web policy for the sake of appearances, but an actual practice.
2. Know the salary and total compensation packages of key ministry, evangelists, executives, and board members.
3. Know what the COG programs you support are accomplishing or not accomplishing. Check and see if any outside ministry you are considering gifting to has a passing or failing financial transparency grade at www.ministrywatch.org.
4. Know that the organization and its employees comply with all federal and state laws, including tax regulations for nonprofit, tax-exempt ministries, including regulations against inurement or personal benefit from tithes and donations.
5. Be able to specifically designate and permanently restrict your COG gifts to fund a specific charitable or religious cause within the organization's mission objectives, such as helping widows and orphans, the sick, or the assistance of the needy or hungry.
6. A timely and courteous response to your inquiries about finances and programs, not incomplete or misleading Orwellian doublespeak about quarterly income and budget percentages as substitutes for periodic, complete financial reports.
7. Give without being pressured by the organization, or computer donation tithe-checked for loyalty or "member in good standing" roadblocks to HQ accountability.
8. Obtain a full copy of the ministry's most recent audited financial statements and charitable disaster fund statements - not a sanitized version with meaningless categories lumped together. Third tithe collected by the ministry and spent for that specific charitable purpose should be placed in distinct, separate categories on the financial reports.
9. Know that there is a responsible, qualified, governing board of members providing oversight to the church mission, accepting responsibility for board actions; not a rubber-stamp, unincorporated church association's board of elders, controlled legally by one man and one man only.
10. Know that all appeals for funds are truthful and accurate, and that conflicts of interest are avoided. Audited financial statements are absolutely not a "clean bill of health" or CPA guarantee of fiduciary integrity. CPA-audited financial statements can also hide church assets, real estate, gold bullion in Swiss bank accounts, payouts, or loans; provide inadequate retirement funding for employees, continue to "cook" the books, or materially misrepresent your COG's financial condition.
You have a right to timely, accurate, and complete sets of financial statements from your COG, and to know exactly how your money is being spent by your ministry.
Try tacking the Church of God Donor's Bill of Rights up on your COG's bulletin board or website, and emailing your ministry requesting financial statements promised to all COG members in good standing. See what kind of charitable response you receive in return for exercising your Christian responsibility.
