Help for the Helpful

"Charity sees the need, not the cause."- German Proverb

You can raise money without a lot of fuss these days.  There are all sorts of grassroots methods that seem to fit perfectly with social networking and social media sites.  Post a video or add a widget to your site or blog, then watch people visit and even fund your projects.

What do you need?

First, you need a worthy cause.  Your project has to be connected to a cause.  It needs to be a cause that gets people excited or touches them right at their hearts and souls.  It should be the type of project that makes people feel like they can make a difference. 

Secondly, you need to make your project easy to fund.  Make it seamless.  Make it almost effortless.  You fund projects via text message today.  That makes it real easy.  There are sites that offer you help and support, even tools, to raise money for worthy projects and these make it easy for both you and your donors.

Here are some sites that may be of some help:
http://www.gofundme.com/
http://www.chipin.com/
http://www.kickstarter.com/

Nuts and Bolts

"Drive thy business or it will drive thee." - Benjamin Franklin

Think about it.  Benjamin Franklin, one of the famed Founding Fathers of America, shared these words regarding business.  Consider Franklin the businessman and inventor, even the philanthropist, not the diplomat and ambassador.  Franklin was a publisher of Poor Richard's Almanac as well as a printer, author, painter and inventor.  Franklin fanatics have plenty to aim at as objects of their affection since Franklin was involved in all sorts of ventures.  He knew both prosperity and failure.  Experience taught him and taught him well.

Learn from Franklin's words.  Get in the driver's seat of your own business.  Start running your business before your business runs your life and runs you into the ground.  Drive your business.  Do not let your business drive you.  Get your rear back into the driver's seat and get in control of your business.

Publish and Present

"Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it." – Maya Angelou

In both business and ministry, you have some unique opportunities.  In business, you may have a training program, product or service that can be highlighted through publications or presentations.  The same may be the same with your ministry's training or development tools, even sermons or Bible studies.  Do not overlook such opportunities.



Publish what you have to offer:

• Books/ Workbooks
• E-Books
• E-zines/ E-Newsletters
• Downloads
• Podcasts/ MP3/ iTunes
• Webcasts/ Video

Present what you have to offer:

• Workshop/ Seminar Presentations
• Keynote Speaking Engagements
• Public Speaking with Industry or Sector Networks
• Skype or Live Chat

Beyond the potential economic benefits, these provide your business or ministry with an opportunity to do some beneficial things such as:

1. Expand audience beyond immediate or current audience
2. Increase credibility in local and regional areas as well as in the online community
3. Heighten the visibility of your business or ministry online and otherwise

The benefits of publishing and presenting far outweigh the drawbacks.  Develop a plan to schedule presentations to local groups via a letter of introduction and a brief brochure designed around what you have to offer.  I highly suggest that you research templates and samples from others in your industry in order to get some ideas of how to design and format such a brochure.  Another possibility would be to work with local students in a graphic design  or business marketing course.





Seek Success

“We cannot become what we need by remaining what we are.”

― John C. Maxwell

 
Let me put some things in perspective for the would-be or wanna-be entrepreneur.  Simply put: talk is cheap.  You either need to put up or shut up. 
 
That being said, let me go a step further.  You need to have a plan and a strategy before you foolishly go full speed ahead with your small biz launch.  Think it through and get your ducks in the row.  However, you better get busy doing what you have to do. 
 
Remember: talk is cheap.
 
I chose the Maxwell quote because it strikes right at the heart of most start-up issues, particularly the barriers.  The biggest barrier is usually the person who is starting the organization or business. 
 
They know how to cook well, but they are satisfied baking cakes for the women's auxiliary at church and the PTA's annual bake sale fundraiser.  They have heart without drive.  They are in their own way much like the guy who can research and find every single thing from books and quotes to grants and special programs.  That type of person may be viewed as an asset to those who do not feel like paying for such a service, but he needs to get on and get into business for himself as a researcher and perhaps an evaluator if he wants to succeed.  Otherwise, he can sit back and keep getting stepped on and stepped over by others who will use him for nothing.
 

These are just examples of people full of potential.  They have the ability to do something special

that is of value to others, but they have yet to set out for success.  I urge you to read John Maxwell's books on success.  Make Today Count and The Difference Maker are great books to start out with for potential entrepreneurs.  Also, I would recommend Your Road Map for Success as a jewel that will offer you some keys to staying the course on your journey.

 

I share this because my desire is for others to succeed- in business, in ministry, and in life.  That's my hope and aspiration.  That's why I post such items as this with others.  It weighs heavily on my heart that so many people have skills, experience and all sorts of talent, but they lack the drive or initiative to take the risk and make more out of their lives than simply sit and wait for an opportunity to come their way.

 

Below, I have added Maxwell's "Seven Steps to Success." I suggest that you truly stop wishing about starting and succeeding in business and start working towards success in business.  The key word in start-up is start.  Get started off the right way.

 

Seven Steps to Success

1) Make a commitment to grow daily.

2) Value the process more than events.

3) Don't wait for inspiration.

4) Be willing to sacrifice pleasure for opportunity.

5) Dream big.

6) Plan your priorities.

7) Give up to go up.

― John C. Maxwell

Consecrate Morning Meeting

"At the Day of Judgment, we shall not be asked what we have read, but what we have done."

-Thomas a Kempis

Think back to this morning.  Recall how you started your day at work.

How did you consecrate yourself and your staff?
Did you pray together?
Did you share a hymn or an inspirational verse with one another?
Did you do any form of consecration at all?

Certainly, there is much buzz about the separation of church and state when such a subject comes up.  Do not dwell on what you cannot or should not do.  Identify what you can do.

If you own the business, even if it is a franchise, you are welcome to offer staff members a period during the day where they can join others in prayer.  Provide them with a place and time.  Share how your faith has led you to the point of making such an offer. 

Don't get preachy.  Just make the offer.

You can do so by organizing a morning prayer meeting or devotional period 15 to 30 minutes prior to scheduled work time.  This may work on those days where you have that dreaded morning meeting.  Prepare for presentations by dotting each and every "i" and crossing each and every "t," but be sure to also solicit the prayers of your fellow Christians at work. 

Be sure to let people know that it is not mandatory.  Don't try to make it a full-blown worship service.  Just offer it to them.  Those who want it will surely show up and serve as the core group.  Others will drop in as they find themselves in desperate need of prayer and support.  Just make the offer where you can and get started, in prayer of course.

"Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established." - Proverbs 16:3 (KJV)

Literate Leaders

“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”

― Frederick Douglass

“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.”

― Mark Twain


I grew up reading. 
 
I love history.  Civil War books really had my attention.  Westerns came right after that.  Biographies would fit somewhere in the top 10.  I grew up reading and I love reading.
 
Leaders are readers.  Readers are leaders.  Which is it? I think that it works either way.
 
Here is a list of sites where you can get a fix for your reading buzz:

• http://www.goodreads.com/
• http://www.shelfari.com/
• http://www.librarything.com/
• http://www.readerscircle.com/
• http://www.bookpage.com/

“To encourage literature and the arts is a duty which every good citizen owes to his country.”

― George Washington

Volunteer Retention Tips for Ministry Leaders

In ministry, we tend to do a lot of recruitment.  We load up real heavy on recruiting people.  We point out all of the finer points of the benefits of participating and what it really means to sign up for service within the ministry.  We do a lot on the recruitment end.

So what about retention?

You can do mass recruitment.  That's no problem.  You need to retain volunteers in ministry on an individual basis.  You need to give them one-on-one treatment in order to keep them in the loop and on the team.

Volunteer retention is based on:

• Relationships: who knows who?
• Relevance: how are people whom we know are impacted?
• Resourcefulness: where can we help and how can we give others hope?

If we train 10 volunteers to serve for 12 months and impact 10 people per month each, you could have 1,200 impacts within a year.  Think about that.  10 X 10 X 12 = 1,200.  One hundred people could be impacted by 10 people.  Imagine what a ministry of 20 or 25 people could do.  Think about how much potential you lose when you have to replace people rather than keeping things going smoothly time after time.