money

How to Undermine Your Mission

Posted in mission, money, news, strategy, vision on November 20th, 2008 by Steve Bradley – Be the first to comment

From the “Maybe this isn’t the best way to make your case” department, comes this story (link to full story is here):
Big Three auto CEOs flew private jets to ask for taxpayer money

Some lawmakers lashed out at the CEOs of the Big Three auto companies Wednesday for flying private jets to Washington to request taxpayer bailout
money.

“There is a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, D.C., and people coming off of them with tin cups in their hand, saying that they’re going to be trimming down and streamlining their businesses,” Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-New York, told the chief executive officers of Ford, Chrysler and General Motors at a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee.

“It’s almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high hat and tuxedo. It kind of makes you a little bit suspicious.”

He added, “couldn’t you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled or something to get here? It would have at least sent a message that you do get it.”

To be fair, the CEOs appeared to be just following their company’s standard operating procedures for executive travel. And a case could be made as well to justify such travel on the basis of safety, efficiency, etc. But that’s not the point. The point is that it appears little or no thought was given as to how their actions lined up with their mission.

So, to break this down, here was:

Their mission: To travel to Washington, and convince lawmakers that desperate times call for desperate measures (meaning, we’re poor and in need of taxpayer money to survive).

Their strategy: Follow standard operating procedure, traveling to and from Washington on private jets.

Hmmm…

Now it’s easy to be an armchair critic here, but this is such a great example of how programmatic action can undermine your mission.

What message are you sending by your actions? Do your actions advance your mission, or undermine it? How clear is the connection between your mission and strategy?

What [De]Motivates You to Give?

Posted in generosity, giving, language, money, motives, nakedpastor, power of words on September 17th, 2008 by Steve Bradley – Be the first to comment

David Hayward (nakedpastor) had a post yesterday on Marketing Compassion that got me thinking. The subject of his post is a film called “The Story of a Sign” — which I blogged about a month or so ago, using it as an example of the power of words.

David had a different take, however, and raises some interesting questions about what motivates us to give:

Is charity stimulated by compassion or good marketing? I wonder if it could be both….

What inspires us to be generous? What are the underlying issues we have with money that we aren’t free to give it away without some kind of poignant provocation?

One answer for me can be found in my earlier post on giving as a tax or investment. I hate paying taxes, but I love making investments. So I find myself more willing to give to a person or a ministry when I have a sense that my gift will:

  • bring benefit, rather than harm
  • dignify, rather than humiliate
  • alleviate suffering, rather than perpetuate it
  • be received thankfully, rather than begrudgingly
  • be valued, rather than discounted
  • be used responsibly, rather than wasted
  • promote freedom, rather than slavery
  • connect and unite, rather than disconnect and divide

What about you? What motivates or demotivates you to give?

Tax or Investment?

Posted in church stuff, giving, investments, money, taxes on September 6th, 2008 by Steve Bradley – Be the first to comment

When you ask people to give money to your church or ministry, do they see it as a tax or an investment?

Are people giving out of guilt or obligation, or because they see it as a strategic opportunity to honor God and change people’s lives for the better?

Quick word associations:

Tax — obligation, negative, cynical, drain, leech, wasteful, forced, burden, ineffective, slavery

Investment — opportunity, positive, hopeful, growth, infuse, valuable, voluntary, joy, effective, freedom

Personally, I hate taxes. I love investments though.

What vision of giving are you fostering?