President's Blog

Not long after my wife and I joined our church here in New York City (now nearly 18 years ago), I remember being stunned during the annual stewardship campaign when fellow members came to the lectern to give personal, and many times emotional, testimonials about how giving transformed their lives.

My wife, who was raised as a Baptist, reacted along the lines of “It’s about time!”  My own upbringing as a cradle Episcopalian—and I mean this literally, as I was baptized at Episcopal Divinity School where my father was a seminarian—had not prepared me for the open conversation about money.  I just looked at my shoes.

One Sunday, a tall and beautiful member of our parish stepped to the lectern to speak.  I didn’t know the woman well, but I’d certainly noticed her (who wouldn’t have?).  I decided this time I wouldn’t look at my shoes.

She told a very affecting story of how giving to our church had transformed her life and ended with this line: “Don’t just give until it hurts, give until it doesn’t hurt anymore.” 

That sentence has stayed with me ever since, because it gets at a fundamental truth about giving.  The more you give (and I don’t mean necessarily money), the better you will feel.

It turns out that science backs this up.  An article in the Health section of the New York Times on Tuesday describes how helping others actually leads to biological changes that increase emotional and physical well being:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/health/01well.html?emc=eta1

It ends with a wonderful quote from Dr. Stephen Post:  “To rid yourself of negative emotional states you need to push them aside with positive emotional states.  And the simplest way to do that is to just go out and lend a helping hand to somebody.”

In what ways are you sharing your gifts with others during this season of giving? How is it making a difference in your life?

As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, I’ve invited my colleagues in Donor Services to offer some reflections on the thanks that we give. In particular, we are grateful for our supporters, who care for those in need by giving to our work faithfully, with joy and often sacrificially.

This time of year is definitely a busy season for Episcopal Relief & Development’s Donor Services staff.  You may not know this, but about 40% of our donor correspondence and communication occurs in the final eight weeks of the year.  Answering program inquiries, sending out Gifts for Life cards, processing end-of-year contributions – some days feel very hectic indeed.

And yet, to be honest, this is also the most enjoyable time of year for us.  Not too many people can say that they smile every time they open the mail, but it’s true for us.  Every day brings us good tidings of great joy, in packages big and small – for example, the results of a successful Alternative Gift Market or a photo of a young boy’s personal fund-raising project.  We are truly touched by the grandmother who chooses her grandchildren’s Christmas presents from the Gifts for Life catalog.  And over and over again, we recognize the names of donors who have supported us year after year.  We really do get to open our holiday presents every day.

Recently, after sifting through the day’s mail, we talked about the quiet, heartfelt support we receive from Episcopalians, no matter where they live or the level of their income. Every month, we look forward to the arrival of a clean white envelope with three crisp $100 bills – no name, no address, no request for acknowledgment, just a thoughtful anonymous contribution to help those in need.  And we are struck by the humility of donors who apologize that their donations can’t be larger – knowing full well that for some of our supporters, a check for $5 or $10 is a tremendous sacrifice.

Lately, the phrase “hallowthanksmas” has been popping up in the media – a description of the period from Halloween through New Year’s Day that, in many ways, has turned into one long party, but not much of a celebration.  Yet at Episcopal Relief & Development, every day is Thanksgiving Day – and we’re happy to celebrate it with you.

Thanks from all of us in Donor Services – Xerxes, Adrienne, Theresa, John and Esther

One of the pleasures of this work is hearing about how children are engaging in the work of Episcopal Relief & Development.  We recently received this wonderful letter:

My name is Tyler and I am 5 years old.

When I heard that there are a lot of children in the world without enough to eat or money to go to school, it made me very sad.  I asked my grandmothers how I could help and we started ‘Tyler’s Pig Project.’  I took my idea to Father Cliff at our church and he thought it was great.

I worked very hard!!—We had an all-you-can-eat fish dinner at a local restaurant.  We had a concession stand at a fishing derby.

I helped keep a snack box filled at my grandmother’s school and we made lunch to sell to the staff once a week.

Lots of people gave me donations in the Piggy banks I made to put out at local business and church functions.

I was able to raise $1600 to buy pigs for families to be able to get a better life.  Please make sure my money helps the people who need it so bad.

Thank you!

Tyler

Even at five years old, Tyler’s compassion is inspiring and humbling.  With young people like him in our Church, I’m confident that in spite of the many challenges of poverty, our partnership to heal a hurting world will enable countless numbers of people to better their lives over time.

Reflections on All Saints’ Day

As All Saints’ Day is celebrated this weekend, it brings to mind the wonderful hymn by Lesbia Scott, “I Sing a Song of the Saints of God,” which she wrote for her children. 

One of the joys of working for Episcopal Relief & Development is that every day, I am reminded through the powerful stories of our partners worldwide that “The World is bright with the joyous saints who love to do Jesus’ will.” 

Scott says, in her lovely Anglican way, that you can meet them “In church, or in trains, or in shops, or at tea…” Indeed. 

You can meet them in Gaza, Gulf Port (Mississippi) or Goma (Democratic Republic of Congo) as well—and I have! 

She calls all of us to God’s mission of healing a hurting world.  Enjoy the hymn below and share with us how you mean to be a saint in today’s broken world.

I sing a song of the saints of God,
Patient and brave and true,
Who toiled and fought and lived and died
For the Lord they loved and knew.
And one was a doctor, and one was a queen,
And one was a shepherdess on the green:
They were all of them saints of God—and I mean,
God helping, to be one too.

They loved their Lord so dear, so dear,
And his love made them strong;
And they followed the right, for Jesus’ sake,
The whole of their good lives long.
And one was a soldier, and one was a priest,
And one was slain by a fierce wild beast:
And there’s not any reason—no, not the least,
Why I shouldn’t be one too.

They lived not only in ages past,
There are hundreds of thousands still,
The world is bright with the joyous saints
Who love to do Jesus’ will.
You can meet them in school, or in lanes, or at sea,
In church, or in trains, or in shops, or at tea,
For the saints of God are just folk like me,
And I mean to be one too.

Lesbia Scott (1898–1986)
© 1929, 1940 Lesbia Scott

As many of you know, Episcopal Relief & Development prides itself on assuring its donors that we have one of the lowest indirect (fundraising and administrative) costs rates in the industry.  We work hard to keep our ratios in line.

However, an article in the Fall 2009 issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review, entitled “The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle”, calls this strategy into question.  It cites a Bridgespan Group study, asks some probing questions, and concludes that “A vicious cycle is leaving nonprofits so hungry for decent infrastructure that they can barely function as organizations—let along serve their beneficiaries.”  The author calls on funders to take the lead in breaking this cycle.  To read the entire article, click here.

One funder has done just that.  The Boston Foundation recently announced that “More of its grantmaking dollars will be shifted over the next two years to provide organizations with general operating support. As a result, fewer purely programmatic grants will be made in the future.”  You can read about it here.  (In the interest of full disclosure my sister is on the staff of The Boston Foundation.  I assure you I had nothing to do with the change in their policy.)

Maybe we shouldn’t be focused so much on indirect costs rates.  We’d be a stronger, more effective organization if we didn’t.  Making that case to donors is tough, though.  What do you think?