3 - “Fund-raising is first and foremost a form of ministry.” It is “precisely the opposite of begging.”
[Side note about prayer: schedule prayer time for the success of a ministry instead of saying vaguely “we covet your prayers”]
4 - “Fund-raising is also always a call to conversion.” How? “To be converted means to experience a deep shift in how we see and think and act.”
5 - “By giving people a spiritual vision, we want them to experience that they will in fact benefit by making their resources available to us. We truly believe that if their gift is good only for us who receive, it is not fund-raising in the spiritual sense. Fund-raising from the point of view of the gospel says to people: ‘I will take your money and invest it in this vision only if it is good for your spiritual journey, only if it is good for your spiritual health.’ In other words, we are calling them to an experience of conversion: ‘You won’t become poorer, you will become richer by giving.’ We can confidently declare with the Apostle Paul: ‘You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity…’ (2 Cor. 9:11).”
Next section is about healthy and unhealthy relationships with money. Note that Nouwen is talking about those who ask for donations, not those who give.
18 - “It may seem strange to say, but the rich need a lot of attention and care.”
21 - “We must claim the confidence to go to a wealthy person knowing that he or she is just as poor and in need of love as we are.”
23 - “If our security is totally in God, then we are free to ask for money. Only when we are free from money can we ask freely for others to give it.”
25 - When we get a No, “We can trust that the Spirit of Christ who is guiding us is also guiding that person.”
28 - “People have such a need for friendship and for community that fund-raising has to be community-building. I wonder how many churches and charitable organizations realize that community is one of the greatest gifts they have to offer.”
33 - “Prayer is the spiritual discipline through which our mind and heart are converted from hostility or suspicion to hospitality toward people who have money. Gratitude is the sign that this conversion is spreading into all aspects of our life. From beginning to end, fund-raising as ministry is grounded in prayer and undertaken in gratitude.”