I often struggle with giving. No, not that I don’t want to give, I am grateful that I was raised in a home that taught me to give generously from the time I received allowance at 5 years old. So parting with money to make a difference is not that hard (most of the time). But I struggle with giving in that there are so many worthy things I want to give to that some days I feel like I should return to the private sector so I can make more money and fund more endeavors. The thing is….it isn’t what God has for me and I finally had to accept that.

I guess I’ve been thinking more about giving the last couple of days because first I was included on an email of someone that I recently met asking to assist on a trip to Thailand for a filming project. Then I was asked by someone I’ve never met, except via email, if I would host a fundraising event in my home. __While most of what I give to is for the organization for which I work, GCHope, I actually said yes to both requests and here’s why:__

Do you ever come in contact with people that you know somehow you should be connected to even though you don’t know why? For me it happens. Not all of the time, but it definitely happens. So on both of these instances they are people whose names keep coming up over and over. That’s reason enough to pause and stay connected. And when you believe that people are going to do something great – and by helping you’ll be a little part of it – it’s kind of exciting.

First, let me tell you about the email for the trip to Thailand. The email resonated with me for a couple of reasons. First, when you work for a non-profit and you are in charge of marketing/fundraising you tend to come across many amazing stories. In order to fundraise you need to find the most effective way to tell those stories. I’ve resolved to having an effective website and doing tons of video interviews with my new little “flip camera”:http://www.theflip.com/. **I always feel like if others could sit in my meetings and hear about a particular project they might more readily give.** Since I can’t bring hundreds of people into meetings with me, I try and bring the meetings to them on-line via video in our “GCHope TV”:http://www.gchope.org/gchope-tv.html channel. But video from the field projects themselves…those are hard for us non-profits to fund because people might give to us to deliver medicines to IDP camps in Africa, but many won’t give to produce the video sharing the story. BUT I know that with a proper video I might be able to help more people, it breaks my heart so often. So when a filmmaker takes it upon himself to raise funds to go out and film a project, I know it assists the non-profit community as a whole since it raises awareness.

Second, I met this filmmaker when he responded to a volunteer opportunity for GCHope. __Without asking anything in return, he gave first.__ That always speaks volumes to me that someone is responding with their heart and engaged in the cause. I love supporting the causes of other givers!

Third, I think I gave almost because the email was so honest…he doesn’t really know yet why he is going other than he feels God is bringing him there. It reminds me of so much of my life. When I quit my job to attend business school in Italy; then I completed my degree in Johannesburg against the many warnings of how dangerous the Jo’burg townships are. People wanted to know what I was going to do when I finished school and if I wanted to work in non-profit how was I going to end up paying for business school on non-profit salary? Honestly, they were all great questions of which I didn’t have a clue how to answer. But you know what, I knew that God was calling me into these things and I just had to move forward and trust. I had ZERO clue what I was going to do when I finished school – I couldn’t even describe my ideal job. Somewhere I tried to trust that God had a place for me. And He did. There’s something beautiful about letting go of being in control and letting God lead.

Lastly, the email talked about producing something that leads to action. Let’s face it. There are many things out there that teach you something but people don’t decide to do anything about it. **The gap between ignorance and awareness is smaller than the gap between awareness and action.** As a pretty action oriented person and an action oriented organization I’m always in support of things that help people to get outside of themselves and go out and make a difference in the world. So, while I mostly give to my own organization because I am so entrenched in what our needs are and how we serve our partners, I also give to some other things that I feel like can make a difference. So I am happy to support efforts that lead others into action!

That leads me to the email asking me to host an event. Honestly, I have a humble little condo. But I’ve always had an open door policy and know that if God blessed me with home ownership along with that comes the privilege of using my home to extend hospitality. So when the venue they originally had fell through and I was asked if I would consider hosting the event, it didn’t even faze me to say yes…even though we’ve never met in person.

I guess when as an organization you help a host of other non-profits with their projects, people think that you must know how to get in the needed funding. Truth be told, I don’t actually like asking people for money and most of the time I don’t feel like I know what I am doing. But I also know that so much joy happens when people can participate in something bigger than themselves – and that’s what happens when you ask people for money and they say yes. If I could do it all myself, I probably would. I only ask because I have to. However, it’s backwards thinking because people can feel a tremendous amount of joy when they can make a difference in someone else’s life. __When you don’t ask, you deprive people of participating.__

So when I know that three families are giving up everything and moving to Rwanda so they can teach young entrepreneurs how to do business and can help create a culture of sustainable communities – I’m onboard. I do what I do because I know that efforts like this are in vain if people aren’t healthy and can’t work, but I also know that healthy people who can’t sustain themselves doesn’t work either. We need it all. So if all that I can do to participate is to open my home that God has graced me with to assist in this project, I honestly feel honored.

So, for me, while the work that I do I feel is powerful in many communities, it’s also personally powerful to give to other opportunities and be a small part of something bigger than myself. **I’d love to hear from people why YOU give.** And since I fundraise for a living, or at least I try, I’d love to know what you find compelling about the work of GCHope or what you want to see more of that would make you feel more connected. Send an email to jsteverding@godaid.org or leave a comment on the blog. I want people to know that ANYONE who gives of their time or their finances is a part of making a community a better, healthier community. YOU are a part of something bigger than yourself…and if you aren’t yet part of something, what are you waiting for?