What Henry Nouwen Taught Me About Asking for Money

Fundraising is deeply spiritual work. And that is why one of the very first things I do is send my clients a copy of Henri Nouwen's classic, A Spirituality of Fundraising. It's not a "how to" for raising money — it's a "how to think" about raising money. And for me, it all starts here.

Many pastors are ineffective at fundraising because they see it as secular work — perhaps even as somehow unspiritual, or at worst, a necessary evil. But when ministry leaders begin to see the work of raising money as part of their calling, something begins to slowly happen on the inside. Confidence grows. And eventually, it turns into passion.

It happened to me. C.S. Lewis called himself the most reluctant convert in all of England. I was perhaps the most reluctant fundraiser in my seminary class. And then came that first building project — and I had to raise money. I honestly didn't know where to begin.

What changed everything was a mentor who had been doing fundraising for fifty years. He looked at me and asked, "Lionel, what are you passionate about?" There was no hesitation. I wanted to see lives transformed forever by the gospel. He looked at me with steady eyes and said, "That's great. That is what you are going to talk about during this entire campaign. All I'm going to do is show you how to ask people to join you by giving to this God-sized vision."

That is precisely the mindset Nouwen writes about. He says that fundraising is the opposite of begging. We are not saying, "Please, could you help us out?" We are declaring, "We have a vision that is amazing and exciting. We are inviting you to invest yourself — your energy, your prayers, and your money — in this work to which God has called us."

When leaders make that shift, it changes almost everything. As Nouwen puts it, fundraising is "helping the kingdom come about." We are setting before people a vision to see lives changed forever — and saying, "Come join us." When this is done well, it transforms both the gift and the giver.

If you are a pastor or ministry leader who has ever dreaded a fundraising conversation, I want you to know — that dread doesn't have to be permanent. Start with A Spirituality of Fundraising. It's a short read, but it has a long reach. Let Nouwen reframe the work for you. I think you'll be surprised at what begins to shift.