As we’ve previously discussed in this blog (and in greater detail in my Coach Your Champions book), P/E/O–or Participation/Engagement/Ownership–is the workhorse of Transformational Giving (TG). P/E/O is the process of coaching the champion to grow in the image of Christ by deepening the character and nature of their involvement in the cause in which God has given us to labor, by the power and advance preparation of God (a la Ephesians 2: 10) and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
P/E/O has a different goal than traditional/transactional fundraising (ttf). In P/E/O, giving is one of the results of discipleship…but the goal is ever increasing transformation into the likeness of Christ.
When you study most ttf models, there is a lack of vision as to what the ‘donor’ becomes as a result of the ‘cultivation’ process…other than a bigger and more frequent giver to the organization doing the cultivating.
That’s what’s so fascinating about Jessica Chao’s Continuum of Philanthropy model, which Diana S. Newman details in her brilliant book, Opening Doors: Pathways to Diverse Donors. Chao’s model is neither ttf nor self-consciously TG or Christian, but it’s plenty instructive.
Chao originally authored the model to demonstrate the three stages that Asian-American immigrants pass through on their way to philanthropic maturity.
- At the Survival stage, immigrants ‘share resources–money, goods, skills, and information–with family members and peers. For most the struggle is to establish a home and some foothold on the economic ladder of opportunity.’ Note that from the very outset, generosity is neither a product of disposable income nor primarily conceived of in terms of cash donations or gifts to formal charitable organizations.
- Immigrants reach the Help stage once they’ve established a financially and emotionally stable platform in their new country. At this point–almost instinctually, says Chao–they feel a desire to give back, particularly to children and extended family members, but also to the wider ethnic community of which they’re a part.
- At some point, immigrants move beyond simply responding to need. They ‘begin to visualize the ideal community’. This quest takes them beyond their ethnic communities and organizations and drives them to connect with mainstream organizations–not for the purpose of supporting those organizations but rather for the purpose of supporting their vision of the ideal community by drawing the mainstream organization into their sphere of influence. (Echoes here of Transformational Giving principle #4: A champion connects with an organization for the purpose of enhancing their mutual impact on the cause, not only to support the organization’s impact on the cause.
Graphically, Chao’s S/H/I (Survival/Help/Invest) model looks like this (microscope not included):
While Chao’s model is quite a bit different than the P/E/O model, both have in common what Newman quotes Paul Schervish as calling ‘an inclination [for individuals] to be producers rather than simply supporters of philanthropic projects’. Schervish notes three motivations inherent in that orientation:
- Hyperagency, or ‘the ability to set one’s own agenda’;
- Identification, or ‘the donor’s ability to identify with the recipients of the contribution, both personally, and globally’; and
- Association, or ‘the social networks in which donors learn about the needs of others, both within and beyond their local communities’.
So as we seek to study the scriptural model for generosity and giving and philanthropy, it’s fair to ask, Which gets us closer to the biblical mindset: the Western majority ethnic population focus on the wealthy among us giving a portion of our excess through institutions, or the non-majority ethnic focus on personal philanthropy as a comprehensive process of maturity and growth (i.e., we’re talking more than money here) that’s characterized by hyperagency, identification, and association?
Judge for yourself as you consider the Apostle Paul’s description of the giving of the Macedonian churches in 2 Corinthians 8: 1-7 (noting that, fascinatingly, hyperagency, identification, and assocation figure prominently, as does the comprehensive nature of giving that goes far beyond money):
And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will. So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.
So where does all of this lead?
Well, we began the week asking the question, ‘If PEO involves us spreading the cause in our sphere of influence, how do we ever reach people who are not like us–people who are geographically, racially, culturally, and economically different?’
All week long, we’ve been looking to ethnic communities to lay the groundwork for the answer to that question. We’ll look forward to tying it all together tomorrow.
