Thursday, August 9, 2012

Winning the creation vs. evolution war with the help of strong fundraising

Winning battles often requires "getting there firstest with the mostest".

An effective grassroots Question Evolution! Campaign strongly advancing Christianity and biblical creationism via the 15 questions for evolutionists, requires a good supply line via fundraising. It can really help expand the reach of the campaign, fund various initiatives and  fund a general operating budget.

Important questions relating to the future of creation evangelism:

1. Does our Question Evolution! Campaign group have members within it who have big Christian internet followings? When does our next volunteer recruiting drive start? How big of a recruiting drive will it be?

2. How will creation evangelism be increased by 400%?

3. From a practical standpoint, fundraising potential is often linked to how much good you can do. Is there more fundraising potential for internet evangelism combined with creation evangelism than for creation museums? If so, how much fundraising potential is available?

4. When is our Question Evolution! Campaign starting our fundraising efforts? Is it around the corner?

Some current fundraising for biblical creationism and intelligent design

1. The Creation Museum inn Kentucky cost approximately $27 million dollars and it was funded through private donations.

2. The Intelligent Design community is smaller than the creationist community. Yet, the Discovery Institute in 2007 reported an operating budget of 4.2 million dollars.

Fundraising potential for internet evangelism combined with creation evangelism

I have read about various ways to do fundraising. There are many ways of fundraising and our group is open to many of them.

Let take a look at one particular way fundraising for Christian evangelism - namely, grant writing.

According to a Christian grant writing expert, at any given time there are about 200-300 Christian grants for evangelism.

As of 2011, one Christian foundation gives $5,000 to $50,000 grants for Christian evangelism and the foundation has approved grants in the million-dollar range as well. There is a lot of potential for fundraising in the Christian evangelism grant writing area. I know of one internet ministry with a decent size staff that received a large grant which funded their entire ministry for several years. And it wasn't even a internet evangelism website.

Previously, I mentioned that 145 million gospel presentations in a year was done by one internet evangelism organization alone. Of those 145 million people, 20 million people responded favorably and said they prayed about becoming a Christian.

So there is much good that can be done through internet evangelism - especially if it is done in an ethical manner and it asks people to make a firm commitment (for example, informs them they need to repent). Please see our post about the potential benefits and efficiency of combing internet evangelism followed up by creation evangelism: Internet evangelism is powerful especially when combined with creationism evangelism

Fundraising and paying the price

The foundation of fundraising in having a worthwhile endeavor to fund and keeping a lid on unnecessary costs in your proposal. People want to see a big bang for buck when it comes to donations. I believe a good case can be made that internet evangelism followed by creation evangelism is more efficient than creation museums in terms of expanding the biblical creationism pie in the world. It explosively increases creation evangelism by 400% or more as indicated in our post 20 million extra people a year hearing biblical creationism

Second, fundraising often requires you to make multiple appeals in multiple ways. There is no silver bullet. But to the pleasantly persistent person or organization, it is very doable. You just need to put some effort into it and be willing to hear the word no sometimes.

Remember this saying when it comes to fundraising:  rejection builds character! Your going to hear the word no sometimes. Sometimes it is just a matter of timing plus some people have different visions and priorities. But that is wholly understandable. There are many things which have to be done within the body of Christ and within the world at large.

So when do our fundraising efforts begin? In due time, my evolutionist friend.  In due time!

If you want to help Creation Ministries International and the Question Evolution! Campaign you can donate here: Donate to Creation Ministries International

Excellent books on fundraising

Earlier, I mentioned that I have been doing some studying on fundraising.

Below is a recommended reading list I compiled for those who are interested:

1. Effective Fundraising for Nonprofits: Real-World Strategies That Work

2. The Everything Grant Writing Book: Create the perfect proposal to raise the funds you need

3. Relationship Fundraising: A Donor Based Approach to the Business of Raising Money

4. Fundraising on the Internet: The ePhilanthropyFoundation.org's Guide to Success Online

5. People to People Fundraising: Social Networking and Web 2.0 for Charities

6. The Mercifully Brief, Real World Guide to Raising Thousands(If Not Tens of Thousands) of Dollars With Email

7. Fundraising When Money Is Tight: A Strategic and Practical Guide to Surviving Tough Times and Thriving in the Future

8. Nonprofit Internet Strategies: Best Practices for Marketing, Communications, and Fundraising Success

"We may take it then that an army...without provisions it is lost; without bases of supply it is lost." - Sun Tzu, The Art of War


Other resources:

Question Evolution! Campaign

15 questions for evolutionists

Responses to the 15 Questions: part 1 - Questions 1-3

Responses to the 15 Questions: part 2 - Questions 4–8

Responses to the 15 Questions: part 2 - Questions 9-15

Refuting evolution

Photo credits,Statue:

Description
English: Enchoen in Yurihama, Tottori prefecture, Japan
Date 27 September 2008
Source 663highland
Author 663highland
License:  This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Source of picture: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Enchoen27n3200.jpg

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