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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 62

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OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

Significant Issues—Contributions and Contributors 2016 to 2019

the Old Latin School depend entirely on donor-supplied contributions.

Undesignated/Unrestricted Trends

Global Seminary Initiative (GSI); Other Pastoral
Formation and Care Support

We are observing a growing shift or openness among active contributors toward less restricted giving. Revenues to the
LCMS from regular worship offerings continue to decline, lessening their impact and influence on the direction of mission and
ministry. But this support, through district budgets, remains
significant at more than $13 million annually, even in the face
of financial pressures impacting district-level work. Counter to
that, there appears to be increasing openness among contributors to supply an annual undesignated gift or “where needed
most” restricted gift if or when they are presented with that option. Overall, the decline in worship offering revenues is being
offset by growing undesignated support from worship offerings
and direct charitable gifts. Combined, this important type of
support is holding at approximately $18,600,000 per year, or 28
percent of LCMS total budgeted income.

Giving for LCMS Disaster Response Efforts
A rapidly-occurring series of three hurricanes (Harvey,
Irma, Maria) in 2018 triggered an inspiringly robust response
from the Synod’s contributors. Donations made through the
LCMS exceeded $10 million in just five months, an amount
supplemented by additional donations sent directly to impacted
districts, congregations, and responding Recognized Service Organizations. The LCMS also saw meaningful financial support
from contributors outside the Synod attracted to our strategic
approach to disaster response, including a $600,000 three-year
pledge made by the Harold C. Smith Foundation. Year-to-year,
disaster giving is largely unpredictable and driven by events beyond the control of the LCMS.

The Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty (see also:
R17)
MADV and the LCMS established a memorandum of
understanding with the Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty (“LCRL”), a separate nonprofit corporation, to provide
fundraising and donor-care services until the LCRL is robust
enough to conduct fundraising on its own. Throughout the
last triennium into the new triennium, the fundraising goal is
to build a solid base of contributing constituents joyfully sustaining LCRL efforts over the long haul. The target contributor
number is approximately 6,200, regardless of the amount any
one donor might contribute. As of this report, the base is nearing 3,000 contributors.

Old Latin School/Wittenberg Project
The LCMS, in a partnership with the SELK (Germany)
and Concordia Publishing House, completed renovations to the
Old Latin School in Wittenberg, the first phase of “The Wittenberg Project.” Dedicated in May of 2015, well ahead of the
500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, the facility
now serves as a base of Christian evangelistic outreach and education, and a welcoming center for the thousands of people who
visit Luther’s city each year. Fundraising to support the work
is transitioning out of LCMS/MADV into a process led and
managed by the International Lutheran Council/International
Lutheran Society of Wittenberg. Both the work and staffing of
2019 Convention Workbook

GSI was birthed out of a series of foundation grants, with
a vision of raising/granting $4 million annually to support theological education of pastors from partner churches around the
world. In 2017, the LCMS and both seminaries sat down to reevaluate the impact of GSI and the need for funding, as startup
grant funding diminishes. Two years of tenuous but collaborative fundraising by the three entities appears to be more effective than any one entity operating in isolation. Matching grant
commitments were fulfilled in both 2017 and 2018; however, the
driving force still appears to be the availability of foundation
matching grant dollars. GSI is the best example of three LCMS
entities striving for a common objective, preparing and sending
international partner church pastors and leaders into the Lord’s
harvest fields.

Concordia International School Shanghai Collaboration
In 2018, Concordia International School Shanghai and the
LCMS/MADV agreed to a trial that allows Concordia Shanghai to utilize LCMS fundraising tools to engage constituents
and contributors in supporting the school with charitable gifts.
Concordia Shanghai is using the LCMS constituent relationship management system (Blackbaud eCRM), and the LCMS
has provided online giving opportunities to support Concordia
Shanghai through its website. Part of the testing is to determine if two or more separately incorporated entities can share
a common database system while keeping confidential constituent information separated and inaccessible by an unauthorized
user. If that particular puzzle can be solved, there is a potential
for eliminating a great deal of unnecessary system duplication
among organizations and groups who maintain records in isolated systems, each with its added costs.

Expansion of Mission Central and Collaborative Efforts with Districts
Mission Central in Mapleton, Iowa, is a great blessing
for the LCMS as a whole. As an extension of LCMS MADV
(Mission Central is not an independent mission agency), Mission Central maintains healthy connections with thousands of
contributors, volunteers, and congregations. In 2016, MADV
expanded Mission Central’s capacity for serving the Church by
calling Rev. Dr. Brent Smith to serve alongside “Old Missionary Gary” Thies. MADV also signed a letter of understanding
with the Kansas District to equip Rev. Dr. Smith to represent
the mission work of both the LCMS (national and international
mission) and the Kansas District as he meets with congregations and members in the district. Kansas joins similar arrangements with the Nebraska District and Iowa District West.

Introduction of Appreciative Response and Culture
Shift
MADV and the CMO initiated a series of staff workshops
having the goal of favorably affecting the culture of philanthropy that exists within the LCMS. A greater emphasis on serving those who contribute—and appreciating what those people