LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 31

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SYNOD REPORTS
program areas themselves and the LCMS Foundation. Staff responsible for maintaining direct contact with contributors was embedded
within the ministry staff and program budgets of each ministry. The
LCMS Foundation provided services such as direct mail production,
telephone solicitation services, data entry, research and marketing.
With the restructuring, fund development staff previously embedded
in the program areas were merged into a single unit initially named
“Fund Development.” The executive director of Fund Development
would report to the newly created position of Chief Mission Officer,
who supervises four additional executives: international mission,
national mission, pastoral education, and communications. Mark D.
Hofman, CFRE, began serving as the first executive director of Fund
Development on Oct. 31, 2011. He had previously served 17 years
in the development and advancement offices at Concordia Seminary,
St. Louis.
The unit was renamed Mission Advancement in January 2012,
a change designed to communicate the unit’s purpose of advancing
Synod’s national and international mission efforts, as well as other
special initiatives and projects. Equally important, the name change
reflected a shift to a symmetrical fund-raising paradigm where staff
matches the interests of each donor with appropriate ministry opportunities designed to help the donor accomplish his or her own charitable
goals and objectives.
Fund-raising after Restructuring

As of July 2013, Mission Advancement comprises four functional
areas: major donor and district relationships, direct response (mail,
telephone, e-mail, and Web giving), campaigns and special projects,
and missionary support (including Mission Central in Mapleton,
Iowa). The LCMS Foundation continues to provide critical support
services in the areas of direct marketing (including gifts by phone),
data/gift processing, record keeping, research, and planned giving services. Mission Advancement collaborates closely with the
LCMS Communications in areas such as social media, Web presence, branding, and donor communications. Fund-raising by Mission
Advancement comprises approximately 8 percent of Synod’s annual
expenditures.
LCMS Mission Advancement plans, executes, and coordinates
Synod’s fund-raising activities in order to maximize charitable gifts
in support of Synod’s mission and ministry. It exists to encourage and
assist the people of the LCMS in vigorously making known the love
of Christ at home and abroad through their charitable gifts by offering appropriate and prioritized (strategic) charitable opportunities.
Advancement personnel pledge to deliver unquestionable transparency and accountability to donors for the gifts they have offered up
for the Lord’s work and to maximize the amount of every dollar
deployed to the Lord’s harvest fields through the judicious use of
budgeted resources.
Support and Advocacy

Mission Advancement administers fund-raising in support of and
on behalf of a number of internal stakeholders, including the Office
of International Mission, the Office of National Mission, the Office
of the President (for special projects and initiatives), and the will of
the Synod as expressed in convention (special campaigns).
International Mission

For the Office of International Mission, Advancement supports
and coordinates fund-raising by network-supported career and midterm missionaries. Rooted in the recall of multiple missionaries from
the field in 2003, the network-supported model of missionary funding seeks to determine, through direct contact with and exploration
by individual missionaries, whether sufficient financial excess capacity exists in the LCMS to deploy and sustain additional missionaries

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to the field. The NSM model is also a response to donors who wish
to be assured that their offerings are supporting missionaries in the
field by linking their gifts to a specific missionary’s ongoing expenses.
Mission Advancement also solicits and coordinates the solicitation of
gifts in support of project and programs, beyond the direct salary and
benefits paid to missionaries, which are administered by missionaries
and their supervisors, and gifts which build overseas capacity among
partner churches for proclaiming the Gospel to indigenous peoples.
International Mission draws on donations restricted to supporting
disaster relief work and other mercy-oriented programs and projects.
National Mission

Mission Advancement advocates gifts and offerings on behalf of
the Office of National Mission, and from donors who have a passion for supporting domestic witness and mercy work. Over the past
triennium, the Office of National Mission has consolidated and coordinated a number of emphasis areas into a cohesive and synchronized
unit which serves the domestic needs of districts, congregations, and
RSOs to share Christ’s love in the realms of witness and mercy, and
strengthens the LCMS at the local and regional level via several Life
Together emphasis areas such as stewardship, campus ministry, and
congregation revitalization. Through Mission Advancement, donors
may target giving in ways that support the needs of rural/small town,
suburban, or urban congregations and organizations.
Office of the President

Under directives from the Office of the President, Mission
Advancement advocates for programs, projects, and initiatives that
extend beyond the distinct roles of the Offices of International and
National Mission. These initiatives, deemed to be of strategic value
to the global confessional Lutheran community, draw on the marketing and communications capabilities of the national office as well as
the fund-raising and reporting capabilities of Mission Advancement.
One example is Project Wittenberg, an effort to provide a clearly
Lutheran voice to the world as it approaches the 500th anniversary of the Reformation and turns its attention to the cradle of the
Reformation: Wittenberg, Germany. Mission Advancement is and
will be increasingly involved in raising dollars to renovate the Old
Latin School in Wittenberg, as well as securing operating capital to
initiate operations once the facility is ready for use.
Mission Advancement is also working with a strategy team from
Synod’s Concordia Historical Institute (CHI), located on the campus
of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, to develop a sustainable funding plan and base of financial support for Synod’s official archives.
Over the past triennium, CHI has received funding from Synod’s unrestricted budget to subsidize annual operations; however, a continuing
decline in unrestricted dollars flowing into the Board of Directors’
hands is forcing the examination of alternate funding strategies which
include dedicated fund-raising for CHI. The board is currently providing matching funds to assist the team in raising sufficient resources
to employ a new executive director at CHI.
Synod in Convention

Mission Advancement also supports and advocates on behalf of
Synod actions taken by its conventions, which at times direct denomination-wide special campaigns.
Fan into Flame Report

As of July 2013, Mission Advancement is coordinating the fulfillment phase of Synod’s Ablaze! Fan into Flame campaign, supporting
districts and other stakeholders as they fulfill pledges made during the
active fund-raising phase which concluded Oct. 31, 2011. [Note: A
more detailed Fan into Flame Report may be found in this Convention
Workbook under the report of the Board of Directors.]
2013 Convention Workbook