By David McGovern
ONE of the requirements of being the diocesan director of Catholic Mission is to develop relationships with donors.
This is to ensure that donors know about the needs being met, thanks to their generosity, and to encourage those donors that have the capacity to do so, to give more frequently, or in larger amounts.
It is rewarding and fulfilling work. It also is challenging – not for the reasons you might expect but, because, donor relations work is, when all is said and done, about a process.
The more people you speak to, the more options you have; the more options you have, the more asks you can make.
There are courses offered, books written, blogs published, about the art – and science – behind successful donor relations work. As I say, it’s a process.
But ask anyone that knows me well and they will tell you that processes are not something I handle all that well.
Reconciling my credit card statement means having to wade through piles of paper to find the relevant receipts; filling out a monthly report for our national office usually entails scouring various inboxes, looking for data.
And don’t get me started on tax returns.
I suspect my discomfort with some processes reflects the fact that processes go hand-in-glove with routine.
In my mind, routine means restriction.
It’s not true, of course, but somewhere along the way, that’s how I’ve come to see such concepts.
I see limits, rather than helpful tools towards increased productivity and even domestic harmony.
Another aspect about processes and routines I have come to appreciate in more recent times is how they contribute towards the notion of stability.
Stability, I have learned, is a quality borne out of determination and resolve.
It is what compels us to remain in difficult situations, even when there is overwhelming evidence suggesting it is time to move on.
Recently, I was fascinated to learn that Benedictine monks take a vow of stability when they become professed.
As with all human endeavours, the vow is a way of acknowledging that, at some point, another monastery may seem more appealing, another way of life might be more enticing, another form of relationship might seem more fulfilling.
It is then, in the midst of their daily routines and the processes of being a monk, that they can recall their vow of stability.
As the authors of the book Benedict’s Way put it: “Despite circumstances, they will stand still, they will shut up, and they will outlast the doubts. They will outlast the darkness that corners all of us every now and then.”
The authors – Lonni Collins Pratt and Fr Daniel Homan – describe this quality as holy stubbornness.
They then go on to draw on the imagery of hikers being lost in the Colorado mountains.
One of the tips given to people before they find themselves in such a situation is: “Don’t wander – stay where you are and wait until someone finds you”.
Stability is like that.
If we stay put – spiritually and metaphorically – eventually God will find us.
With a new year now well under way, I am resolved to embracing my own form of holy stubborness.
My diary is full of deadlines and my iPhone has to-do items regularly inserted.
There is a structure to my week that could set me up nicely for a future life as a Benedictine monk.
And if I come calling, to ask you to give to Catholic Mission, don’t hang up.
It’s just me putting a process in place … so help me stick to the routine, please!
David McGovern is the director of Catholic Mission in Brisbane archdiocese. Follow him on Twitter @livedogster
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