The Local Christian Foundation

Click a quicklink below for easy access to the following:
I. What is a Local Christian Foundation ("LCF")?
II. Why a Local Christian Community Foundation?
III. A Seven-Step Overview to Launching an LCF
IV. Factors to Help Ensure Your Success

I. What is a Local Christian Foundation (“LCF”)?
An LCF is a public foundation which focuses on helping individuals (with a common vision for funding the work of God’s kingdom) live out their calling as stewards, and to that end, establishes donor advised funds and provides other charitable solutions.

A typical secular community foundation uses many of the same tools, but is fundamentally different in purpose. In legal terms, as expressed by the Council on Michigan Foundations,

A community foundation is a tax-exempt, independent, publicly supported philanthropic organization established and operated as a permanent collection of endowed funds for the long-term benefit of a defined geographic area.

A typical LCF differs in that its primary goal is not to establish endowments for the common good of the community, but rather to encourage and enable individuals to give generously to the kingdom work that is important to them. We are intent on “releasing capital for the Kingdom,” in one manner of speaking, which is not to say that we never hold endowments, or that the common good is outside our vision. As we will explain below, we are very concerned about the particular needs of individual communities. But it is worth emphasizing that we are first and foremost citizens of a kingdom that is “not of this world” (John 18:36).

Consider the basic elements of an LCF’s mission:

• To develop and encourage Christian giving;
• To seek out and encourage ministries and organizations that bear witness to Christ’s Kingdom and work toward community transformations;
• To distribute resources donated by Christian stewards to these ministries.

More dynamically, an LCF is a network of donors, ministries and churches responding to God’s call in their lives. Some say an LCF brings the “donors” and “doers” of a community together. Because it has that ability to bring people together and cut across denominational lines, an LCF can serve as a tremendous catalyst for change in a community.

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II. Why a Local Christian Community Foundation?

A Theological Overview

It is easy to think that an LCF is merely another way to “get” money for the Kingdom. But it is important to keep our focus on the Father even as we use material wealth for His glory. He doesn’t need the money – but He does care a great deal about the hearts of His people.

Broadly conceived, the work of an LCF is the same as it is for the rest of the body of Christ: making “the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Eph. 4:16). We are growing each other up in love because Jesus has loved us so lavishly to begin with. For LCF’s, this means nurturing relationships with donors in order that they might know the Father better as they “excel in this grace of living” (II Cor. 8:7), serving them by providing opportunities to give and by sharing a vision with them for the transformation of your community. It means developing relationships with the church and her ministries and channeling funds to them; preaching the gospel; visiting the sick and imprisoned; making disciples; caring for the fatherless, strangers and widows; serving the poor and so on.

When we give, preach, and serve with pure hearts, we better learn the character and will of God – the true Giver, Shepherd, Servant – and we reflect His character more completely to those around us.

Keeping it Local: Loving our Neighbors

The God of Israel laid down the eternal law: “love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18).

“It is sin,” King Solomon later observed, “to despise one’s neighbors; blessed are those who help the poor” (Prov. 14:21, NLT).

Jesus echoed his forbearers as he enumerated the two greatest commandments: Love God, and “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt. 22:39). And the apostle Paul agreed: “The entire law,” he wrote to the Galatians, “is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (5:14).

Which brings up a very important question: who is my neighbor? It is this question, put to Jesus by an expert in the law in an attempt to justify himself, that set the stage for the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The question Jesus shot back at him was as clever as it is piercing: When you are in need, who is your neighbor? “The one who had mercy on him,” the expert replied (Luke 10:37). In other words, our neighbor could be anyone at all, including (and perhaps especially) those we like the least.

We naturally associate with our own kind. Conversations are easier, idiosyncrasies less obvious and interactions more comfortable with those who share our interests, backgrounds, and circumstances. And this kind of homogeneity can be quite beneficial. For example, witness the popularity of professional conferences: from financial advisors to professional historians to marionette puppeteers – everyone has a conference. Not only do attendees find acceptance and certain legitimacy from their peers, but they can also sharpen each other and develop better ideas, practices and skills.

Jesus, however, makes it clear that this is not the extent of our calling as his disciples. We are to be neighbors to all kinds of people, especially to the Samaritans in our lives. Namely, to those we don’t like, or who don’t like us, or who especially need our help.

What better place to pursue this sort of “Gospel neighboring” (as Dr. Tim Keller has put it) than in our local communities? In a local setting, it is possible to work together with very diverse groups toward a few common goals: the knowledge of Jesus, the transformation of community and so on. The needs are more obvious, the cries easier to hear and the solutions easier to see, try and evaluate. A mass crusade can be a powerful way to win hearts, but it is more often than not the community’s follow-up effort that makes the difference in the lives of converts. Solomon seemed to think similarly: “Do not forsake your friend and the friend of your father, and do not go to your brother’s house when disaster strikes you – better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away” (27:10, NIV).

Keeping it Local: A Platform for Relationship

The late Joseph Bayly’s “The Gospel Blimp” is an uncomfortably-accurate portrayal of the ways Christians have tried to evangelize the lost. The Christians in Bayly’s story imagine a “Gospel blimp” that floats around the city carrying signs proclaiming various evangelistic messages, dropping brightly colored leaflets, and broadcasting Gospel invitations and music over loudspeakers. The organization they establish, International Gospel Blimps, Inc. (IGBI), grows rapidly in influence and prestige, hiring full-time staff, implementing an aggressive public relations plan and eventually partnering with local business leaders in order to secure funding and broaden its appeal.

But IGBI never accomplishes its true purpose – no one comes to Christ as a result of their appeals. Even as more and more of IGBI’s efforts go toward organizational preservation, at least one of the IGBI board members sees how it has missed its target. Realizing that his beer-drinking, card-playing next-door neighbors are not being won by the blimp, he starts building a friendship with them instead. His neighbors do meet Jesus, but not, as you might imagine, because of the blimp.

Bayly’s story illustrates something we believe in very strongly – programs and institutions are not ends in themselves, but platforms for relationships. We do not want to bring in billions of dollars for the kingdom, but if we were to manage that through mere financial transactions, all our efforts would be for naught. “If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;” Paul cried, “but if I didn’t love others, I would be of no value whatsoever” (I Cor. 13:3). It is the place of an LCF president and staff to build relationships with Christian stewards, help them find ministries to support and challenge them to greater love and generosity.

An LCF is uniquely poised to cultivate community change. An LCF regularly meets with donors, professional advisors, pastors, church members, ministry leaders and ministry supporters, from many denominations and walks of life. An LCF has the capacity to start conversations in almost every sector of the Christian community; to develop the kind of trans-denominational relationships that are so rare among Christians. This capacity makes the LCF a key networking agency, a convener, a platform for broad-base Christian projects. LCF’s have done and may do all of the following:

• Bring together Christian community leaders to define the key ministry needs in the community;
• Communicate to local citizens these needs and a vision of how to meet them;
• Establish grant strategies to meet those ministry needs – all with an eye toward community transformations;
• Facilitate stewardship training and development for churches and Christian ministries
• Provide planning, program models, communication and leadership training for local ministries;
• Develop and maintain an up-to-date list of local Christian ministries and organizations to which donors can recommend grants with confidence;
• Provide administrative support for Christian stewards by way of donor advised funds, trust management and other charitable tools;
• Manage entrusted assets in order to provide significant funding in the community;
• Provide various financial plans, education and tools that Christian stewards can use to maximize their gifts to organizations and ministries.

Though not exhaustive or conclusive, this list should suggest that an LCF can play an important role in bringing God’s Kingdom to bear in your community. The specific methods and manifestations will be part of the adventure on which the Holy Spirit will lead you as you seek first the Lord’s Kingdom and righteousness (Mt. 6:33).

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III. A Seven-Step Overview to Launching an LCF

If you feel called by God to create a Christian foundation in your community, you're probably wondering: Where do I begin?

You begin by understand the big picture — the seven key steps to launch a local Christian foundation. You may also view the National Christian Foundation's primer on starting an LCF.

The seven key steps are:

1. Find a champion to lead the foundation. This could be you or another individual who is willing to invest time, energy and talent to build the foundation. Once the foundation is started, this person may or may not retain a leadership position.
   
2. From a steering committee. This group, which typically numbers 5 to 8 people, investigates all available options and determines a direction for the new foundation.
   
3. Recruit committees and begin planning. A separate committee should be formed for each strategy identified by the steering committee. Examples: communications, fund administration, donor relationships.
   
4. Complete a master plan. Committee plans must be formulated into a master plan. The master plan involves identifing and prioritizing the foundation's goals — and determining the amount of time and money needed to meet those goals.
   
5. Recruit a board of directors. Find a group of people who will be able to guide the foundation once it's up and running. This group may include the original visionary and members of the steering committee.
   
6. HIre a president and staff. Qualities to look for in a foundation president include business acumen, leadership and interpersonal skills. A background in financial and estate planning or law is often helpful. The number of staff and the skills the president requires will be based on the foundation's structure.
   
7. Implement the plan. Once the master plan is defined and the right people are in place, it's time to get to work!

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IV. Factors to Help Ensure Your Success

Once you've mastered the basics and established your foundation, turn your attention to making it work. Five areas factor heavily into success:

• Prayer. Prayer must be the cornertstone for everything the foundation does. Pray each day for the community and the foundation's impact on the community. Pray for meeting the God-given goals of givers as well as the Christ-like thoughts, actions and work of the LCF staff and leadership.
  
• Relationship with givers. Intentionally discover, develop, educate and nurture faithful givers. These can be individuals, families, corporations and other foundations. Building relationships with these givers is crucial. The foundation should also seek out professional advisors who influence giving and seek out affiliations with other ministries to which your foundation may provide services.
  
• Community transformation. Envision what can transform the community in ways that please God. Then research ministries, indentify strategic initiatives for these ministries and define grant strategies to make your vision bring lasting change to your community.
  
• Communication. A foundation must consistently communicate it's purpose, activities and results. Develop and implement a plan to accomplish this important aim through a number of channels.
  
• Administration. Develop your way for administering the daily business of the LCF and supporting your givers.

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