Your Why Is Everything!
Support Raising: 11 Principles to Get Funded
Principle #2 Your Why Is Everything!
The March on Washington happened on August 28, 1963. At that time, it was the largest political rally in the history of the United States. Around 250,000 to 300,000 people came out to hear Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. give his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. I love how Simon Sinek puts it,
“He didn’t go around telling people what needed to change in America. You know, he went around and told people what he believed. I believe, I believe, I believe, he told people. And people who believed what he believed took his cause, and they made it their own, and they told people . . . and lo and behold, 250,000 people showed up on the right day at the right time to hear him speak. How many of them showed up for him? Zero. They showed up for themselves.”
They showed up because their “why” matched his “why”. I learned in my support presentation that my “why” was more important than what I was actually doing. It wasn’t about the paper, the presentation, the brochures, or even my eloquent words. It was all about my “why”.
What was my why? As a freshman in college, my heart was far away from God. I was more interested in fraternity parties, girls, and many other idols. However, there was a campus minister who came into my life and preached the good news of Jesus Christ to me over and over and over. Even when I didn’t listen and went back to my idols, this man still pursued me. He invited me to conferences, Bible studies, and sure enough, God eventually used him to reveal Himself to me.
I remember crying out to Jesus to become my Lord and Savior at one of those conferences, and that’s when I became a believer. But it didn’t stop there. This guy discipled me. He taught me how to read the Bible, how to pray, and how to share my faith. He taught me the things of the Lord, and His pursuit of me changed my life forever.
Upon graduation, I had a great opportunity to go to seminary while I continued to work for a small business doing accounting. However, the opportunity to come on board with Campus Outreach as a staff member was also on the table. Something deep inside of me sensed that joining Campus Outreach was the best next step for my personal walk with God and to reaching more people for Christ.
As I was praying, fasting, and seeking the Lord, my “why” became so clear.
In support presentations, I would share,
“The God of the Universe sent a man into my life to reveal Himself to me when I was still a college student, and I have the opportunity to express love and gratitude back to God by repeating this process to other college students. I’m asking you to join that, because we live in a lost and dying world where college students consider drugs, sex, and money as their gods, but the God of the Universe loves them, and He cares about every one of them at an intimate and personal level. I get to go into the dorms and cafeterias to tell these students about this amazing love. I’m asking you to get behind that, I’m not asking you to get behind and support Tony Dentman, but support the mission of making disciples on the college campus so that one day these college students can take the gospel all across the world.”
That’s my “why”, and I am challenging you to go into your support presentations with more than eloquent words, a marvelous piece of paper, and a great pitch. Instead, understand what your true “why” is.
As Simon Sinek says, “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”.
I couldn’t agree more. Recruit a team of people who will get behind your “why”. Just like the March on Washington, people don’t care if you’re impressive. They will show up because they also believe in your “why”. If, like me, you believe that college students need the gospel, and are the most strategic people to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, then whether you’re at a support appointment, meeting someone in line at the supermarket, sharing what you do to your family at Thanksgiving–always be sure to share your “why”. That’s what people care about.
If you need help in forming your “why”, check out “Find Your Why” by Simon Sinek. This book does a magnificent job of teaching you how to cast vision by surfacing your “why”.
Remember, it’s not about what you do, it’s not about how you do it, it all starts with why you do what you do.
