Training Programs
Gift Development and Stewardship Certification and Certificate Programs
The LCMS Foundation introduces Gift Development and Stewardship certification and certificate programs. The core program is the Certified Christian Development Executive, a comprehensive gift development training program focused on professional development personnel working to strengthen Christian non-profit organizations.
From the core program, the Foundation also offers two certificate programs aimed at providing stewardship and gift development training to those working in congregations (CSA program) and those throughout the church body responsible for, or interested in knowing more about gift planning (CGP program).
Contact The LCMS Foundation's Coordinator of Training, Phil Meinzen, if you have questions about the programs or registration by email or phone, 1-800-325-7912 ext. 1695.
Certified Christian Development Executive (CDE)
The Certified Development Executive certification program is composed of six courses:
Each of the CDE courses includes a guided practice or field experience to help you apply classroom learning. The certification requires the completion of the six courses, assignments and an oral interview. Additionally, completion of the courses qualifies the learner to complete the guided field experience with The LCMS Foundation and a written test or documented completion of Crescendo's Gift College online courses.
Certification holders will exemplify stewardship grounding, professional integrity and ability to fund the mission.
Click here to see the course seminar overview. Click here to register.
Christian Gift Planner Certificate (CGP)
The Christian Gift Planner certificate program is composed of three courses:
The certification requires the completion of the courses and guided field experience with The LCMS Foundation and a written test or documented completion of Crescendo's Gift College online courses.
Click here to see the course seminar overview. Click here to register.
Christian Stewardship Associate Certificate (CSA)
The Christian Stewardship Associate certificate is composed of two courses:
The certificate requires the completion of the courses and a guided practicum assignment.
Click here to see the course seminar overview. Click here to register.
Courses
Course One: Funding the Mission
This course is required for all certificates and the certification. It introduces the Foundation’s ten formation systems required for comprehensive Gift Development Certification, Gift Planning Certificate programming, and Stewardship Associate Certificate sessions. This two day course is applicable for Christian congregations and non-profit organizations of all types and is the introduction towards obtaining two certificates and the certification as a Certified Development Executive (CDE).
It will introduce eight stewardship principles for the Christian steward, seven resolves and resourcing factors essential for leadership, and success in developing resources and relationships to accomplish the mission of Christian non-profit organizations. Learn how to uncover and communicate the power of promise in relationships with donors using Biblical truths. Discover six attitudinal giving style segments determined by research and how to communicate your organization's case in vision and promise language.
Attendees will identify keys to "nurturing" relationships and "asking" for gifts with personal channel relationships and discussions. Discover how to engage the involvement of others and coordinate a strategic organizational and development plan. Determine how to apply the fundamentals and techniques for Gift Planning and Endowments plus a lifetime planning process that immediately begins to raise revenue for your organization.
Funding the Mission is the required introductory course for all programs.
Course Two: Stewarding Trust and Consecration
This course explores how to strengthen individual and corporate stewards to consecrate their lives and how to establish learning communities and practical approaches that will link Christians with giving and living opportunities through annual first fruits responses. Discover how the joy of giving encourages growth in stewardship.
This session will review a developmental approach to strategic planning and provide a framework for creating a vision of potential and promise.
Working more deeply into the Power of Promise introduced in Funding the Mission, participants will consider how to communicate and strengthen a plan leading to a "Case for Support" that is communicated using mass channels and personal approaches.
This course will review key compliance factors for fiduciary leaders to consider for their ministries to be found fit for the public trust. Participate in a discussion on being a fit fiduciary and. How this affects the confidence of your organization's supporters. The seminar also considers a model to integrate revenue planning with expense planning in a developmental financial pro forma.
Completion of Funding the Mission and Stewarding Trust and Consecration courses are required for the Christian Stewardship Associate Certificate.
Course Three: Transfer the Blessing of Inheritance
Explore the an effective and spiritual method to uncover the gift plan that God has planted in the heart of a baptized believer in light of financial and estate planning facts to encourage and nurture gift planning over time that blesses family and supports the Great Commission. Students will learn to encourage, ask for and plan gifts built upon a broadened understanding of the opportunity and possibility of designing current, capital and deferred charitable gifts with cash and non cash property. Students will review the transactional and relational dimensions of financial and estate design while building awareness about fiduciary requirements in managing gifts in custody. Learn about the availability of trust and investment services needed to process and sustain these often significant and managed gifts. This course integrates best practices in application of the model standards with the biblical principles for individual and corporate stewards.
Course Four: Endowing the Vision
Discover the principles of corporate and individual stewardship in God’s Words and how endowment treasuries and savings were structured in biblical history. Learn why endowing the vision of Christian ministries could overt a crisis on the horizon documented by research.
Identify the trust and investment services needed to manage perpetual funds and an efficient approach to custodial management of endowments. Learners will pull together a plan to promote the vision of the organization's mission to encourage endowment gifts.
Determine ways to develop policies and procedures to establish and enhance endowment funds for organizations and individuals that spring from the wisdom and practices of the Bible. Receive an overview of endowment fund policy formations, framework and promotion and application to stewardship throughout the generations.
This course ends with a discussion on effective networking with advisors and influencers.
Completion of Funding the Mission and Stewarding Trust and Consecration and Transferring the Blessing of Inheritance and Endowing the Vision courses are required to complete the Christian Gift Planner Certificate.
Course Five: Gifts Today, Tomorrow and Forever
This course teaches the components, processes and skills needed to nurture gift planning developed with an immediate benefit to your organization, capital gifts given over time and deferred gifts with intentional step-by-step guidelines and tools. Discover the science of resource development using mathematical computations for leading developmental indicators. Attendees will be given tools to analyze annual, capital and endowed potential. Learn how to establish and improve annual fund initiatives.
Lutheran charitable organizations will determine how to apply relational and developmental principles to nurture consecrated stewards and deploy their generosity. Assess problem solving wisdom and communication styles from Myer-Briggs research in order to build team performance and morale. Identify how to organize and assess capital campaigns and establish a framework to organize for intensity and impact while taking advantage of the urgency of major (principle) and capital gifts. Work through a guide to planned giving tools and techniques and practice inquiry, asking and follow-up scenarios. Consider ways to steward donor relationships before and after the gift. Identify trust and investment services required to support an effective gift processing policy and development procedure.
Course Six: Support, Infrastructure and Office
This course explores the strategic involvement of people in the developmental processes and program. Consider the key building blocks for support and administration services required for an effective infrastructure. Determine a checklist of development support services such as data management and donor research tools that guide and track relationship management.
Establish partner linkage that engages and cares for dedicated unpaid partners (volunteers). Consider practical ways individual church leaders can be good stewards of their volunteers. Plan events and initiatives that will bridge supporters to sustained giving. Engage your board and ministry leaders in your development success.
Active listening and engaging the gifts of God’s people stewards relationships that leads to the results committed donors will provide. Participate in group development panning exercises. Identify how to cultivate grants and work with grantors.
Discover development testing and strategic assessments resources that apply demographic and attitudinal segmentation. This course completes the comprehensive program to outfit the gift development leaders to be able to function in a one person or multiple staff environment
Completion of Funding the Mission and Stewarding Trust and Consecration and Transferring the Blessing of Inheritance and Endowing the Vision and Gifts Today, Tomorrow and Forever and Administrative Sustaining Support and Grants courses are required to complete the Certified Development Executive Certification.
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