Small gifts - huge impact

It was my first job as a Director of Development. A small, Christian School in a little town in a southern corner of North Carolina took a chance on me as their first ever full-time development, alumni, communications, marketing, admissions person. The school was operating in the red. So things needed to turn around quickly.

Life was not cooperating. The largest employer in the county had just closed, leaving workers, managers, and executives out of work. It hurt the whole community. Families were struggling to put food on the table, let alone pay tuition for an independent school – and I was asking them to help someone else’s child go.

Enter Addie. Addie was an adorable third grader with shining brown hair, big brown eyes, and one incredible heart. Like so many others, her dad had lost his job. Her mom worked at the school – which meant she had a small salary. Still, her family treasured the school’s mission and was making many sacrifices to send their two children.

Addie knew the story of the widow’s mite. She knew the value of giving what you have. So when she had a nickel left over after buying her lunch one day, she took it to her teacher.

“Could you give this to Ms. Lari for me?” Addie asked. “I want other children to have wonderful teachers, like you.”

With permission, I shared this story and it led to gift number two.

A former Vice President of the company that closed had always sent his kids to the Christian school. He often underwrote scholarships, but now the family had to budget tightly. Sending their own child was a stretch now. After hearing Addie’s story, the wife came into my office. Without looking at me, she place $1.56 on my desk.

“We don’t have any extra money now,” She said. “But, if it’s not too much trouble for you, I want to give whatever I have left over after I feed my family.” (Before the year was over, her giving totaled $50.)

With permission, I shared their story with no names. More and more, people were digging deep to support the school – including David, the board chair and his family. They had not been touched as harshly by the economic downturn, and David knew the value of a leadership gift. David and his wife gathered their kids together and talked about the best use of their money. Then David came to me and said, “We want to pledge $20,000 a year for the next five years.” It felt like a miracle.

But as important as the amount was the thinking behind it. As a family, they had been saving for a trip to Europe. They decided to take that money and see that families, who couldn’t otherwise afford it, could give their children an excellent, Christ-centered education.

With permission, I shared their story.

It changed lives. I know, because it changed mine. These three families changed the way my husband and I thought about spending. Today, when I’m contemplating another pair of boots, or my husband is thinking about how fun it would be to have a riding lawn mower, we stop and think about the good that money could do. We could have another pair of shoes, a snazzy lawn mower, or - - we could send a needy child to the best school for them; underwrite the adoption fee for a shelter dog; help purchase land to protect a watershed.

Three donors, with gifts large and small, changed lives. I know. They changed mine.