Passionate Steward - 10th Anniversary Edition

Recovering Christian Stewardship from Secular Fundraising 79
At bottom, and this is the third difficulty, donor recognition is
quite simply biblically indefensible. Jesus could not have been clearer:
Beware of practicing your piety before others in
order to be seen by them; for then you have no
reward from your Father in heaven. So whenever
you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the
streets, so that they may be praised by others.
Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.
But when you give alms, do not let your left hand
know what your right hand is doing, so that your
alms may be done in secret; and your Father who
sees in secret will reward you (Mt 6:1–6).
Jesus shows himself singularly uninterested in appearances or
the regard of others. One gives alms because it is the right thing to
do. Indeed not only are we to avoid publicity: we are actually to
seek anonymity. It is the approval of God which matters, and God,
“who sees in secret” will reward us.
Practically speaking, donor recognition programs also create
habits that are nearly impossible to break. Once naming
opportunities are introduced to a community of faith, parishioners
or congregants will not only see them as legitimate, but will rely
upon them for future giving. It is almost impossible for a priest or
parish council to tell a family that a large gift will not entitle them
to a naming opportunity when this has been the practice of the
community in the past. Such a situation will inevitably lead to
uncomfortable and unavoidably divisive conflict.
A related problem is the permanence which is, or is not,
understood to attach to naming opportunities. I have personally
witnessed a parish offer to replace the memorial dedications on
stained glass windows in an attempt to “sell” them as part of a new
fundraising scheme. Not only did this cause pain to those families