Ancient Faith Ministries is a financially independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. We are funded by donations from supporters of Ancient Faith Radio and purchases made in the Ancient Faith Store. Sometimes, we're lucky enough to find a grant, but there aren't many grant-making organizations interested in Orthodox Christian media ministry.
Ancient Faith reminds me strongly of William Shakespeare's description of England in Henry V - a "little body with a mighty heart." The community of human beings who make our ministry and its content are extraordinary, and their effort, with God's blessing, is driving our growth and outreach into the far corners of the earth.
It takes thousands of dollars to keep Ancient Faith alive each year. Our expenses include taking care of our staff; maintaining broadcast and recording equipment, and multiple complex software systems; the cost of stocking, warehousing, and shipping the myriad products in our store; book publishing and production costs for 16-18 books per year; hosting and venue costs for our large in-person events; and countless other processes and safeguards that comprise responsible stewardship of our ministry.
Like most nonprofits, we work on fundraising throughout the year. We're especially thankful for our monthly donors. Our expenses happen reliably, and those reliable gifts help us meet them. And like most nonprofits, we also count on a major burst of fundraising at year end, as people consider making tax-deductible donations before midnight on December 31st.
A few months ago, a good friend of our ministry offered to sponsor a matching campaign for Giving Tuesday, up to $75,000. The campaign would open on November 25, a week before Giving Tuesday, and close at 11:59 PM CT one day after Giving Tuesday, on December 4. We said THANK YOU and accepted the challenge!
Next, we prepared graphics and materials to support the campaign by promoting it on the air, on our website, and on our social media platforms. We emailed our mailing list, announcing the matching challenge and the rules. On November 25, we turned the links on and posted them. This is the same as saying "Let the games begin" or (alternately) "Gentlemen, start your engines."
Gifts came in immediately after the link went live, and that's always encouraging. It's a friendly feeling when our community jumps right in as soon as they hear about an opportunity.
Thanksgiving came, and we spent it with our families. We woke up on Black Friday, and the race was ON. At this stage, we're checking the total every few minutes, clicking "refresh" on the browser, and talking to each other about our chances. We notice donor names we recognize and new names, and we write thank you notes, and we check the total and try to see into the future (which of course, we can't). Sometimes, we make calls, or drive the marketing team crazy by rearranging and un-rearranging the email schedule or the app notification plan.
In the back of my mind, I'm thinking about our budget and various needs around the ministry. Cash flow projections float before my eyes, fluctuating according to the outcome of the race. I talk to Jerry, our development director, almost constantly. God bless Jerry. He manages the fundraiser with one hand and joins me in nervous speculation, exhilaration, desperation, and every other emotion we ride through on our way to 11:59 PM CT, Wednesday, December 4.
There's always a moment when we're convinced we're not going to reach the goal. It happens every year, and every year, it's convincing. It's so much money - $75,000! The price of eggs just went up, and besides, it's almost Christmas. Jerry and I put our heads together, and we plan how we're going to meet this situation. We're thankful for every penny that has come through our doors. We'll put them all to good use. But if we don't meet the goal, we'll be second-guessing ourselves for days, looking for the improvements we can make to do better for Ancient Faith next year.
And then, just as we've reached the stage of acceptance, the gifts start coming in again, and we go back to riding the rollercoaster.
Around dinner time on Giving Tuesday (when I started writing this post), we're only $5,519 away from our goal. It's astounding. We went to sleep yesterday just as we were hitting the "we probably won't make it" phase, and we woke up in the morning to see $9,000 had come in over night. And it just kept coming! Gifts poured in all day long, Glory to God! And here we are, nearing the end. We have until midnight tomorrow. We have such a good chance of reaching our goal now. One of our staff tells us he is praying.
Another big gift comes in, and now we're over $70,000 and less than $5000 from our goal. Most of the staff is still hanging on, watching and clicking refresh and chatting. It's dinner time, but we can't step away. We just can't.
We sit up late online together - the whole staff, watching and commenting, imagining what we'd bring if we were together in person, hosting a potluck and watching you wonderful people pushing Ancient Faith toward $75,000. The goal comes closer and closer, one gift at a time - $5, $100, $25, $1000, $10, $500 - every single penny a treasure.
And we are victorious!!! Just after 8:20 PM ET, we exceed $75,000, earning the full match, meeting the challenge, and reveling in the glorious providence of God!
I share the news with our staff of course, and with our board of directors, and my Facebook friends. Next, we thank YOU on all of our platforms, so joyfully!! The love that powered the gift is every bit as valuable to us as the gift itself, and twice as precious!
Your trust in us is like an engine, or like wings. It pushes us onward and lifts us over obstacles. We're here with you, and you're here with us, striving in this good work together. God grant that it blesses our fellow human beings abundantly. Thank you for your partnership. We wouldn't be here without you.
