The Symphony of Giving and Receiving

Have you ever thought of the harmonious balance between giving and receiving as being like a beautiful symphony? The Bible is replete with both. Nonprofits overflow with the need and opportunity of both. Life, in general, depends on the push and pull of both.

For CES to fulfill our mission, we depend on the generous giving of donors who are willing to partner with us in supporting The Cornerstone Christian School. For CES to fulfill our mission, we must receive so we may give. To successfully run this nonprofit, it is important to keep in balance both giving and receiving. If CES only ever receives but never gives, we have failed to fulfill our mission of helping to support The Cornerstone Christian School. If we only ever give and never receive… well, that is impossible. We cannot give what we have not received to give.

If sufficient individual donors do not step forward, and even if they do, we can seek grants to help support our mission. While grants can certainly be a useful tool, especially for fledgling nonprofits, it is important to do our due diligence and study the fine print, to make sure there are not burdensome conditions to the grants. Related to this, I heard an interesting parable the other day on WIHS-FM 104.9 Christian radio out of Middletown, Connecticut. Dr. Tony Evans was preaching during this particular segment. This is the gist of a tale that he shared to drive home his point.

Once there was a pig farmer who brought a slew of pigs to the market to be slaughtered. The butcher asked how the farmer obtained all his pigs. He said it was easy. He first invited all the little piglets in the area to come for free food. Those piglets brought other piglets. He offered free food day after day after day. Eventually, the mamas and papas of the piglets also started coming to enjoy the free food. Then one day the farmer added a fence to the north side. The piglets and pigs came again for the free food. Then the farmer added a fence to the east side. The piglets and pigs continued coming for free food. The farmer then added a fence to the south side. The piglets and pigs continued coming. The farmer then added a fence with an open door to the west side. Once all the piglets and pigs entered the pen, the farmer closed in the piglets and pigs to be able to bring them to the market to be slaughtered. Moral: What appears to be free may not really be free.

So, yes, our nonprofit can and will seek grants as additional sources of revenue. However, in addition to researching grants and their fine print conditions, we also must be sure to register to solicit in the state from where the grant comes.

The bottom line is that CES exists to support CCS. For us to support CCS, we need help finding generous givers who give, so that we may receive, so that we may give to CCS, so that the students and faculty of CCS may receive, so that they may be better equipped to give to their communities and the world. The rise and fall of receiving and giving goes on and on, all to the glory of the One who gave His all for all to have the opportunity to receive so that they may in turn give. Will you join us in the beautiful symphony of giving and receiving for the glory of God?

"And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19, ESV)

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Big Dream Blog

What Motivates You to Help?

By Tammy Choleva • January 20, 2025

When it comes to motivation to do something that needs to be done, the best motivators are intrinsic. In other words, the ideal is doing (or helping to do) what needs to be done simply because one has the inner sense that helping to meet the need is the right thing to do. Extrinsic motivators, on the other hand, are the promise of external rewards for helping out (or the withholding of negative consequences for not helping out). When seeking help to meet a large group need, extrinsic motivators do not typically move the meter, because not everyone is motivated the same way. Some may find small prizes to be motivating; for others, only big prizes. Some may find simple praise to be motivating; for others, only public recognition. Some may find winning a trophy to be motivating; not so for others. Some may find not being punished to be motivating; others do not care about the threat of punishment. You get the point. Here is the conundrum with getting families on board with school fundraising. If families support the need for raising funds for the cause at hand, they will naturally want to do everything they can to bring success to the fundraiser. They will be intrinsically motivated to help to the best of their ability. On the other hand, if they do not support the need for raising funds and/or do not comprehend the potential outcome if funds are not raised, they will (at best) put in the bare minimum of effort or (at worst) not help at all or even speak negatively about the need for fundraising. Likewise, donors are intrinsically motivated to give or they are not. Extrinsic motivators do not typically raise goal thermometers. This is the bottom line. Since we cannot motivate others intrinsically (that's the work of the Holy Spirit), the leaders of nonprofits (including schools) must instead pray for intrinsically motivated helpers to step up. Even so, we can still provide extrinsic motivators, but not with the expectation that they will move helpers to help more or givers to give more. Instead, the purpose of extrinsic motivators is to help keep the need in the forefront and to try to add some "fun" to FUNdraising.

Winning in Business (and Life)!

By Tammy Choleva • January 13, 2025

In the world of nonprofit fundraising, it can be easy to fall prey to a discouraged spirit. The same is true of starting up a new business and figuring out how to go from zero customers to sustainability. For that matter, it can be discouraging for even organizations that have been around for decades to constantly have to reimagine marketing, especially when reaching out to a very specific niche. The lattermost marketing challenge can be particularly difficult for a small Christian school that simply desires to accomplish well its mission. In the case of The Cornerstone Christian School , that mission is “To engage and educate young people to know and be transformed by Christ through the ways they think, act, learn, serve, and work together for God’s Kingdom.” It is not easy to navigate how to most effectively and affordably find and market to families who desire to partner with a school that will teach their children from a biblical worldview. As a 501(c)(3) that is designed to support Christian education by supporting this school, we at Cornerstone Educational Support, Inc. also experience a similar challenge. The difficulty is particularly true now that we live in a world of information overload. Since the advent of the World Wide Web and email and texting and app push notifications and social media and so on, the over-sharing of knowledge has become the norm. Many people simply muffle the cacophony by quickly skipping past the word noise. This does not bode well for organizations that must communicate their mission in order to survive (both nonprofit and for-profit entities alike). Here’s the thing. There is one God, and we are not Him. He alone is responsible for results. He simply calls us to be faithful to the steps He calls us to take (including pivoting when He calls us to change course), while trusting Him for the results. So, there are three interlocking keys to avoiding discouragement by what seems to be an insufficient result: (1) Seek God’s wisdom on steps to take (moment-by-moment, hour-by-hour, day-by-day); (2) Rely on the Holy Spirit for the empowerment to take those steps; and (3) Trust God for the results. Only then can we rise above discouragement and WIN at accomplishing what He has set forth for us to do, all for His glory. The same goes for both business and life!

Looking Ahead to Year-End Giving

By Tammy Choleva • November 25, 2024

As a public charity 501(c)(3), CES is responsible to pass the public support test. “In other words, [CES] must be supported by the general public. For that to be true, a significant amount of revenue (at least 33%) must come from relatively small donors (those who give less than 2% of the organization’s income), other public charities, or the government. That leaves 67% to potentially come from other, less diverse sources.” ( “Private Foundation vs. Public Charity: Spot the Difference,” by Greg McRay, EA, Founder and CEO of Foundation Group ) To help us reach this year's public support charity test, we are looking for friends of CES and CCS to help spread the word that we are challenging ourselves to receive 100 donations of $500 each (or 50 donations of $1,000) by December 31, 2024. Keep in mind that many companies generously match the charitable contributions of their employees, and some may also match gifts made by retirees and/or spouses. To find out if your company has a matching gift program, check with your company’s Human Resources office to ask if they offer gift matching. Your Human Resources department will provide a matching gift form to complete and mail to Cornerstone Educational Support, Inc., 903 Main Street, Manchester, CT 06040, or email to Tammy@CornerstoneEducationalSupportInc.org. Company matching programs give your donations twice the impact! In addition, taxpayers who have already reached the age of 70.5 years or older may plan on making their charitable contributions directly from their traditional IRAs via qualified charitable distributions (QCDs), thus possibly reducing their taxable income. With other age restrictions being considered, these donations might also count as required minimum distributions (RMDs). A QCD is a direct transfer of funds from the traditional IRA custodian, payable to a qualified charity, such as Cornerstone Educational Support, Inc. QCDs are counted for the tax year in which they are taken and (if meeting the additional age requirements) might also count toward satisfying that year’s RMD. Disclaimer: We are not accountants or lawyers, and this is not tax or legal advice. You will need to talk with your tax and/or legal advisor to see if you qualify and to learn how current federal and/or state tax laws affect you.