This is a text-only version of an article first published on Tuesday, 10 March 2020. Information shown on this page may no longer be current.
WHEN Jonathan Farnhill saw the advert for a Generous Giving Adviser for the Diocese of Oxford, he found it irresistible.
Jonathan started his new job last month.
As he was settling in, he told Jo Duckles what inspires him to help congregations give wisely and generously. "It was a job that excited and intrigued me," says Jonathan.
"Encouraging generosity is a huge challenge, particularly in a diocese the size of Oxford. " Jonathan's first experience of stewardship was during a six-month placement at Oxfam when he was studying for a Higher National Diploma in Business and Finance. He moved on to working for various charities.
He spent a year volunteering full-time in a community centre in Cambridge before going on to be a Regional Fundraiser for the Church Army.
"I was then the Executive Director for the Salmon Youth Centre in Bermondsey.
I always seemed to hop between management, leadership and fundraising roles. "He describes St Luke's Hospice in Plymouth, where he was Director of Funding, as: "…an incredible place to work and incredibly successful in terms of fundraising.
We had a major capital appeal to raise £1M in a million seconds which was really successful and I loved being part of it. "During his time in Plymouth Jonathan completed an MA in Applied Theology.
"That was incredibly influential in how I ended up here.
For the last 10 years I have worked for a charity that provides education and care for deaf children.
Throughout that time and all through my career I have given advice on fundraising to charities and voluntary organisations, and I was really keen to find a role that enabled me to do this more. "Jonathan has also delivered fundraising training and written a book, The Porcupine Principle (and other fundraising secrets), published by the Directory of Social Change.
It is now out of print but the Kindle edition is still available.
"There was a lovely book review that said: 'If you want a "how to" book on fundraising don't buy this but if you want to be inspired to try, there is nothing better. ' It's heavily influenced by what I learnt through my MA about how we are called to make the world a better place.
Giving can be an important part of that. "It was 18 months ago that Jonathan was delighted to be invited to speak to clergy at Southwark Cathedral, where he previously worshipped.
"It was clear that the issue of giving is incredibly important and I enjoyed the small part I played in helping clergy with this challenge.
I now have the opportunity to focus full-time on encouraging generous giving and I hope I can help people to make a difference. "Jonathan lives in Oxfordshire and is a keen cyclist in his spare time and has recently completed a figurative sculpture course.
He is also working on a second book for the Directory of Social Change.
Inspiring transformational generosity
by Jonathan FarnhillWhile the level of giving in the Church is increasing, it is less in the Oxford Diocese than many other dioceses, and that's something we are keen to change.My job has different aspects to it: there's the nuts and bolts of giving, making sure people have access to materials and resources which they need to encourage giving; there's the more intensive support I can give to a small number of parishes, benefices and deaneries (which inevitably will be quite limited as there's only one of me in a very large diocese) and there's working with archdeaconry teams and bishops to infuse all diocesan planning with ways to encourage generous giving. My job has different aspects to it: there's the nuts and bolts of giving, making sure people have access to materials and resources which they need to encourage giving; there's the more intensive support I can give to a small number of parishes, benefices and deaneries (which inevitably will be quite limited as there's only one of me in a very large diocese) and there's working with archdeaconry teams and bishops to infuse all diocesan planning with ways to encourage generous giving. I'll be looking out for success stories in the Diocese, and sharing those through training, articles and talks so that people can be inspired by what others have achieved.
I will also be working closely with my diocesan colleagues so that we can identify where we can work collaboratively and achieve the greatest impact. Initially I'll be getting out and about as much as I can, and I'm very much looking forward to getting to know the Diocese.
I'm eager to see what the challenges are and what I can do to help meet them.
I know it can be really tough.
Financial pressures can be extremely onerous for parishes and benefices.
I am keen to see first-hand some of the challenges so that any advice I can give will be useful and provide real opportunities for improvement.
Having worked within charities throughout my working life, I have regularly experienced the stress and worry that an absence of money can bring.
I know the real frustration experienced when ambitious plans cannot be delivered because the funds aren't there.
Ongoing financial struggles can grind you down, and I see a key part of my role is to show people things can change and encourage people to keep going. I have also had the privilege to see incredible generosity, and often from the most unexpected sources.
While encouraging giving can often feel a hard slog, when I've seen it happening it is humbling and inspiring.
It is so important to be open to being surprised by God and to look expectantly for that transformational generosity.
It is wonderful to see that generosity's impact ripple out across communities, and indeed across generations. Encouraging generosity in people will then encourage others to follow their example.
Caring for the vulnerable and those in need not only changes them, but all those who know them.
Seen in this way, giving isn't somehow separate and distinct from who we are, and our faith.
Rather it is one of the outworkings of it.
So by encouraging generous giving, I hope I will also be encouraging people to develop their faith and the outworking of their faith within their community. To get in touch with Jonathan call 01865 208757 or email jonathan. farnhill@oxford. anglican. org.
Divine compost - an extract from the Porcupine Principle
SEEING ourselves as divine compost means that, by focusing on our mortality, we are given a different perspective on our present lives.This can probably be best explained by a quick dip into my own life history.
I adored my Granddad and was incredibly sad when he died at the fabulous age of 92. Staying with my grandparents was a highlight of my childhood.
I loved everything about it: playing dominoes, watching Dewsbury rugby league club lose or practising my golf putting on the back lawn.
I do not play dominoes, watch Dewsbury lose at rugby or play golf any more.
However, I do try to be like him. He used to let me win at dominoes in a very clever way, so that I thought I had beaten him fair and square.
I have learnt to do the same thing when playing table football with my daughters.
I learnt from him to be self-deprecating, to be stoical and brave (better on the former than the latter), to avoid histrionics, to accept who I am and to be comfortable in my skin.
I think I can start to see some of these traits emerging in my own children.
These traits did not just appear as if by magic; they were inherited. My Granddad is divine compost because he has grown these good things in his children and grandchildren.
It is because we teach these things to our children that they will in turn teach them to theirs; the impact is eternal. What has this to do with giving? Everything.
What we do does not just affect us, it affects everyone.
When we are selfish, we show our children how to be selfish, and they will in turn show their children.
When we are generous and kind, we affect generation after generation.
What we do matters.
Giving money is not some pointless exercise to assuage comfortable, middle-class guilt.
It makes a difference and will continue to make a difference in perpetuity.
How do you incorporate this within your giving message? By making sure that you show how generosity ripples outwards. Do not stop at saying a donation will take a homeless person off the streets.
Talk about what they will do when they are off the streets.
Who will they meet and what will they do? What acts of goodness will they now be able to do? Too often we end up talking about the process for achieving change, not the change itself.
But what happens because of those processes? That is when the message gets interesting. The above is an edited extract from The Porcupine Principle by Jonathan Farnhill.