Relationship Centered Engagement | Young Life Front Range Region

The RCE Prayer

Lord, your mission of incarnational presence for hope, love, redemption, and relationship propels us as Young Life staff and committee people. May our efforts be sustained by your Spirit, our hearts stirred by your Son, and our steps directed by your will. Thank you for your generosity and presence in our lives. Thank you for the wonderful opportunity to invite people into the story of Jesus as we ask them to give to the mission. May our fundraising and relationships always be anchored in your mission to reach teenagers, in deep desire for community, in sincere love, and in the hope that you will spiritually form all of us in the process.

Why RCE?

RCE exists for four purposes:

To help you reach kids through engaging adults to more effectively engage the Lord, the Scriptures, and current and future generations of financial supporters.
To develop a biblical philosophy and practice of fundraising to enhance field staff and committee engagement with local Young Life supporters.
To develop a field-based fundraising philosophy that moves toward a more practical, sustainable, and year-round fundraising method.
To develop executable year-round Adult Engagement Plans for field staff and committee to consistently engage local adults in the Young Life area.

RCE Values

That we would grow in our relationship with Jesus and possess scriptural insight about how mission work is funded in the Bible.
That we are more inclusive in the way we fundraise, making it more accessible for all staff and committee members.
That field staff and local committee members would practice incarnational relationship development with financial supporters in the local area.

Four Foundations

Mission

Conversations around financial giving must lead toward the mission of reaching the world for Christ. The missional connections to fundraising begin as we realize how generous God has been to us.

Community

Asking, giving and receiving have important outcomes in building a spiritual community that celebrates stewardship and generosity. An outcome of fundraising must be the building of community between the giver, the asker, and the receiver.

Love

Throughout Scripture, we notice a cycle of generosity and stewardship anchored in love: God creates and gives, people receive and steward lovingly, communities are transformed, and love and thanksgiving return to God.

Hope

Fundraising training that hopes for spiritual formation is rare. We must couple business practice with the spiritual mindset of fundraising anchored in loving, loyal and long-term friendships with supporters of varied financial abilities.

The Six RCE Pillars

1. Prayer Team

We recognize it is within God’s power to supply all our needs. Each area prayer strategy should include prayer for potential and current supporters. (Eph 1:18, 6:18)

2. Stewardship Journey

Stewardship is the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care. We are stewarding the relationships the Lord has given us, not just money.

3. Engagement Teams

A group of advocates in the local area that works with staff and committee to ensure supporters are personally engaged — knowing them well, valuing them, and inviting them into the mission. The engagement team creates the list of people the area will engage and defines how.

4. Ministry Vision

Every area needs a clear and compelling story to tell. The Cash Flow tool shows the financial present and future you are inviting others into. A current and potential donor list (maintained in YL Connect) is required for every area.

5. Strategy & Plan

The Engagement Plan is a year-long calendar of “what is going to happen when.” Staff, Engagement Teams, and Committee follow the example as they: Identify the unaware → Connect the aware → Invite the interested → Confirm the involved → Celebrate the invested → Guide the invested to become advocates.

6. Annual Campaign

The consolidation of the previous five pillars — the ACTION pillar. It is your engagement list, engagement team, annual budget, and the activities you will do to ensure success. If we do not execute our annual campaign, then the previous pillars are fruitless.

Donor Engagement Cycle

The five stages of moving a supporter closer to Jesus and the mission:

Aware

People we know “of” but who have no local YL experience. Not sure what they think of Young Life (typically 20% of adults in a YL area).

Interested

People with some experience locally with Young Life but not currently participating in a meaningful way (typically 40%).

Involved

People participating in the ministry with opportunity and potential for added involvement (typically 25%).

Invested

People who are significantly and consistently generous and contributing to the local Young Life work (typically 10%).

Advocates

People who invest and invite others in their sphere of influence to be involved in Young Life (typically 5% or less).

Relationship Centered Engagement (RCE) Field Guide