Joy, satisfaction, and purpose are hard to come by. But Joe Beckler, the Vice President of Development, Marketing, and Communications for the Christian Business Men's Connection  (CBMC), spends each and every day trying to give it to others through their mission of presenting “…Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord to business and professional men and to develop Christian business and professional men to carry out the Great Commission.”

Beckler’s personal drivers and how CBMC advances its mission work align perfectly with well-researched psychological motivators.

He said, “When you can help someone connect to an amazing cause…that brings a sense of satisfaction and joy to people, that is really powerful.”

Social psychologist Edward Deci studies human motivation, in essence, joy, satisfaction, and purpose. His research has profoundly impacted how we understand what drives people to behave as they do. He co-founded “self-determination theory,” which describes why people are satisfied with various aspects of their lives.

Self-determination theory describes satisfaction as a three-legged stool; we at Turnkey call it the trifecta of satisfaction. Satisfied people are motivated people. They take action.

Delivering Satisfaction to Donors

CBMC has many programs, but one particularly masters the art of satisfaction, the program Operation Timothy. From psychology, the three factors that contribute to satisfaction are:  

1. Autonomy—people feel personal freedom, which psychologists call a sense of “agency.” They might have agency over what they do (the task), when they do it (the time), with whom they do it (the team), and how they do it (the tactic). For CBMC, that opportunity for autonomy manifests as a personally driven opportunity to increase personal competence in Christian scripture and business expertise.

   CBMC created a program to help constituents advance in their spiritual journey. Per the CBMC website: “Operation Timothy is a time-tested discipleship resource tool that will guide a man to learn more about God and how to be the man God designed him to be. ... Paul trained to train others to train others. … This is highly relational and involves tremendous personal growth.”

   CBMC offers Operation Timothy free to constituents online all the time. As constituents progress through the program they can even retrieve a Certificate of Completion via an online form.  

2. Competence—having the opportunity to become good at something that matters. CBMC’s Operation Timothy also checks that box with a step-wise progression of knowledge and expertise gained through collaboration with a mentor.

3. Relatedness—the feeling of being connected to something greater than themselves. This often results in a “purpose motive,” which many people embrace as central to their lives; people gain a sense that their lives have purpose. Constituents are connected through Operation Timothy.

Trust

CBMC creates trust in a creative way. Psychologists define trust as the absence of fear. One thing that creates fear is a poor experience, a “clunky” experience. Great customer service, digitally or in person, can build trust through a great experience.

CBMC uses iDonate’s online donation platform for creating their donor experience. Beckler says “iDonate is part of the ‘experience’ when you think about the sacred decision someone makes to give. iDonate helps us create an experience for our donors that feels secure, seamless, and elegant. Think about it--we work with a donor, and they come to a decision to give. This is always a big deal. iDonate is key to the action step of actually giving. If the process is clunky or unclear, the donor faces an experience that is less favorable. Again, iDonate helps us care for the donor in the moment of giving.

“From a spiritual perspective, we see giving as a form of expressive worship. Thus, the iDonate platform helps us set conditions for ‘good worship’ as a person sacrificially gives to help our cause.”

Mission delivery intertwines with development

Often mission delivery and development are two highly separate sides of the house. Here, the two are delightfully intertwined in a highly efficient way.

Beckler describes Operation Timothy as, “…a wonderful turnkey tool that can provide a track to run on for spiritual conversations and spiritual formation.” This tool is closely aligned with donation behavior, as Beckler said, “a number of our most engaged individuals are also our best customers, so to speak.” Beckler sees a connection between engagement with Operation Timothy and other points of engagement and donation behavior, including retention. He reports that those engaged in Operation Timothy and other touchpoints frequently show up on his donor list.

Beckler continued in regard to his own career, “Ultimately (for me) it was about people. It was about a common theme of looking for purpose and meaning and sense of calling.

“And so, it goes back to that initial thing I said where I mentioned that people are really trying to discover their purpose and meaning.

“…maybe there's a way I can be a broker of sorts to help you (the constituent) find a way to connect and invest in things that you care about or get involved in the things you care about.”

Satisfying.

(This blog supported by our partner iDonate.)