I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them.

Romans 11:13-14

One of my favorite parts about writing grant proposals may surprise you. Meeting with the project leaders excites me. Writing challenges my thinking. The check, if the Lord is gracious, can bump the adrenaline up. However, it’s knowing that people will live better lives that propels my pen.

In other words, it’s knowing the greater impact that compels me to write grant proposals. No matter the project, it’s imagining how people would live with the grant award and the ripple effect that could come from that. One nonprofit, one volunteer, one donation can change a life and have a generational legacy on those that follow. (Perhaps for both the receiver and the giver.)

In Romans, Paul mentions that he is proud of his ministry because perhaps it would influence his own people. He might impact people who he doesn’t know personally, or may even meet. He is almost daydreaming over the ripple effect. It’s like he hit “submit” on the grant proposal and thinks of how people he’ll never meet will benefit.

No matter your role at a nonprofit, or in life, what you do will touch people you may never meet. The residue may become a multiplier, if God provides it. Find what you do in love, do it well, and take a moment to daydream. 

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© 2022, Mollie Bond. All rights reserved. Originally published at www.molliebond.org.