Your Gift at Work: An Inside Look at Kingdom Workers

Every gift to Kingdom Workers represents more than generosity—it represents trust.

Whether you give once a year, every month, or whenever God places a need on your heart, you deserve to know how your gift is cared for and put to work. We recently sat down with Edie Turnbull, our Vice President of Mission Advancement, to answer some of the questions we hear most often from donors about stewardship, accountability, and how generosity becomes ministry around the world.

Here's what she shared.

Q. When someone gives a gift to Kingdom Workers, what actually happens next?

A. The first thing that happens at Kingdom Workers is gratitude for the gift. We work hard to make sure each gift—whether it’s $10 or $10,000—is acknowledged in a timely way. This typically comes in a mailed letter, but often it also includes a thank-you phone call, email, or text message.

The second thing is that the money is put to work right away. We operate on a pretty lean budget, so funds we receive go immediately into the field to support the work our volunteers do.

Q. How do you decide where donor funds go?

A. Most of our donors give to our general fund. We are grateful for these gifts because they give us flexibility to put the funds to use where they are most needed at any given time. We could not operate without these general funds.

Some of our donors have a heart for a specific area of work that we do, like Disability Care or Construction. Those “designated gifts” are spent as the donor requests—most often put toward immediate needs in that specific area of work.

Q. How do you ensure a donor’s gift is actually used for what they intended?

A. We have two safeguards in place that ensure a donor’s wishes are met.

1. All acknowledgement letters for “designated gifts” outline in writing how the funds will be used. This shows our donors that we understand their wishes.

2. We employ an outside firm to audit our financial records each year. Our auditors pay special attention to those funds that are restricted through donor designation to make sure that their use is in line with what the donor requested.

Q. How do field teams and local leaders influence how donor funds are used?

A. Most of the work in the field is consistent and ongoing, but there are times when new things come up—like the possibility of expanding into a new geographic area or the need for an item that is costly.

When these arise, we tend to bring them to our donors as special requests. For example, at various times our Africa team has needed a new vehicle. We have many donors who enjoy giving to meet a specific need, and so we’ll make a special plea for funding that item or new field.

Q. How do you know the work is actually making a difference once it’s implemented?

A. Kingdom Workers has a robust evaluation plan for each program and initiative, which is supported by our teammates who are analysts. They ensure that every area of work we do is evaluated on a cyclical basis—at least every three years. We make snapshots of these evaluations available to our donors when requested, and often use the information in the articles found in our biannual magazine, The Work. We are also happy to furnish the complete evaluation reports to anyone upon request.

Q. What do you wish more donors understood about nonprofits and stewardship?

A. For a nonprofit to have high-quality programs and then maintain and grow its impact, it requires a strong administrative spine. You cannot have good, impactful programs without it. Kingdom Workers is blessed to have so many donors who understand that and trust us with their charitable dollars!

Q. When you think about stewardship at Kingdom Workers, what gives you the most confidence—and what keeps you humble?

A. We have an abundant God who blesses us far beyond our expectations! There are so many stories about that abundance throughout Kingdom Workers' history that I can’t help feeling confident AND humbled.