Our Funding Model

Alan's Story Videos Documents

An Open Letter to Our Partners

Saying Farewell with Gratitude to Alan Pearson

For the first 17 years of Blue Letter Bible's existence, the Lord provided virtually all the funding needed to maintain and grow the ministry through a Christian foundation known as Sowing Circle. This foundation was created by a group of men who were dedicated to equipping Christians worldwide through free in-depth Bible study resources that were otherwise too difficult for most people to obtain. In 2012, Blue Letter Bible found itself at a crossroad. After much prayer, the Sowing Circle Board of Directors was led to an important decision. BLB would make its funding needs known in an effort to set itself on a path to becoming fully sustainable from its base of dedicated users. This created the need for a donor relations and development program. In the fall of 2012, Alan Pearson was introduced to our CEO and co-founder, Jim Milligan. Jim said, "One day, I sat down next to Alan Pearson at a luncheon. That conversation resulted in an inspiration to develop a donor relations emphasis within the ministry. It changed the manner in which BLB could expand in the future, allowing us to better serve students of the Bible." Alan began to help BLB build its own donor relations and development program on a part-time basis that year. And then, in the spring of 2014, he joined our team full-time as the Director of Donor Relations and Development.

Creating a donor relations and development program from scratch was quite an initiative, and we praised the Lord for the philosophy of fundraising that He instilled in Alan's heart. By design, the approach is based on 1 Timothy 6:17-19 and Paul's concept of sharing (koinōnikous) with the fellowship-community (koinonia). Rather than directly asking our users to give, we encourage them to pray about how God might lead them to support BLB. It is our sincere desire that all support we receive from our partners would be a result of them being led by God to give and not by anything we would ever say or do.

Developing deep and lasting personal relationships has been the cornerstone of this approach. To the extent time would allow, Alan has met in person with hundreds of BLB partners over the last decade. Alan said, ""I will forever cherish the countless relationships I have developed with BLB partners all around the country over these last twelve-plus years. I see any gift to BLB as a by-product of an ever-growing relationship with a ministry partner who is growing in the Word and is joyfully committed to being used by God to help BLB achieve its mission. We aspire to ministry, not giving. Our desire is to help our partners experience the joy in giving the way God designed us to give." Between 2014 and 2023, we have continued to see increase year after year, on our journey to become fully supported by our users and donors. This growth has enabled BLB to expand all it does to provide God's Word along with free in-depth study tools through the innumerable opportunities God has given us. But as God continues to bless us with more and more opportunities, our financial needs to maintain the ministry grow as well. That is why the consistent increase in support from our partners is so vital and blesses us every year.

In 2022, Alan informed the board of Blue Letter Bible that he would be retiring at the end of 2024. And so, the search for Alan's successor began in early 2023. By the end of that year, after an extensive search and the fervent prayers of many, God led us to Jacob Evatt. Jacob joined the staff in January 2024 and worked closely with Alan throughout all of 2024. He has already become an invaluable and cherished part of our staff at the ministry. Alan affirms this wholeheartedly: "I am 100% confident Jacob is an answer to our prayers for my successor. Jacob understands how we view stewardship. He shares our vision and passion for developing meaningful relationships with our partners, and those relationships will continue to grow under his leadership as the new Director of Donor Relations and Development."

Riding off into the sunset…

In light of Alan's retirement, Pastor Jim said, "We thank God for bringing Alan to be a crucial part of this ministry to help us develop systems and cultivate relationships with donors and users. These have made it possible to continue providing Bible study tools around the world at no cost to users." And we also thank God for continuing to abundantly provide for all our needs as we remain committed to strengthening and equipping God's people through His Holy Word. Our heart is to assist all believers everywhere who desire to grow in their faith by deepening their understanding of God and His will for their lives. We give all praise and glory to God for His wonderful work through our ministry in the lives of our users, donors, and staff. It is only through His divine power that any of what we do is possible. If you would like to learn more about BLB's guiding principles as it pertains to fundraising, please visit blb.org/donorinfo.

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