Updated March 2021
Gifts are an excellent tool to use when reaching out to faculty on campus. A small gift can be welcoming and provides an opportunity for future conversations and connections.
Faculty Gift Ideas
Below are some gift ideas available from the Staff Store. Don't forget to include your business card with a gift.You must be logged in to the Staff Store for these products to load directly. For best results, log in before clicking these links.
- Consider a coffee mug or tumbler
- How about a pen , a Faculty 4 Loves or a Teach Us to Pray bookmark?
- Give a gift card to Starbucks or another local establishment along with a welcome message on a notecard.*
- Purchase a university-themed item, pair it with an IVP book, and a welcome message on a notecard.*
- Give a book that reflects GFM/IVP or, as is illustrated in the story below, one that’s familiar, and you believe it would be of strong interest to the faculty you’re meeting. Here are two IVP books that GFM staff are recommending:
- Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren, IVP, 2016. Click here to order.
- The Common Rule by Justin Whitmel Early, IVP, 2019. Click here to order.
- When the time is right, offer them a copy of Faculty Salt, a guide to help faculty get started being salt and light on their campus. The guide is available on the staff store at no cost.
- Then, pop your items in an InterVarsity gift bag.
Pilot Project for Engaging Faculty
Melodie Marske, Graduate & Faculty Ministries (GFM) Midwest Regional Director, and Bob Clark, Faculty Catalyst, facilitated a pilot project with a small group of GFM staff from across the four regions focused on opportunities to engage with faculty on campus. The group met together a couple of times during the fall semester to discuss ideas, pray together, and provide accountability. As the group interacted with faculty contacts, they used gift-giving as an opportunity to engage and foster good relationships.
How Did It Go?
Staff who participated in the pilot observed that gifts were indeed well-received and helped with outreach to faculty contacts both old and new to Graduate & Faculty Ministries. This expanded ministry outreach! Many faculty were receptive to the ministry in these meetings, excited by what was taking place on campus, and grateful for the gifts.
One of the challenges to the success of this pilot outreach was identifying new faculty. While it’s easy to find new staff at some schools—through press releases, info on the web, friends of the ministry, current and former students, to name a few—for many campuses, it can be more difficult. But finding new faculty is worth it, and God uses our efforts to be salt and light on campus.
Here’s One Story
Names and locations have been changed to protect the privacy of the administrators involved.
We had a really fun time welcoming new faculty and staff in our area with these gifts. We met several faculty—some of whom were grad students in college and part of GFM, and others who were new to the ministry. However, one story stands out.
There is a new president at one of the campuses where I serve, but he was actually the second choice for the university. The person who first took the job resigned suddenly less than a month into his appointment.
Dr. Smith, the other finalist for the presidency—who was later offered the position—was dejected by not having been initially selected. In the midst of overwhelming anger, he turned to God and prayed: “God [He’s not too sure on the Jesus stuff], please take this anger away from me. It is too much!” After this prayer, he was given a clear sense of peace.
The next morning, Dr. Smith had a breakfast appointment with a colleague. As he entered the dining-room, he saw the Presidential Search Committee. He knew exactly what to do. He went up to the table, introduced himself to them, and thanked them for running a fair and thorough search. Dr. Smith complimented them on their hire with genuine sincerity. Little did he know what would unfold a couple of weeks later.
Following the initial hire’s resignation, Dr. Smith was offered the presidency. He later reflected that if he had received the job the first time around, he would have been set up for failure because he would have thought “he earned it.” Instead, he came into the position in a posture of humility and confidence—both of which flow from him receiving this job as a gift from God.
Part of what is so great about this story is that not only did Dr. Smith end up with his “dream job,” but the other candidate was then named president of the school he previously worked at, which meant the other candidate got his “dream job, too.”
After hearing Dr. Smith tell his story, I told him that he wasn’t the only one that was disappointed by the initial hire. I had been privately praying regularly for him (Dr. Smith) to get the job. He said, “Well, thank you. I guess your prayers were effective!”
I gave Dr. Smith the a small gift along with a copy of Gordon College President Michael Lindsey’s book, A View From the Top, which is a sociological study on leadership (Lindsey advocates the notion of servant leadership). Since President Lindsey is a friend of a friend, I told Dr. Smith I’d be glad to facilitate an opportunity for them to have a conversation.
Recently, Dr. Smith joined us for our regular faculty group on campus and shared with the group. Praise God for this connection!
A Redeeming Influence
The story above is just one staff’s experience. There are many more positive ministry stories we could share. And while the gift-giving is one opportunity for faculty outreach, there is no one proven strategy for effectively engaging faculty with InterVarsity ministry. What is evident is that when we do engage, God uses those encounters to advance his kingdom on university campuses across the U.S.
To share your faculty stories or learn more on reaching faculty at your campus, contact Deb Clark, Associate Director of Faculty Ministry, or email faculty@intervarsity.org
