Traditionally there are three different models of fundraising. In practice, these three models become intermingled depending on a person's circumstances and personality. In this interview, a young couple talks about how they approached raising support for a one-year stint in Africa.
TRANSCRIPT:
So what was the process like raising support. For us at least, it was one of faith and of prayer.
We started raising support in February, with a letter that we sent out to our churches, family members, friends, family, anyone that we could think of, and we got to the field in August. So it was just over six months that we were able to raise around 35,000 dollars. And basically, you have to sell yourself. You have to sell your mission, you have to sell your idea. And what we found was when we were just candid and honest with people, and that we were just ourselves, it really I think took off in peoples\' mind.
You really have to be proactive, we visited five or six churches, we were in probably 40 homes over the period time, we took a seven-week road trip across the middle of the United States. We put a lot of work into it ourselves, as well as calling people, and our friends could network for us, our parents could talk to their friends and their churches about us, so it all worked together to get us to the field.
So the way we would do it was, we would speak at a church or a Sunday school or whatever, and we had like a prayer letter in the back that would outline kind of like who we were, where we were going, what we were going to do, and then there's contact information there, like an email address, phone numbers, and we encouraged everybody, like, if you want to partner with us in any way, shape, or form, or just want to know more about what's going on and where we're going, we can go out to dinner with you, we can come over to your house. We just made ourselves available. And so we ended up going out on several dinners and invited over to people's houses for like an open house type thing, which was really good.
That was very good.
And that\'s when people find out the most, too. They get to know your personality, and they get to hear more about specifics of where you're going. You can't cover all that in like a five- or ten-minute missions moment.
It was up to God to either put something in their heart, like a burden for us. And some people, you know, just right away, just signed up and said yeah, I'm going to support you monthly, this is what I'm going to do, here's a check for this, you know, whatever. And others, it took a little longer.
And one thing, a side note that really surprised me. The people that you think will support you, for like, hundreds of dollars a month, may give you 25. We had some friends that did that. I thought, 'Oh, he just got a great job, they\'re in.\' And they gave us 10 dollars a month. But they gave it to us steadily the whole year. And then the people that will shock you. We had friends of ours that I didn't know that had any money. They gave us a check for a thousand dollars. And they're our age. And it was just so humbling, and so neat to see how God works through everyone.
Most of these people had supported me already in some short-term stuff. So it was kind of like a gradual thing. You know, going from like giving 10 dollars for a summer thing, to, now we're going for a year, it's still considered short-term, but we needed a significant amount more.
You also have to humble yourself enough to ask for money. Because a lot of the bottom line is, going to a church and sharing your heart and what you\'re going to do but then telling them, too, that there's a price tag involved, for airline tickets, for different things. But just showing them that it's an investment into something, it's not just them writing you a check that you're going to go spend somewhere but it's money that will enable you to serve overseas. And the more that you can show people, through pictures, or words, or testimonies, something, where they can see that, as they give you money, it's just a process, it's like a funnel that they can move resources into these lands that don't know about Jesus Christ.
Credits:
Produced by Mission Data International
Video Editor: Paul Nielsen
Cameraman: Paul Nielsen
Creative Commons Copyright
2009 Mission Data International
Some rights reserved
PreparingToGo.com
2009 Mission Data International
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I'm blown away right now! My wife and I are in the same exact boat as you...so much it's SCARY! We just started raising support last month, February. We are desperately trying to leave by August 15th. And we have to raise $35k. Crazy! Thanks for the vid, it's really encouraging to us knowing that it worked out for you, and in the exact same time frame!
ShermanPNG 1 year ago
If this was truley of God, He would provide. Read the life of George Muller and Hudson Taylor.
Pfsif 2 years ago