Raising support in isolation nearly devoured our staff. In late 2014, I found myself hitting roadblock after roadblock coaching new, often very young hires in support raising. Running dogged with individual coaching sessions, I was seeing limited, and at times, frustratingly slow results. It often took our staff 6-12 months to raise support. Some would make it. Some wouldn’t. Many would reach campus like marathon runners who finished a 26.2-mile race they hadn’t trained for and didn’t want to run, only to start a second race a week later. Staff felt drained. Lonely. Spiritually dry. Painfully working through support raising […]
Keep Reading →Setting the Stage The foundation of honoring God in the stewardship of our lives as servants on His behalf is love: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39). In order to love God and others, you need to take care of, yes love, yourself. Furlough is a time for those serving cross-culturally to take care of themselves and their families, including their partners, in order to have the capacity to take care of others. The ministry I serve with asks our members […]
Keep Reading →Your MPD culture is healthy if… Your cultural values are consistently and clearly communicated. Imagine you’re a new missionary candidate captivated by the vision of a particular sending agency. When asked about raising support, the recruiter says, “God always provides for those He calls. Don’t worry about the money.” The HR team says, “We’ll train you and coach you in the process, but you should expect it to take 3-9 months of dedicated hard work to reach full funding.” The field leader says, “You can live on a lot less than what those guys are telling you. The important thing […]
Keep Reading →Embarking on a season of raising support probably provides one of the best opportunities you will ever have to grow in your prayer life. You have a great need that is impossible to meet on your own. You are taking a leap into the unknown, with only your Father to catch you. You are daily involved in a sometimes tedious, sometimes hair raising task requiring humility, courage, and patience. I predict that during support raising you will see flabbergasting reminders of God’s goodness and His ability to provide—along with frequent reminders of your own weakness. And on top of it […]
Keep Reading →“Why would anyone want to support me?” In my early days of fundraising, that statement was a great summary of my attitude toward MPD. Have you tried to lead anyone to support raising success who was stuck in this mindset? Today I’d be more likely to say, “Why wouldn’t people support me?” So what changed in me, and how can you help bring about a shift in your support raisers’ perspectives? I Didn’t Know What I Was Doing or Why If I’m completely honest about my early days, I’d say I didn’t really know what I was doing or why. […]
Keep Reading →“The Support Raising Leaders Conference provides a unique opportunity for missionaries and executive leaders from a wide array of gospel-centered organizations to come together and discuss what may be the main obstacle holding back thousands of Great Commission workers from engaging the unreached.” – Jeremy Henderson, VP with Go To Nations. More than 360 leaders from 16 countries representing 130 Great Commission ministries gathered October 15-18, 2019 for the Support Raising Leaders Conference to champion biblical fundraising and empower their organizations. These support raising coaches, trainers, personnel directors, and executives gained best practices, discussed common challenges, shared tools and resources, […]
Keep Reading →Research published by Charity Navigator found that at least 30% of all charitable giving in the U.S. happens during the month of December, with 12% of donations posted during the last three days of the year. Some missionaries report that 40% of their annual support comes in during December. So why should you consider an end of year campaign? Because people are planning to be generous! Key Elements of an End of Year Campaign A Unifying Theme A Key Story A Visionary Ask A Funding Goal A Tangible Outcome A Way to Respond Develop a Unifying Theme and Key Story […]
Keep Reading →Looking back at my personal history of starting new things versus finishing those same things, I am absolutely convinced it is part of our innate human nature to receive greater enjoyment from the excitement of birthing new things. Whether it’s the “honeymoon” phase of a marriage, the exhilaration of a baby being born, or the nervous energy that accompanies starting a new job—we can probably all relate to the unbridled optimism of starting something new. The same holds true of the birth of an organization: when God gives a clear vision to a leader or group of leaders to launch […]
Keep Reading →Millennials, like other generations, have come to be known for the qualities which characterize them. As these 23 to 38 year olds become the majority of the workforce, many businesses and organizations have found themselves scrambling to discover the strategies that work best to harness the strengths of this generation of employees. What motivates millennials? What do they value? How can they be led well? These questions have left leaders from all sectors scratching their heads. It makes sense that coaching millennials in fundraising has also made a perplexing ripple in the world of MPD. Here are six key generational […]
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