Blog / Preparation and Tools

Bryan works for a large mission organization and spends some of his days in a small dark room making copies of DVD’s. Imagine Bryan on a support appointment: Prospective partner: Bryan, tell me what you do in your ministry. Bryan: I sit in a small dark room and make DVD’s for Jesus. Prospective partner: Hmm, I see. Bryan: Would you support my ministry? It is not hard to imagine the outcome of that conversation. The odds of this person joining Bryan’s ministry are pretty slim. However, imagine if Bryan’s conversation went something like this: Prospective partner: Bryan, tell me what […]

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Recently, I was reading an article that asked, “What are the top 5 tools that will help you survive a natural or man-made disaster?” Realizing that many in Christian ministry who are raising support seem to be teetering on the brink of disaster, I found myself taking the principles of that article and applying it to Ministry Partner Development (MPD). Here are the tools: 1. Your Brain This is the single most important tool in any survival situation. Reading 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, I’m quick to recognize that our natural thinking does not provide the solution, but the key is aligning […]

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1. Friendraising: Building a Support Team that Lasts by Betty Barnett, Published by YWAM in 1991.      Barnett is on staff with Youth With A Mission and trains their staff in support raising from her base in Hawaii. In her short, but powerful book, she teaches the four practical pillars of lasting friend and support raising: Friend Raising, Generosity, Communication, and Prayer with Promises. The only one listed here written by a woman, she brings a warm and enduring emphasis on building life long relationships with our supporters. Barnett exudes a genuine authenticity through her own story and the testimonies […]

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Like you, I get numerous ministry newsletters each week from various Christian workers around the world. A few are good, more are bad, and some…really ugly! Let’s look at them in reverse order: The Ugly : 1. Distress signal : “We’re going under unless you give!” may work once, but if we do it again, our supporters will have huge questions about our ability to raise and manage funds. 2. Subtle ask : Instead of asking folks face to face to join our team, we slip in hints in the prayer requests, or even worse, we include envelopes to do […]

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