More than 300 support raising leaders from 110 Great Commission ministries recently gathered to discuss the number one obstacle that keeps missionaries from the field, and one of the top reasons people leave the field: raising financial support.

Held in Feb. 6-9 in Orlando, Florida, the 2018 Support Raising Leaders Conference brought together support raising leaders, trainers, coaches, and their executive leadership to discuss how to cultivate a healthy, robust culture of personal support raising in their organizations. Support Raising Solutions was honored to host this conference that champions biblical fundraising and empowers support raising leaders to succeed in their organizations.

While each ministry has its own calling in missions, church planting, college ministry and other kingdom causes, we all share the common responsibility of equipping our staff to mobilize a team of financial partners who will enable them to thrive in ministry. Keynote speaker Steve Douglass, president of Campus Crusade for Christ, encouraged all leaders that equipping staff in the area of ministry of partner development is absolutely crucial to reaching the world for Christ.

Leaders from more than 25 ministries led keynote sessions, workshops and panel discussions, tackling common issues organizations face in support raising culture, infrastructure, training, and coaching. Collaborative working labs and networking opportunities then gave leaders the chance to dive deeper into these areas and learn what other ministries are doing to solve similar challenges. This year, support raising directors from 12 different countries also added their perspective on personal support raising throughout Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe.

SRS has already begun planning the next Support Raising Leaders Conference for October of 2019 to continue empowering leaders to equip their staff to be spiritually healthy, vision-driven, and fully funded.

Here are just a few testimonies of those impacted by the 2018 conference:

“As a support raising coach, this conference gave me more inspiration and direction than any single other source of education and training I’ve managed to draw into my tool kit for helping our staff reach their full funding.”  – David Livingston, Word of Life

“The conference was invigorating about fundraising as ministry. It was so well done with sessions that addressed the very things that we face. God spoke through every session specifically to our organizational needs, even things that were not a part of the conference. He knows our needs. It is so great to be counted with this group of world-changers.”  – Sandra Barfield, Go To Nations

“What a blessing to be surrounded by hundreds of people who not only support raise themselves, but deeply care about having a healthy ministry partnership development culture in their own ministries! This week was deeply helpful, gave our ministry a much needed morale boost, and sent us home ready to revamp and implement wonderful change in our MPD culture, infrastructure, coaching, and training.”  – Hannah Cory, National School Project

“This was an inspiring, encouraging and challenging conference. Being in one place with people of like-mind who are facing their fears and forging ahead in biblical fundraising was simply energizing.”  – Immidy Musipa, The Navigators, Zambia

“Our President left excited about tackling the vital issue of support raising. I brought my team, hoping that they would get a bigger picture of support raising. Our leadership is now looking at major shifts, massive momentum for change, and overwhelming support for our entire organization to rethink and re-approach being fully funded.”  – Callie Buchholtz, TeachBeyond