Here’s an interesting item: HJCB is running a contest where the prize is cash toward a mission project, a video camera, and a promotional video. Check out the HJCB Contest.
gvs
Archive for April, 2009
Missionaries Using Facebook and Twitter
You’ve probably heard plenty about Facebook, Twitter, and other Social Media websites. You may not have any idea why these sites should mean something to you, and your quest.
In short, if you plan to achieve your goal of planting a church or going on a mission trip, you normally have no choice but to raise a team of prayer and financial support. As this website and its products try to instill, people give to “vision”, not necessarily to “need.” Sites like Facebook and Twitter facilitate you in sharing that vision.
Facebook allows you to connect with friends, family, and others who may be interested in your ministry. It allows you to give quick updates on your life and work. Those with whom you are “friends” read what you write, learn more about your work, and have a good glimpse of where you are in the process. You can also join “groups” specific to your interests. You can learn, and inform, via Facebook.
Twitter allows you to do some things similar to Facebook, except all of your updates (called “tweets”) can only be up to 140 characters, maximum. You may say, “What good will that do?” Well, it really helps in being succinct, and stating only what needs to be said. You can follow others with similar interests, or you can follow “topics.” “Hashtags” allow you to send and view messages of a certain subject, e.g., “#missions”, “#missionary”, “#churchplanter”. By searching on these hashtags you are able to view what others are saying about those topics. You, in turn, can post your thoughts on those same topics by including those hashtags in your tweets.
Yes, we are in ministry; but also “yes”, “networking” and “marketing” are required. Use the tools!
You can follow me on Twitter. My username is @GoVictorSales. I often tweet to #missions, #missionary, and #churchplanter. I also tweet about other interests, including internet marketing.
In Facebook, search for “Gary Skrobot” and let me know you want to be my “friend”.
Hope to see you around.
Gary
Financial giving: It’s your responsibility to provide the opportunity.
As you start off in your pursuit of missionary or church planting work, you may feel “uncomfortable” asking people for financial support. Or, to put it more colloquially, asking people for their “money.” This is understandable for someone who is “new” to this method of receiving compensation; however, it is a perspective you must subdue and conquer. Why? Because God has shown us, through history, that His preferred method of supporting work to His created people (both believers and unbelievers) is with funds from His people, and even from his non-human creation.
How did God build the Tabernacle in the desert?: with money and wealth that came from Egypt, those who once held Israel in captivity.
How did God help meet the needs of suffering believers in the New Testament?: with the gifts given by others.
How did Jesus and Peter pay their taxes to Caesar?: with money “donated” by a fish!
How did God feed Elijah and the widow?: with flour provided by the widow.
How did God feed Elijah?: with food “given” by His created raven.
All good things come from God. He tells us He doesn’t need our sacrifices because He owns all the cattle on a thousand hills; but, he still accepts our sacrifices when we give (what He already owns) with gratitude and humility.
You must understand: It is every believer’s responsibility to support the work of God, and it is your responsibility to convey the vision and the need, and to provide the opportunity for believers to give. I am not saying it is every believer’s responsibility to support the work He has called you to do. Not everyone will help you, and it is not necessarily a bad thing if they don’t help you, specifically. Your job is to find those who will sense God wanting them to support you.
But, don’t think what you need will only come from believers, or even from “good people.” God uses everything…even “ill-gotten gains” for His purposes. Micah 4:13
Pursuing financial support for short term mission trips, or church planting ventures, is a mixture of humility and boldness. You’re humbled that God is using you; you’re humbled to ask others for help; you’re also bold because God is using you; you’re bold because you know God has a plan, and He has chosen to use gifts from others to accomplish that plan, and it’s your responsibility to “mine” those gifts.
Don’t apologize for His calling, or His methods!
Gary Skrobot
Donation Letters: “Do I use Color or Black and White?”
That’s what the missionary candidate wanted to know, as he was preparing to send out 100 very nicely prepared donation letters. He said that the local copy place was asking fifty cents per copy more, to do it in color. His original was in color and looked great. It spoke of competency, confidence, and clarity.
“Let’s do the math on this thing,” I said. You’re in the middle of mission support, for a short term mission project (actually it is for two years) so the stakes here are big. You’ve got 100 prime prospects, with whom you will follow up by phone or personal visit. The cost of the postage is the same, whether you use color or B/W. The extra cost for color is $50, for the 100 letters.
Suppose that only ONE person more responds positively, because of the high quality and strong appeal of the full color letter. That one person contributes $50/ mo for 24months, and you reap a return on investment of 23 times your cost going in — that’s like 2,300% return. If you can find me that for my retirement funds, I’m “all in,” so to speak.
Jim Walters
Winter to Spring; Layperson to Missionary
The transition from Winter to Spring is not always pleasant. Here in Colorado, while much of the country is experiencing warm and sunny weather, we are being pummeled with scores of inches of snow in the mountains, and a very wet and heavy snow here in the plains and foothills.
The transition for you, as you move from being a layperson to a full or short term missionary, or even a church planter, can be just as traumatic. You have to deal with humans (who may be opposing you), transitioning from a steady paycheck to inconsistent financial support, and perhaps your own doubts.
Be encouraged! God loves to see you persist. It’s the sluggard who says “there’s a lion in the street”-Prov 26:13; it’s the double-minded person who is unstable-James 1:8; but you, you’re different! You’re like a tree, planted by the waters, and you bear the required fruit!
Persistence matters to God! It’s those who “endure to the end”, not those who get scared and bury whatever they have so that they don’t “lose” it, or don’t take the necessary “risks.”
Be bold! Be persistent! Be watchful! And see what marvelous things He will do for you.
Gary Skrobot
Now is the time for great fundraising letters!
In these hard times of economy, some churches and many missions-minded Christians are thinking, we must back off and do less. No! We must advance and do more. History shows that giving to churches doesn’t necessarily have to go down during recession times, although that will be the tendancy unless we step up and take action to raise mission support.
Now is the time for great fundraising letters! Now is the time for upgrading missionary support systems, through more effective communication. More effective doesn’t mean more often, and it certainly doesn’t mean begging or panic messages. Rather, it means laser-focused messages that communicate the vision of the mission. Write donation letters that expound upon what God is doing in the field, through short-term missions, through nationals who are stepping up, through prayer. Tell the story in a way that communications the vision, not the shortfall. People give to vision, not to need. People will rally to you if you are caught up and passionate about what God is doing through your work.
Jim Walters
A Better Donation Letter
As the senior pastor of a large church, I read a lot of donation letters. Plus, I once served in full-time missions and raised mission support for several years. I did it all wrong, of course, and now looking back, from the perspective of one who reads twenty or thirty of these letters every month, I see that clearly now.
Too many fundraising letters look like “letters to Grandma” and highlight mostly what the family has been up to, how the kids are doing in school, and where recent travels have taken them. But the people who are supporting this mission aren’t especially concerned with family news — they want to know what God has been doing through this ministry! When committees at church meet to discuss church fundraising or to ponder missionary support issues, they are not concentrating on whose family is having the most fun out there, or whose kids are winning the most awards in schools or sports. The question they are asking is, “Where is God at work, and how can we support that?”
Jim Walters
15 Steps to More Productivity in Your Fundraising Efforts
You need to understand that even though you’re pursuing your “call”, you still need to be organized and productive. Many scriptures talk against being lazy, but instead promote “activity.” As you work toward your short term mission trip, or your church fundraising goals, keep these steps in mind.
This is a reprint from another website. You can find the complete article here.
- Have a Task List for the Day
- Prioritize Tasks
- Place More Emphasis on Finishing Tasks Rather than Starting New Ones
- Know the Strongest Times of Your Work Day
- Give Yourself Some Flexibility
- Have a Specified Ending Time for Work
- Bulk Process
- Track Your Time
- Recognize Your Distractions
- Have Realistic Expectations
- Plan Your Next Day at the End of Each
- Get Enough Sleep the Night Before
- Eat Healthy
- Get Fresh Air
- Work in a Comfortable Environment
Hope this helps.
gvs
Economic “virus”
So the economy sneezes and church fundraising catches a cold. Missionaries and church planters are getting pneumonia. But it shouldn’t be this way. The vast majority of Americans who had jobs last year are still working hard at those jobs this year, and being paid as much or more. Forget about the folks who are out looking for work. There’s more than enough people still earning full pay who can finance the work of God on this earth.
The real problem with church fundraising is that too many of our leaders are afraid to “make an ask” because we are afraid we’ll turn them off, and worse than that, lose them. I say “we” because I am one of them, but after thirty years of ministry, I have figured out that people are just as likely to rise to a financial challenge as they are to run from it. Besides, as John Maxwell has famously said, “You choose who you lose.” And James said, “you have not because you ask not.” Now there’s a creed for fundraising in a tight economy.
Jim Walters
Be Consistent with your Mission Support Efforts
Because fundraising for mission support can seem to be daunting at times, it’s very important that you remain steadfast and consistent in your pursuit. One of the best ways to keep yourself consistent is to always remember the goal: going on that mission trip you’ve been looking forward to for so long.
You must strive to be consistent in the following areas:
Letter writing: while you are in the fundraising stage you need to send out letters to your potential and current supporters at least monthly. Give them updates, let them know where you stand, what you’re hoping to accomplish, and any deadlines of which you are aware.
Phone calls: whether we like this or not, you are “marketing” yourself. You will need to conduct “follow-up.” Hearing your voice, and your tone, does a lot more to make your quest real than a mere letter can.
Networking: let people you know, in a face-to-face setting, what you’re doing, and why. Always ask people to remember you in prayer, and give them something in writing that shows them where and how to give.
Don’t give up. We all have had to do this. You can do it, too.
Gary Skrobot