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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.

  1. Have a Task List for the Day
  2. Prioritize Tasks
  3. Place More Emphasis on Finishing Tasks Rather than Starting New Ones
  4. Know the Strongest Times of Your Work Day
  5. Give Yourself Some Flexibility
  6. Have a Specified Ending Time for Work
  7. Bulk Process
  8. Track Your Time
  9. Recognize Your Distractions
  10. Have Realistic Expectations
  11. Plan Your Next Day at the End of Each
  12. Get Enough Sleep the Night Before
  13. Eat Healthy
  14. Get Fresh Air
  15. 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

Been there, done that!

My family and I have served as full-term missionaries in Papua New Guinea, and as short-term missionaries (15 months) in Haiti. In each case, raising the finances seemed to draw all (or at least, most) of our focus.

We always hear from others, “Money is the least of your concerns. When God decides it’s “time to go”, the funds will come in.” Some may find these words “encouraging”, others may find them “trite”. Some may say, “Yeah, well, you kind of have to say that…that’s what missionaries always say.”

Well, now you can hear it from “the horse’s mouth”: it was true for us, in every case, including the furloughs in-between terms. I remember our finances were “short” just over $350/month in “promised support.” We had only days to go before our mission organization would “pull the plug” and say we missed the deadline, and we’ll try again in 6-months (based on open training dates). With just days to go, a colleague at my job walked up to me and said he and his wife wanted to support us. I was happy to hear that another “small brick” would be put in place; another chipping away of the huge boulder that seemed to stop us. I asked him, “How much do you think you’d be able to do?” His reply shocked me, and humbled me: “We’d like to give $375 per month.”

You must remember, this was not coming from a church with hundreds of people and a bountiful budget. It came from one family! This mission support promise put us “over the top”, and we were on our way! Glory to God.

If and when God wants you to go, you will GO!

-Gary Skrobot

The World is Waiting

The opportunities for short term mission trip work are better than ever.  A good friend of mine is heading out with a team of 12 to Aizerbaijan, to preach and teach the Russian-speaking residents in the capital city of Bakur.  It turns out that it is legal, in this mostly Muslim country, to preach/teach within a home of a non-Muslim ethnic Russian. So the Russian speakers, like the Macedonian of old, have invited these guys “to come over and help them.”
 
The catch is, travel costs are higher and everyone’s savings are lower.  The answer to that is not to cancel the trip, rather, it is to work “smarter” and enlist a broader circle of friends to help underwrite the trip.  This will get more people involved (and thus praying) in the work. Also, it’s the purest form of missionary work, since the term “missionary” comes from the Latin “misseo” (I send) and is a direct translation of the Greek “apostello” (”I send out for a purpose”).
 
Jim Walters

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