Funding Your Missionary Journey - Part 2

You believe this is God's calling for you.  After studying the scriptures you are persuaded that support raising is Biblical, and you are trusting God to supply your financial needs.   

So, how do you begin? It's important that you develop a general strategy, a plan, to discover the supporters you believe God has already chosen to support you.  William Dillon, in his book People Raising, broke it down into two main principles. The first is: People give to people they know, trust, and care for.

The second principle is: The key to raising support successfully is to contact people you know in the most personal and practical way possible.

When you are ready to begin raising support start with principle 1.  Identify the people you already know, trust, and care for you.

When Alice and I made our first attempt at fundraising, we sent a letter to our families explaining our desire to serve God, how we felt called to missions, who and where we planned on ministering, and of course, how much support we needed to raise.  Our next letter went to close friends and our church family, and finally people we made contacts with everyday who might be interested in mission work. 

Eventually, each of these groups began telling their friends about our plans for ministry, and the word slowly made its way around to more interested individuals and churches.  Then we began seeking invitations to speak to churches and home groups.  It was amazing to see how God grew our circle of supporters and prayer warriors.  It was hard work at times, and there were disappointments, but God continued to bring us together with those that had a heart for missions, and our support base began to grow.   

Continue to meet with as many inside and outside of your circle of friends as practical and possible.

Now, let’s look at a fundraising strategy:

1)  In your daily prayer time look to God for financial provision

2) Begin a list of individuals and churches with which you can share your vision.
    Some ideas for contacts:

  a. Your church missions committee

  b. The church where you grew up

  c. Other churches in the area

  d. Friends & acquaintances

  e. People you work with

  f. Old school friends

  g. Friends and contacts of your parents

  h. Relatives    

  i. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Blogs, etc. – Christian parents of your friends   

3) Prioritize your list into the Top 10, 2nd ten and so forth.  The Top 10 donors or sponsors will possibly provide two-thirds of your financial support.

4) Prayerfully personalize your fundraising appeal.
  a. Ask appropriately:
     A Face to face presentation
     Phone call followed by informational letter
     Fund raising letter with enclosed response card and SASE
     Church presentation
     Other creative options such as car wash, etc

  b. Don't be afraid to ask for large gifts
  c. Pray and then set a deadline to contact the persons on your list
  d. Follow up with them as planned   

  e. Repeat steps 1-5 for your second 10, and continue until you have 

reached 100% of your fund-raising goal

Remember, raising support is not so much about the money, as it is about building relationships.

I hope these articles help you get on the road to full funding for your mission endeavor, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  Thank you for being willing to respond to God's call on your life, and may God bless you in the days ahead.

To purchase a copy of William Dillon’s book, People Raising, click HERE.


Be sure to read Part 1:

Funding Your Missionary Journey - Part 1