To: AIM Staff
From: Seth Barnes
At AIM, we’ve got books, manuals, videos and training available to you as you begin to raise support. It’s all good stuff, but sometimes you just want to know the bottom line. Accordingly, I’ve put together some cliff notes on support raising. I’ve been doing this support raising thing most of my life and there are a few things that really work. There’s also a lot of peripheral stuff that can distract you or serve as an excuse to keep from getting started. If you are called to ministry and work the following plan, then you will see God provide the support you need to serve Him.
Key Pointers1. Make a plan with goals and dates. Get accountability to that plan and then just go after it.
2. After raising an initial amount, keep working at it.
3. Make support raising ministry to donors.
4. Specifically, set aside another half a day per month to write or call supporters.
5. When you travel, make a point of seeing supporters. Buy cheap tickets and visit for a weekend.
6. Get a support letter out each month. Set aside half a day for this. Keep it simple.
7. Always try to tell a ministry story in your letter and try to include something personal.
8. Segment your donor list. Some don’t want to hear from you but once a month.
Ten Step Process1. Pray about your call. Take a week to seek God’s confirmation. When you’re clear as to what He’s called you to, refer to the “What to Say” section below and put it in the form of an elevator speech – something short and sweet that encapsulates your case for support.
2. Put together an advisory team of five people that will meet once a week for two months to help you get started. Set aside a specific time each week when you’ll meet for an hour. Ask someone to chair the team for you. This person should be a key supporter who has the time and talent to help you.
3. Approach 10-20 people to be on your prayer team. Ask them to commit to pray for you once a day for 3 months. Keep them updated every week. Call them together once a month to pray together.
4. Compile a personal budget. Run this by your advisory team for accountability. They should communicate with AIM headquarters about how realistic they feel it is.
5. Brainstorm a list of potential supporters with your advisory team.
6. Write a letter to potential supporters. Send them out in batches of 15-20 with a promise to follow up by phone the next week.
7. Get your resources together. These should include: envelopes, return envelopes, pledge cards, family pictures, videos, & brochures. Put together a portfolio or a Power Point presentation to show potential supporters. Check with current AIM staff to see how they’ve done it.
8. Every week, follow up on last week’s letters with phone calls, then send out another 15-20 letters. Mark your progress on a chart. Also on this chart mark of meetings with your advisory team and updates to your prayer team. Schedule visits with potential supporters every week. At the end of your visit, lay out your specific financial need. Show them the different levels of financial commitment that people give. You may want to ask, “I’d like to ask you to pray about joining my team and then call you back at the end of the week to see about what commitment you’d like to make. Will that be OK with you?”
9. Follow up on the visits with a phone call asking for their commitment.
10. Track your progress with a list of pledges and send this to AIM every week. Also, call AIM every week to get pointers on what else you can be doing.
What to Say
Speaking to potential supporters can be intimidating. Sometimes you may feel as though you are putting the relationship on the line. You may feel as though what you’re really saying is, “If you value our relationship, you’ll agree to support me.” This is a lie given to you courtesy of the evil one. Let’s examine God’s perspective on this.
God has called you into the ministry. This means that He has said, “I want you to work for me full-time. The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. I have given you certain gifts; I want you to use them as my ambassador. Don’t worry about what you will eat or drink or what you’ll wear. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given you as well.”
These are God’s words to you; do you believe them? If you do, then He will give you the courage to say what needs to be said to those who will make your ministry possible. When you hear voices in your head telling you negative things about how people might respond, it is important that you rebuke them and identify the lies for what they are. It is far easier for the evil one to stop your ministry before it’s ever been launched, so count on him to try his level best to confuse you with his lies.
The concepts of pace and prayer are key factors in implementing your support-raising plan. Prayer should precede every single contact that you make. Don’t try to do things on your own strength – rely on God, then you can truly give Him thanks for His provision.
The concept of pace will help you avoid burn-out. It is better to be the tortoise than the hare. Make three phone calls a day and three appointments a week. Allow time for prayer before each contact.
As you contact people, always project enthusiasm. Never come across as being apologetic. Most people you contact realize that they are stewards of the resources God has given them. They are looking for opportunities to realize great spiritual returns. You simply want to share with them a tremendous opportunity to invest in a ministry which will produce great spiritual returns.
There are two ways that people can invest, through their prayers and through their finances. When you speak, always organize your thoughts so as to hit three main points culminating in a request that they consider investing in your ministry. Here are the points:
1. The call God has given you.
2. The opportunity & the ministry
3. How they can help
Each area need take no more than a minute to explain. Here is an example of each:
1. The call God has given you.
I have felt God’s call to ministry for a while now. Recently I’ve received a specific call to missions. God has been showing me that when I pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into the harvest that I am part of the answer. He has been showing me that I have a special ministry to share the gospel with the poorest of the poor around the world. He particularly wants to use me to help mobilize the church for this harvest.
2. The opportunity & the ministry
God has called me to work with Adventures In Missions, an organization whose purpose is to mobilize the church for missions. They have a fantastic track record of bringing people to Christ and of raising up missionaries in the church. I will be a project director with them. As such, I’ll be creating opportunities for churches to make missions a lifestyle. My ministry will produce the fruit not only of souls won to Christ, but of recruiting a new wave of missionaries to the field.
3. How they can help
Though God has called me to this ministry, I can’t do it without a team of people behind me. I want you to consider being a part of my team. There are two ways in which you can make an investment in my ministry. As I daily do battle with the enemy, I need prayer support. At the same time, I need people who will make a financial investment in my ministry. Although I have committed to living frugally, I still have basic financial needs to meet.
Would you pray about being a part of my support team? I’m not looking for an answer now, but I’d like to call you back in a week after you’ve had a chance to pray about it.
In a week, when you call back: Did you have a chance to pray about being a part of my support team this past week? What did you feel God was leading you to do?
Sample Letter (excerpts to get you started)
Dear Friends,
A general introduction
It’s been a while since we’ve communicated with many of you. It’s been kind of a crazy year for us. For one thing, our children have all become a little busier at school. For another, we’re moving to Mexico to serve as missionaries. Admittedly it’s a lot, but we believe God has called us to do, and we’re excited about the prospect. Let us tell you about where we’re headed.
Susan
Something about her life and ministry
For the past two years, I have stayed at home with the kids, volunteering with a ministry called Adventures In Missions during the summer. Working as the assistant to the director, I’ve been involved in every aspect of the ministry as it has tripled in size. It’s been so encouraging to see the many thousands of people who have come to the Lord through our summer teams. Just as thrilling for me has been the changed lives of people who go on our projects. I’ve been humbled to have a part in helping to raise up a new generation of missionaries who are willing to take a stand for Jesus against the tide of darkness sweeping over our society.
Jeff
Something about the process by which he has felt the Lord’s call
For the last three years I’ve been working for myself. Working for myself gives me the opportunity to take time off to lead projects for AIM. I’ve had a chance to travel to Mexico on a number of occasions. Having traveled all over the world before coming to the States, it’s easy to see that Mexicans are one of the neediest and most receptive groups of people. They live in such pitiful conditions. I’ve met people like Enrique, an old man with 11 young children who lives in a muddy slum outside Reynosa. All Enrique has ever wanted to do is to provide for his family, yet his situation seems so hopeless. What do you say to a man who is trying to feed 13 people on $3 a day? The answer AIM teams offer to people like Enrique is to share the gospel with them and share a tangible expression of His love for them by building them homes.
This kind of ministry has been right down my alley as I’ve always enjoyed working with young people. It has also given me the chance to use my construction skills in a ministry setting.
At the same time, as much as I enjoyed this ministry, I wasn’t sure how it fit with what I knew was God’s calling on my life. Since I was a teenager, I’ve known that God was leading me to develop and run a camp for young people. I wasn’t sure how it was going to work out, but I knew that in God’s timing it would happen.
Our Call
The specifics of the call
This past year, we’ve watched God supernaturally work to confirm His call on our lives in particular ways. Several years ago, AIM’s director felt led to begin the process of establishing a camp in Mexico to use as a base for sending teams into Latin America. This past December, the perfect piece of property became available in Mexico. The laws even changed to make a purchase possible. After months of praying and laying fleeces before the Lord, AIM’s board of directors committed to buying the 60+ acres in order to develop a camp in Mexico. AIM’s director asked us to consider moving to Mexico to spearhead the development of this camp which will be known as “the Gateway.” After fasting and praying, we’ve come to see that this is God’s call for us.
The challenge is enormous. We’ll have to direct a team of people, many much older than ourselves. We’ll be involved in all phases of the camp’s development: design, resource mobilization, construction, project leadership, and administration. We’ll also have to learn Spanish. We’ll be living and raising our new family among Mexicans. We’ll be working with hundreds of churches from both the U.S. and Mexico. If we’re successful, then the potential fruit which will result may exceed anything we can imagine. We not only want to help mobilize the American church to embrace missions, but the church worldwide. Our prayer is that one day the Gateway will be used to train Mexicans to go into all the world with the gospel.
Your Partnership
How they can help
It’s a big vision, but we believe that God will bring the people alongside us who will help make it a reality. Because AIM is a faith-mission, our financial support must come from friends like you who want to help send us out. We need a team of people who want to invest in our ministry through their prayers and their finances. We’ll need $2,000 a month to live and work in Mexico. This seems like a lot to raise, but we figure that if one person will underwrite us for $500/month, two for $250/month, four for $100, and twelve to give between $10 and $75, then we’ll meet our objective.
Please pray about the part that God would have you play as a member of our team. Even if you can’t give, we covet your prayers. We want to talk with you either face to face, or at the very least, over the phone about our ministry and the part that you might play in it. We’ll be giving you a call soon to talk. In the mean time, if you’d like, fill out the response card we’ve enclosed. You may also want a copy of the prospectus which describes the Gateway. We’d be happy to send you that as well.
There’s so much to do now (research, language study, recruitment, design, and the initial stages of development), but not until we’ve raised 70% of our support objective will Jeff be able to start full-time.
Love,
After a year goes by
Here are some other pointers:
1. purge your list. Begin by keeping only those on the list who have expressed a desire to support you or at least to stay in touch. Give old supporters ample opportunity to renew their pledge to support you in prayer or financially. But if they have gone 18 months without responding, then it’s better to purge them than to continue to send them what they may consider to be junk mail.
2. send them an updated picture of your family. People appreciate having a recent picture for their fridge.
3. offer to pray for their needs. Minister to your donors.
4. your monthly letter should always include a story, preferably a ministry story. If you don’t have one, then that’s a signal that you need to get out of the office more.
5. get your team to pray for you.
