/karen/

MTS: Fundraising

Wednesday, 13 February, 2008

I never finished my blog series on MTS, did I. (Still, how would I know when I've finished???) One of the things I always meant to blog about was fundraising—or, as Ben Pfahlert calls it in his article “Putting the FUN back in fundraising” (Briefing #349), “heart-raising”. Doing the accounts and reassessing our giving for 2008 has brought the subject to the forefront of my mind again, along with talking about it with Elsie the other day. (I apologise in advance for my ranting.)

I reckon Ben Pfahlert's article should be read by every single person in ministry. He makes some great points—the most significant being that you are not so much asking people for money as trying to share with them a vision and inviting them to participate in the work of God's kingdom. Fundraising is such a humbling experience; it's hugely uncomfortable asking people for money—especially in our society where you are your career and the amount of money you earn. You almost feel like you're bludging off everyone else, and you start to feel guilty—yes, guilty—for not working in a “normal” job (which is ridiculous because, as anyone who has ever done ministry knows, ministry is a hundred times harder and more demanding than a “normal” job. Okay, I exaggerate, but you get what I mean!)

Still, fundraising is an essential part of the MTS experience. That's what Richard always used to say, and I think he had a good point: you need to know how to fundraise because it will help you in whatever ministry you do in the future—particularly if it's a new ministry that you want people to get behind and support. In a way, you're not getting the most of the MTS experience (i.e. a taste of what it's like to do Word ministry full-time) unless you engage in it. Sure it's nice if whatever organisation you're working for can pay you so you don't have to do it, but you still need to learn.

Why? It's because it's good for you. You start learning more about yourself—about your limitations and weaknesses. You start to see that you can't do it all. You realise that the only thing you can do is throw yourself on the mercy of the living God. Your faith starts to deepen and grow as you trust in God to provide—to move people's hearts so that they will partner you in this work you're trying to do.

Secondly, it's good for your supporters. That's why Ben Pfahlert calls it “heart-raising”. In partnering you, they learn to be generous. They learn to share their wealth, not hoard it. They remember once again that all the earthly riches we own have been given to us by God. God owns all the money (Haggai 2:8); we just look after it for him. And generosity is good for the soul (cf. 2 Cor 9:6-15).

So fundraising needs to be an essential part of your ministry. Most people don't see it like that: they think that all the evangelism, training, Bible study leading, Sunday school teaching, youth group running, one-to-one meeting they do constitutes “ministry” but fundraising isn't part of that. They need to shift their thinking and see fundraising as an integral part of their week. It's something you do along with evangelism, training, Bible study leading, etc. It's a bit like admin: admin is a necessary chore (especially for people who are no good at it), but if you don't do it, the rest of your ministry doesn't happen. So you need to factor it into your week—just like your prep time, your admin time and your rest day. It should feature in your timetable otherwise you'll never get to it and it will drop to the bottom of your priorities.

At this point, I should clarify: fundraising is not just about asking for money. That's part of it, but it's certainly not the main point. As Ben Pfahlert points out, it's all about partnership. It's not you alone begging from the faceless men with checkbooks; it's you assembling a team—an army, if you will—to work towards this goal or vision together. You are on the frontline; they are your rearguard. You're all in it together. Therefore, fundraising involves the following:

1. Setting the vision: What are you hoping will happen in the ministry you're doing? Do you want to set up a maternity clinic in the slums of Nairobi, start a weekly Bible study in the Creative Arts Faculty, or train three girls in how to share the gospel with their friends? Whatever it is, you need to share your vision with your supporters. You need to fire their imaginations and get them excited about the work you're doing—because it's really God's work. This means you need to outline what you hope to achieve during your time doing MTS (and it may not happen—that's okay), and keep reminding your supporters about it.

2. Keeping in touch: My first point leads into my second: you need to keep your supporters informed of what's going on in your ministry. People have invested in money in you so you have an obligation to let them know how their money is being put to good use. <rant> In the past, several ministries we have supported have not bothered to keep us informed. This was not only frustrating, it was difficult to know what to pray for them (apart from the usual). Because we had no idea what was happening in those ministries, we decided to stop supporting them. One of them sent us an email to thank us for our support over the last couple of years, but then had the hide to ask us to keep praying for them. With zero information coming through, I don't think so, brother ... </rant> This is why fundraising should be an integral part of your ministry week.

   There are various ways in which to keep in touch with your supporters. Newsletters are the most popular. Some say that newsletters should never be longer than a double-sided A4 page. Some people receive a lot of newsletters and prefer things to be kept short and sweet, with summaries of the main prayer points appearing somewhere prominent for easy reference. Personally, I love newsletters that give you a good picture of what's been happening in the ministry. One of the CMS missionaries in Africa writes one of the best newsletters I've ever read. He's quite a good writer—he's warm and personable (and personal), he's honest and he makes you feel like you're really there, experiencing life in ministry alongside him. It's an absolute pleasure reading his missives. <rant> Some people just cram as much information as possible into their newsletters, throwing in the occasional paragraph full of pious gobbledy-gook and Christianese. </rant> But that doesn't help me. I don't get a sense of how you're finding it. I don't feel like you're being honest with me about how it's going. I won't get a good sense of what to pray for you.

   Some newsletters are next to impossible to read because the writer hasn't paid attention to how they present their information. (Maybe I'm just sensitive to this sort of stuff because I go to a visually oriented church ...) I'm not saying that all ministry workers also need to be graphic designers; I'm just saying they should take a bit of time to ensure that their newsletter is a little easier on the eyes—e.g. use a bit more whitespace (like margins!), don't have huge slabs of uninterrupted text, don't use a font that's incredibly hard to read, indicate the beginning and end of paragraphs clearly, maybe throw in a few photos (as long as you've got permission from the people who appear in those photos!), etc. It's not rocket science; if you find it difficult to read, your supporters will too.

   Newsletters are just one way of keeping in touch. (Richard used to recommend that we aim to write about four newsletters a year, and he'd get us to write in our diaries when the next one was due. He said one way to do it was to write a paragraph or a couple of sentences every week and then put them all together around the date. That way you don't have to write the whole thing at once.) But there are other ways too: short weekly emails, blogs (though then there's the problem of confidentiality; a blog is a lot more public than an email), events like supporters' dinners and afternoon teas, etc.

   The last thing I should say about keeping in touch (and such things as newsletters) is that writing about your ministry allows you to pause and reflect on what's been happening and how it's going. Sometimes you can't get a clear picture of things until you stop and process it all. You may not realise that the reason why you're struggling is because you've run five events in the past two weeks, plus you're organising the faculty weekend away and you haven't had a day off since July.

   Yes, keeping in touch is good for both you and your supporters.

3. Praying for your supporters: Richard used to encourage us to do this. It's because, as I've already said, fundraising is about relationship. It's not like when the Sydney Breast Cancer Foundation rings you up to ask for a donation, and you hand over your credit card details and never think about them again. Your supporters are in this with you. And, in some ways, you are supporting them as much as they are supporting you—like different platoons in the same army. This means you have to work at maintaining your personal relationships with your supporters—particularly key supporters. Key supporters aren't just people who give you the biggest cheques; they're also your closest friends. Hopefully they're as excited about the vision as you are and they understand the rigours of what MTS is like. Key supporters don't just support you financially, they can also support you materially (friends offered us their holiday house for the week once), emotionally (you can talk to them and debrief with them, and they in turn give back to you. Plus they may provide the sort of company you need to just relax and unwind because you won't have to minister to them the way you minister to the students on your campus/people in your church/kids in your youth group, etc.) and spiritually (by praying for you, reading the Bible with you and asking the hard questions about your walk with God). I did this with Elsie last year: we would meet up around once a week to read the Bible and pray for each other, I would ask her about how things were going while she was doing MTS, and I would try to be a good friend to her and partner her in her ministry. Sometimes we didn't read the Bible or pray—sometimes we just met to chat or to hang out—but it was still heaps helpful to both of us, not just her.

4. Thanking your supporters: <rant> It is absolutely appalling the number of ministries that don't do this. I know it's God's wealth and we're just sharing it around, but saying “Thank you” is still nice. It's an acknowledgement of your supporters' support. It's appreciation. </rant> Elsie made cards for her supporters. She also had a thank you afternoon tea, and invited people around for dinner at her house. Supporters' events (like the ECU Wollongong Supporters' Dinner) are also a good way to say thank you. Even if you just say a general thank you in your newsletter, it's still better than nothing.

One final thing/rant (which is probably particular to me because I'm such a structured over-organised person): fundraising should start heaps in advance. If you're going to start MTS in 2009, 2010, 2011, etc., you should start talking to people about it now. Flag it early, plant the seed of your vision and then keep watering it. Keep people informed of your plans and how your thinking has progressed. And when things do come together, ask people to partner you and ask them early. <rant> It hugely annoys me when people start the fundraising process at the same time as when they start MTS. This is mostly because I usually set our budget for the year in December or January. Call me inflexible, but you see if you can find an extra couple of hundred after the year has already started and you've already worked out your financial commitments. Sometimes we are able to give a bit more once we get our tax return, but that's if we get a tax return; the last two years I've owed the government money. </rant>

On a related note, I do have a question: is it better to support just a few ministries and give them each more, or is it better to support a number of different ministries but not give them as much?

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