When an individual feels led by God to participate in a short term mission trip, they are stepping out on faith and trusting that God will provide all their needs for the experience. Likely the most worried about aspect, fundraising can seem overwhelming. However, God promises that He will provide as we obey. God also expects us to take an active, not passive, roll in seeing His will accomplished. Here are some great ways to actively pursue your fundraising goal.
The first and most crucial piece to your fundraising will be your personal support letter. Develop a CFRAN list of at least 200 people or families. A CFRAN list is a list that consists of Christians, Friends, Relatives, Associates and Neighbors. Write a support letter to send to these people based on our 'Short Term Mission Trip Support Letter Writing Guidelines' resource also available at Mission Solutions website (see link attached with this article). Make sure your letter is proofread by others and revised at least two times. Include a return envelope for gifts with the appropriate address on it.
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Your church should also have a strong presence among your supporters. Here is a technique that has worked well before when raising funds from a church that has a group or multiple members from the same trip attending that church. Ask the congregation for monthly pledges (if the trip is six months out, ask church people to give any amount they choose each month for six months). The key is that you emphasis that this is the way that the team needs them to support. Tell them that if they can only support in one way, that this must be it.
They are welcome to participate in or help with other fundraisers if they like, but that this is the way that the team needs support from the church. It is important that team members also then try to avoid raising personal support from the church people to avoid hitting people up twice. There may be a few exceptions to this, for example if a team member has extended family members in the church.
If you are the only individual from your church going on your trip then your strategy will change. Speak to the church's mission board or leadership board before starting any fundraising. Ask for the opportunity to speak before the congregation during a service with a love offering to follow. It allows the Holy Spirit to move people to give, more so than asking the board for a gift. It is also helpful if an announcement can be made about the love offering the week or two before so people can be prepared. Also make sure that you can speak at the service with the highest attendance (Sunday morning vs. Wednesday night) and all at services times if there is more than one.
The last thing is fundraising events. The array of possible options for fundraising events is very broad and while some may work great in one location it may not work at all in another. It is always wise to spend time researching options, the history and success of past fundraisers, and consider the culture of your church or area. It is important to note that often fundraising events tend to focus on money. However, people that give donations typically care more about the mission at hand, the participant(s) desire or heart for the mission and/or the participant(s) themselves. Try to focus your fundraising event on the impact your trip will have for the Gospel, how it will change you or your team spiritually or how it will meet the needs of the less fortunate. People put money where their heart is. Appeal to people's hearts, not their checkbooks.
Fundraising events typically work best for a team rather than an individual due to the simple fact of necessary manpower. Bake sales, rummage sales, ice cream socials, spaghetti dinners and car washes are hard to run with one person even if he/she recruits a few helpers. Divide profits from fundraising events between all team members that participate in the event. This encourages team members to participate in the fundraiser and also provides more manpower. It will also help to eliminate the passive role that some team members may take toward the fundraising efforts. It gives them the sense of personal responsibility for it because it is up to them, rather than someone else, to raise the funds they need.
Short Term Mission Trip Fundraising - How to Get Started MISSIONS TRIPS
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