If you are reading this blog on a regular basis, chances are you are in some aspect of ministry. You are also likely to be raising your finances to do so, right?
Assuming that you are a ministry worker raising support, I have a question for you: What factor was the most influential in getting to your field of ministry? Use the poll below to answer, please.
If these poll results are indicative of what I have seen statistically, one of the most influential factors will be speaking in-person with a Christian worker or hearing a christian worker speak about their ministry to a group.
Essentially, I am in my career in ministry because someone was intentional with me.
What about you?
The person that inspired me took the time to notice me, to point me out, and to speak into my life. They took time out of their busy speaking and traveling schedule to answer my questions and find out more about me. Stopping to notice someone takes time and effort–and most importantly, it takes an intentional habit/profound belief that we aren’t just running around raising our budgets be cause we have to: we are ministering to the body of Christ. God designed it this way for a reason.
Guess what, dear reader? It’s time to be intentional with your audiences as you raise your funds! If you aren’t already doing so, be intentional when speaking in groups, at services, or face-to-face. You are now that person you were once inspired by. Yes, YOU. Not the person next to you. Not the person more charismatic or more extroverted than you. For real: YOU!
If you think about it, you (and other workers like you) are now the best advocates of the Great Commission on the earth.
As we go about our support raising, let’s take that role seriously and not just raise our budgets but multiply ourselves. The most effective fundraising Christian workers I know are not as concerned about raising their budget as they are about inspiring the Body of Christ. They see fundraising not as a means to an end but as an invitation.
An invitation to the Great Commission and an invitation to inspire others to follow Christ no matter the cost. An invitation to minister to friends and family around them. An invitation to raise up involved teams of supporters who are going with them in the trenches of prayer and support, and perhaps physically serving in short term ways.
Raising your funds is a lifestyle opportunity to provoke the body of Christ to do something and to be a part of something larger than themselves. The best support raisers I know don’t see their budget on the micro level: rather, they focus on the macro and eternal worldview Paul had: “Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account.” Philippians 4:17.
If we are bold and clear in our asks and see support raising truly as ministry, we will naturally multiply ourselves and become effective in our ministries even before we even reach the field.
As you go forth in your itineration, look for people who were like you before you got started on your current path. Or people who are like you now! People who need to be called out from the crowd. People who are called to ministry but may have questions, hesitations, or simply don’t know that there is a place for them. It may be that they need that extra push to follow God into their own area of ministry, just like you once did.
Financial Partnership Development 