How To (and How NOT TO) Share Your Budget

November 29, 2017November 29, 2017 ~ Jenn Fortner ~ 3 Comments

This will be a quick post on sharing your budget with friends and family members. Here’s what I have to say: don’t!

Okay just kidding. Kind of.

There will be times it’s appropriate to share your specific budget figures with friends and family, but most of the time it’s best to speak in percentages. Less is always more, unless someone asks for specific numbers.

Why you ask? Let’s explore one major reason.

It is possible if you share your specific budget details, the person with whom you are sharing the information will make uninformed judgments on your lifestyle in ministry. Let’s use an example to illustrate. Say you are fresh out of college and share with a potential partner who is also fresh out of college that your budget to go overseas is $3,500 in monthly support for two years and a cash budget of $30,000. That’s reasonable right? Well lets say that peer is struggling to find a job and could only dream of making that much money each month. When you share this information quickly with them in a face to face appointment, they don’t have the ability to see what goes into that $3,500 per month and $30,000 in cash (overseas insurance, cost of living is higher due to the country you are going to, language learning school, etc.). To them your budget merely seems extravagant in the wake of their own circumstances. In contrast, an overprotective family member may do some mental math on your behalf and evaluate that you aren’t making enough for those two years.

All of that to say, if you share your budget details off the cuff in your presentations, newsletters, etc., people are simply prone to make judgements they are not qualified to make.

So what is the solution? Talk in percentages! Change the sentence from “I need $3,500 in monthly support and $30,000 in cash” to this: “In order to go over seas I need to raise 100% of my budget. Would you be willing to partner with me at $100 a month?“

BONUS: Did you notice in the sentence above I also did NOT mention my need for cash gifts? That is strategic as well, as typically it is much harder to raise monthly support than it is one-time / special gifts. Potential partners (and people in general) tend to default to the least amount of commitment possible, and if you are giving the people an option during your face-to-face appointments to give one time they will take you up on it! This will leave you with less in monthly commitments. Your partners will be patting themselves on the back because they gave, and you leaving disappointed that you didn’t get a new monthly partner.

So as a rule when making the ask: stick to percentages and ask for monthly support alone.

Now, I realize you may be asking if there are exceptions to this rule? Of course there are. Responses to “asks” are as varied as there are people, and here are some examples of when to deviate:

If you are talking to a pastor about church support, go ahead and share the specifics of your budget straight away. Pastors are different than individuals, as they tend to know more about the landscape of needs involved in ministry. Typically it’s helpful for them to have specific information on your budget, so share away!
If an individual asks what your budget is, go ahead and share. I would advise you to have something written up for this scenario that shows some of the line items in your budget to make it understandable for those who ask.
If someone cannot commit to giving monthly support, then ask if they would like to give a special / one-time gift. True it is far better to ask someone for monthly support, but if they can’t commit – definitely explain they can give to your cash budget / give a special gift.
If you are sharing a specific goal on a Facebook campaign or special post on social media, it is okay to share a line item in your budget. For instance, a couple I coach for #GivingTuesday recently challenged their friends on Facebook to help them raise $1,000 toward their budget on Giving Tuesday. They shared in their videos and posts that the $1,000 would go toward their language learning costs specifically. They didn’t share the entirety of their budget, but they did project a specific need out of their budget with their audience.

I hope this helps in your communications of your specific budget. You don’t have to share all of the details to ask and to keep people informed! Have any thoughts on the subject? Share them in the comments!

Video: How to Launch a Successful Facebook Campaign

November 2, 2017October 27, 2017 ~ Jenn Fortner ~ 2 Comments

I have been sharing for a couple of years now how effective a well-executed Facebook Campaign can be. The idea started from the Assemblies of God Mobilization department to utilize the power social media can have in expanding one’s network. And man we have seen the idea spread and grow over the years!

We (Assemblies of God Mobilization + myself) decided the older videos on the Facebook Campaign needed a bit of a face lift as we have learned a few things in the past two years. Thus, here’s a new video for you!

For those of you who don’t know what what a Facebook Campaign is, let me explain. In one sentence – essentially it is a campaign for monthly or cash support on Facebook set to a specific amount of time and a specific goal. Of course, you’ll grab the big picture by watching the video above.

To be clear, I am against asking for funds on Facebook or any other type of social media in most any other context (besides maybe a short video on Giving Tuesday or for a End of Year Campaign). I believe the absolute best way to ask for monthly financial partnership is via personal face-to-face appointments. I also do not believe the Facebook Campaign to be the end-all-be-all in support raising. However, I have seen it be very useful. Those whom I have coached who launch well executed Facebook Campaigns (after they have reached at least 75% of their support goal and built up healthy teams) have seen some pretty awesome success. Some workers I’ve coached have raised as much as $1,000 in monthly support. Others have raised $10,000 in cash from doing a Campaign. For most campaigns I see, a typical amount to raise is around $300-400 in monthly support or around $700-$1,000 in one time cash gifts.

If you are interested in launching your own Facebook campaign, follow the information on the video. To go along with the video, here are a few things I find important to emphasize:

1. It is VERY IMPORTANT while doing your FB campaign to stay abreast on all likes and comments that come to you campaigners pages. Check them every day and more than once a day. Return comments with Private Messages (PM) and likes with PM when it feels appropriate. It is your job to connect further with the people responding, and if they have commented or liked but haven’t given, chances are with a personal message from you they may.

2. Create great graphics and videos. No half-way doing this thing or results will be minimal. With a little work, the results will be fantastic.

3. Create a reasonable goal. (see video)

4. Follow up with your new financial partners after the Facebook campaign. Never let someone start giving to you without trying to get to know them. Attrition rates for someone giving to you on a monthly basis that you don’t know at all are statistically low – so beat that by building a relationship with your new financial partners. Do this by emailing them, calling them, Facebook messaging them. Whatever you do, ask them questions about themselves. Of course don’t overwhelm them – make them feel safe as they probably don’t know you well. Use common sense. Think about what would make you feel connected if you were in their shoes.

5. Think about creating a Facebook Secret group with your campaigners and some prayer partners in the group. In that group you can post your posts for the campaigners every day. There should be around 15-20 campaigners and perhaps somewhere around 10-15 prayer partners in this group. (Your prayer partners will probably catch a burden and start funding you monthly if they aren’t already on your team 🙂 Sometimes asking around on FB on your secret group or in your newsletter prior to see if anyone wants to be a part will help give you a few extra campaigners as well posting on your behalf. Make sure you make your campaigner team full of people with various levels and places of connection. See if you can get a few people of influence to be on your campaign team as well.

6. Go above and beyond in your communication with with your campaigners from the very beginning. Tell them your goal and how many days for the campaign, and communicate that you want them posting every day. ALSO VERY IMPORTANT to find out how they can best receive the post information from you. Some people post on Facebook from their phones – so a text may be better. Some people may do better with you giving them content in an email. Some may remember just fine by only getting it through your secret group. Find out what works best for them so they don’t miss a post. Make it easy for them!

7. Encourage your campaigners to change the wording of their posts if they want to to make it personal to them / their audience. Just give them guidelines and make sure they stick to security rules and use your graphic. You may want to feed them the wording for the first couple of days and then encourage them to create their own with the content you’d like posted.

I hope this video and post helps. As we come up into Giving Tuesday and End of the Year Giving, it may be a perfect time to launch your campaign (if your around 80% raised of course!). Go for it – I think you’ll find some success in creating your own! – JF

What Is Your End Of The Year Strategy?

October 19, 2017September 7, 2018 ~ Jenn Fortner ~ 7 Comments

Did you know that last year 31% of ALL GIVING in the States occurred in the month of December? Or to put it this way, did you know that 12% of giving occurred in the last three days of the year?

That’s right. 12% all in 3 days.

Did you know that twenty-five to thirty percent of ALL DONATIONS come in at the end of the year (November and December). Thus begs the question: Do you have a end of the year strategy for financial partnership development? If the answer is no, or you were even tempted to coast in November and December and simply eat Christmas cookies, Christmas shop, and watch Elf and/or the new Star Wars movie 6 times in one week… I plead with you to keep those percentages in mind and reach higher. Why? Because people are going to give – and they want to give to someone they know. Thus you may want to figure out how that giving can be to you and your ministry cause.

Here are a couple of ideas for your year end strategy:

1. SEND OUT A REGULAR NEWSLETTER at the beginning of November, even if you have done one recently.

Keep it to 1 page – be brief.
Keep it ministry focused with specific stories.
Say thank you.
Don’t do any asks on this newsletter.

2. CREATE A CHRISTMAS / END OF YEAR LETTER Sometime before December 31st (think about sticking it in the mail the day after Thanksgiving) send out a end of year letter to your existing financial and prayer partner list.

Include the following components:

Merry Christmas greeting.
Express your authentic thankfulness for your support team. Emphasize and focus your letter on the impact your partners are having.
Percentage update of where you are at raising your funds.
A gift-wrappy-Christmasy-wonderful-snowy graphic that has your organization’s giving website / ways to give. (Make it pretty – I made the one below in 5 minutes using Canva.com)
An actual ask in the letter for finances (yep, this is the only time of year I say go for it on a letter!). Consider making it about one story of a life changed or need.
Do a nice handwritten PS.

Tips for end of year letter:

Switch this up from a regular newsletter. Use a slightly different template than a regular newsletter and maybe make it more like a letter.
Don’t send an ask end of year letter to anyone who recently (probavly within the past 2 months) started giving (or gave 1 time) or recently increased their giving. Maybe just send them Christmas cards instead. You don’t want to overwhelm them with too many asks.
Consider creating a different version of your end of year letter maybe those who haven’t started giving yet or didn’t give when asked. Change particulars as needed for the audience.
- Perhaps for people who have said that they can’t give – give them a soft opportunity to give but change the thankfulness for being on your support team and instead thank them for their prayers and involvement in your life.
- For those you haven’t yet met with, change the particulars to reflect your desire to meet with them soon and thank them for the involvement in your life. You may want to include a soft ask but not as bold as to those you send it to who you’ve already met with.
Snail mail your end of year letter.
Keep it to 1 page make it look really nice!

3. HAVE AS MANY FACE-TO-FACE APPOINTMENTS AS POSSIBLE NOW. Are you are tempted to put the breaks on contacting individuals for face-to-face appointments? Particularly in November and December? Let me tell you, experience has taught me that it can be a GREAT time for face-to-face appointments. Don’t stop reaching out to connect with people over coffee and making the ask. Some tips:

Pay for their coffee.
Get a small gift for your potential financial partner and bring it to your appointment.
Try and set up the appointment sooner than later. If they cant meet before the end of the year, put something in the calendar for January. Allow a couple of extra weeks to put something on the calendar.
Make it about them when you meet as much as it is about you. Ask questions and get excited about who they are.
Send a thank you card within 48 hours after you meet – regardless of responses!
If you cannot reach someone toward the holidays, don’t sweat it. Try reaching out to them again in January.

4. SEND YOUR FINANCIAL PARTNERS / PRAYER PARTNERS CHRISTMAS CARDS / SMALL GIFTS. December is a great time of year to express your thankfulness to your support team. Go above and beyond that newsletter! Either send a Christmas card after your newsletter or perhaps with it. Christmas cards should be handwritten and possibly include a small gift of thanks. It can go a long way in letting your financial partners know you care about them.

5. CREATE A FACEBOOK CAMPAIGN IN NOVEMBER OR DECEMBER. A well crafted, intentional, relational Facebook campaign can be helpful during these months of giving. Keep in mind, this is only if you have gotten far enough in your financial partnership (75-80%) to start one.

6. SEND OUT AN EMAIL ON DECEMBER 29th or 30th. Include the following.

Greeting of happy new year for your partners
Remind them of your ministry as they execute their giving.
Use that christmasy-graphic and update it to be new-years-y with a clickable link on giving online.
Don’t include a formal ask. Just thank yous and the graphic on how to give online.

7. DUST OFF YOUR CONTACT LIST AND TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT IT. Now is a good time to go back to the beginning of your season of itineration. Dust off that old initial contact list and go through it with a fine comb. As you comb through it create a new list of those you were not able to get ahold of, those who have committed to give but haven’t started yet, and those you never asked because you got too scared (whhaaatt you say?! How did she know that?!), and those that you just simply have yet to ask. Take that list and get back to contacting them about joining your team. BONUS POINTS: As you go through your list text / email / Facebook message those that are highlighted to you and just say hi.

I hope you find these ideas helpful in building your strategy! – JF

Here I Am, Or There You Are?

September 25, 2017September 18, 2018 ~ Jenn Fortner ~ 1 Comment

I recently listened to this Eurasia Conversations podcast episode that I just had to share with you.

The podcast is short, but all 10 minutes pack a powerful message on how to practically appreciate financial partners. Omar Beiler, Regional Director of Eurasia speaks to our attitude and perspective by bringing up a powerful question — are we making people feel stronger or weaker in our interactions with them?

Here’s one of my favorite lines from the podcast:

“We are servants of Jesus. I don’t have a right to expect support from a church, but I think I have an OBLIGATION to ASK because the task is bigger than me.” – Omar Beiler

Take 10 minutes and listen! I bet you’ll be a better support raiser for it. Here’s the link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9URJrTqAYt0aEdJOElyLVdZOGs

Help! I Don’t Speak Mailchimp!

September 8, 2017September 18, 2018 ~ Jenn Fortner ~ 2 Comments

If you find yourself daunted by beginning a email newsletter to your partnership team, you are not alone. I get numerous questions from workers wondering how to best set up snail mail and email newsletters.

One of the most popular services for electronic newsletters is Mailchimp. Mailchimp is a free online e-newsletter creator. Though Mailchimp is relatively easy to use, it does come with a learning curve even for more the more computer experienced of us out there. It uses language like “Campaigns” “Segments” and “Subscribers” that isn’t cut and dry for everyone. Thus, this post is a I-don’t-speak-Mailchimp step by step guide to sending your first e-newsletter. Keep in mind this post is for the beginners out there – I see you! Here we go friends.

Step 1: Get onto Mailchimp. If you haven’t already, create a username and password and login into Mailchimp.

Step 2: When you set up your account – click “Subscribe to Getting Started.” If you click this handy feature, Mailchimp will send you emails that will be helpful in creating future newsletters (in Mailchimp lingo these are called “Campaigns”).

Step 3: Build your List of people to send e-newsletters to.

A. Click “Lists”B. After clicking on Lists, click “Create List”.C. Fill in the List’s name, what email address you’ll be sending this from, your name, and other information needed.

D. Next, Mailchimp will pop up a screen that says “You have no contacts” and give you a choice to either “Import your subscribers” or “Create a signup form” to get started. Unless you have a blog you want to create a sign up form to get subscribers from – you will either want to import your contacts or click “Add contacts” (see screen shot below) and add them one by one manually.

Some people (like myself!) like to add them manually so there aren’t any glitches in the process of getting them from one program to another – but it does take time. So choose what works best for you. ** If you do choose to import your contact list typically you’d either do so by .csv files (this is good if you keep your contacts organized on your computer using a program such as “Contacts” for Macs or “Address Book” for PCs) or by copy and pasting from a file (for instance from Excel). Either way you may have some cleaning up of your files to do, so be patient! E. When you are done importing or manually adding the subscribers to your List, you are ready to move onto Creating Your Campaign!

Step 4: Create Your Campaign!

A. Start creating your campaign by clicking in the upper left hand corner “Campaign”.

B. If you have a new account, Mailchimp will take you to the screen below that says “What do you want to create?”. Choose “Create an Email”. (If you have an existing account click “Create Campaign” on the upper right corner of Mailchimp’s screen first, then the screen will ask “What do you want to create?” choose “Create an Email”.)

C. Choose “Regular” for your email type. Choose a campaign name, then click “Next” at the bottom right of your screen.

D. Choose the List you are sending your Campaign to. This should be the List you just made in Step 3. Then, click “Next” on the bottom right of your screen.

E. Fill in your Campaign Info. Make sure when filling this out to chick “Personalize the To Field” so your subscribers get emails addressed to them personally. When you are finished click “Next” on the bottom right of your screen.F. Now it’s time to select a Template. There are a lot of pre-made templates out there that are great! If you’d like to go the easy route click “Themes” and explore until you find one that works for you. If you want to choose a Layout and build the template yourself go for it! Simply click “Layout” and choose the one that works best for you. You’ll spend some time custom making your Template by choosing design and content elements. (Mailchimp also has a couple of helpful links in the Layout feature that will help you get started). G. Now that you’ve chosen and designed your Template, it’s time to actually put together your newsletter. When you create your newsletter, you can choose to add some of the elements on the left side as you wish (such as additional text, images, graphs, etc.). To do so simply drag and drop where you want the element to the right side of your screen onto your existing Template.H. When you are done creating your newsletter and carefully writing your text, I recommend previewing your Campaign and sending a test email to yourself first – so you can make 100% sure your e-newsletter is awesome!Step 5: Send Your Campaign and Your DONE!

Now that your done – click “Send”. You have successfully sent your first e-newsletter using Mailchimp. Congrats!

I hope this tutorial is a help to those who don’t speak Mailchimp. Godspeed and good luck my friends, and may your future e-newsletters be awesome.

If you want more information on how what content to include in your newsletter, go to this previous post I did on the subject.

*Mailchimp will NOT create a PDF version of any Campaigns you create, so you CANNOT send snail mail newsletters using Mailchimp. My suggestion is to use a service like Mailchimp for e-newsletters and create a snail mail newsletter in another program – and make them similarly branded and cohesive.

Re-Post: Dealing With The Monster Of Rejection

August 22, 2017 ~ Jenn Fortner ~ Leave a comment

I previously posted this blog post back in November of 2015. So just as a disclaimer, I am re-posting this blog. I am doing so though because I think the subject of facing rejection is really important to talk about. For many of you that fear is all too real! So for those of you who have been a reader for as long as November of 2015, sorry for being redundant! Maybe you should read it any way though? It’s been awhile right?! For those of you who haven’t read it – I think you’ll find this post very helpful. Enjoy! – JF

A subject that comes up regularly in the hearts and minds of ministry workers raising their finances is that of rejection. Eeew. I know, I’m going there. We are talking about it…

To explain a little further what I mean when I say “rejection”, I define “rejection” as facing the fear of rejection and/or what happens when we are given a “no” when asking for financial support.

I’ve gathered some insights from various ministry workers that I coach to speak on the subject of rejection. Before sharing those, I would like to share 5 thoughts that may turn the lights on the monster lurking in the corner.

Re·jec·tion

rəˈjekSH(ə)n/

noun

the dismissing or refusing of a proposal, idea, etc.

“the union decided last night to recommend rejection of the offer”

Facing rejection can be daunting to even think about in the context of raising funds. Will I damage the relationship? Will they say no? Will I be awkward? Will they be awkward? Will they answer the phone? Are they screening my phone calls? Do they not like me now that I’ve asked them for an appointment? Am I annoying? Did I ask for too much? If I call them and ask to get their commitment in what will they think? It goes on and on. All of these thoughts I’ve absolutely had myself and have talked with other workers about on a regular basis.

As far as actual rejection goes, I’m not going to sugar coat it for you, it’s a sure fire thing while raising your funds (and let me point out, while in ministry in your field) you will deal with some form of rejection. I know – shocker. It just happens.

Whether it is the fear of rejection or actual rejection that is hanging you up from accomplishing your goals (or is just getting in the way of this being a great season of life in ministry) here are a couple of thoughts on combating the fear of rejection, or the “no” itself:

1.People have different giving goals, sometimes it just isn’t about you, it’s about them and the Lord. Not everyone is meant to join your financial partnership team, and that is okay. Tithes and offerings are a very personal thing between a person and God. For a lot of people giving directly links them to the cause they are passionate about, and giving may be their only outlet of involvement with that cause or ministry.

For example, let me give you a story: Say “Joe” is very passionate about disaster relief aid, but Joe works a full time job in food service and never gets to volunteer due to a busy and irregular schedule. Thus Joe is very passionate about providing finances to several disaster relief organizations and does not have much room in his budget to give to something that doesn’t fit within that context. Then you ask Joe to financially partner with you for reaching college campuses and Joe tells you no, because he just started supporting a new relief effort.

Now you have two choices here: (1) You could walk away from Joe feeling defeated because he didn’t partner with you monthly, and maybe even feel like somehow the relationship is damaged or awkward because he said no. Or (2) you could walk away celebrating that Joe is able to directly influence the thing he is passionate about, just like you are by starting your journey with ministry to college campuses. So which would you choose? Which do you normally choose? What do you automatically think when someone doesn’t give to you?

(Keep in mind, you could easily insert a pastor of a church into this story as easily as “Joe”. Churches have numerous projects, causes, and workers vying for their financial attention. Celebrate with churches who give in general, even if it isn’t to you!)

2. You don’t have to apologize. I think this is one of the most important things to remember in the midst of asking for finances. Asking someone for financial support is okay and it’s even biblical. (If you doubt that to be true, here are some verses to check out) Also, what you are doing is downright cool and inspiring. Seriously. You don’t have to be ashamed about telling people about Jesus and you certainly aren’t the only one since the days of Moses who raised finances to do it. If it means anything, I give you permission: You can be bold. You can be confident (and it actually helps). You don’t have to apologize for following God’s path, and you actually get to be an inspiration for those you connect with to follow their own paths with God!

3. Remember this is God’s thing, not yours. If He has called you surely He will provide for you. Also, He’s actually the one that set it up for the christian worker to live off of support. He can sympathize, Jesus empathizes (Luke 8:1-3), and has a plan for you and for your financial team. If someone doesn’t join maybe someone else is supposed to. I can be as simple as that, if you let it be.

4. Perceiving rejection is typically worse than actual rejection. What do I mean? If your anything like me, most of the time the real battle doesn’t even leave your own brain. Often times we become our own worst enemy when it comes to raising our finances. If you think about it, the real worst thing that can actually happen in raising your funds is asking and hearing a “no”.

However, I don’t think that we let that be the worst thing. I actually think the worst thing that happens to us is in the battle of our own minds – and as we focus on perceived thoughts that may or may not be true we become jaded, upset, unfocused, unsure of our calling, etc etc etc. Practical combat here: avoid the troubles this creates by being clear in your asks and let the actual “rejection” be the worst thing that can happen (because really it’s not that bad!). Truly, sometimes the fear of rejection is more real than your actual being rejected is.

5. Just because a pastor or individual doesn’t immediately call you back doesn’t mean they are rejecting you (or mad at you). Try to keep in mind that it’s not always about you. People have busy lives and are not as keen on raising your support as you are. Pastors are busy and have a lot of various priorities. Individuals lives can get busy and inboxes can get full of emails and to-dos. Give those you try to contact a little grace and don’t give up too quickly. Don’t tell yourself they have said no before they have had the chance to.

If someone doesn’t connect with you after multiple attempts that’s okay. Give it a little time and try again. Maybe their season of life is a busy one. Here’s where it may get scary: sure, maybe they don’t want to join your ministry team. But you don’t know that until they say no. Whatever the case actually is, in your assessment try and assume the best before the worst and whatever you do, keep moving forward.

6. BONUS: Don’t give up! If you are reading this it is probably because you are doing something awesome God has called you to. If that is true then He has given you grace for it and He knows your obstacles and fears in the midst. I think the main thing I have learned in my personal experiences and from coaching is simple: keep your perspective biblical and your know that God has got this. Amen? Amen.

To go along with these thoughts, here are a few more thoughts on rejection from workers who have recently gotten to 100% with a team of committed financial partners:

Worker 1: Someone once told me “God already knows your partners; you just have to find them.” That helped a lot in dealing with rejection. If someone says no, they’re just not one of the ones God had in mind for my team!

Worker 2: I would say that the hurt of rejection is a result of the expectation that said person is going to become a partner…so for us the biggest let downs are the ones that come from those people we though “for sure” would join our team. If we walk into support meet-ups having the understanding that it’s the Spirit doing the real convincing (even though it’s our jobs to communicate accurately and be straightforward), then we would walk out with the understanding that no matter how it ended, the Lord is in it and He’s the one forming our team.
From a practical stand-point, I would add that it’s better that you hear a “no” from a potential partner rather than a “yes” only to have that commitment fall through months down the line while serving on the field! (That helped me, anyway!)

Worker 3: Last week after reaching 99% fully funded, I lost a $200/mo supporter, and when I was praying about it I laughed! I thought “God is my supporter” (this sounds cheesier now that I’m writing it down.) I’m just saying – rejected? No. Trust God and keep going. One thing I’ve learned: It’s not about me.

Worker 4: God has hand-selected every church and individual financial partner that will get us on the field. Never let those pastors or financial partners that do not feel personally led by the Holy Spirit, or do not currently have the funds to support, feel like they have failed. Smile at them warmly and honestly and tell them the faith you have in God for getting you to the field. Typically they already feel both shame and regret for not being able to support you. Do not let them walk away feeling like they let you down. If we can’t handle this “rejection”, how will we handle the rejection when those we serve reject Christ when we share the gospel?

I hope you find some of this helpful. When dealing with the monster of rejection, remember to turn the lights on. It may not be as scary as you think!

Have thoughts? Post them in the comments!

What If They Don’t Answer The Phone?

July 26, 2017September 18, 2018 ~ Jenn Fortner ~ 1 Comment

Here’s a common scenario I’m sure you’ve faced:

You call a potential partner multiple times hoping to get a face-to-face appointment, but you just cant seem to get them on the phone. You’ve called different times of the day but it’s just not working. Your frustrated and you’ve reached a level of voicemails that seems too close to stalker mode to try again.

How do you proceed? When is it time to switch means of communication and try to reach them another way? When is it time to stop trying to connect all together? Below is some advice I hope you find helpful!

VOICEMAILS AND INITAL CALLS

To begin, if you are reaching out to a prospective partner for the first time via phone and you reach their voicemail, my advice is to hang up without leaving a voice mail. This gives you the ability to call back again within a day or two without need for explanation.

If you call the 2nd time and don’t reach them, leave a voicemail and communicate the following:

If you sent an invitation letter first, tell them that you were calling in reference to the invitation letter you sent them a week ago and would love to connect with them further. If you are calling without prior context (no letter), communicate that you are wanting to talk briefly with no explanation.
When communicating don’t give too much information on the phone or on voicemail – make it brief!
Tell them that YOU will be calling them back at another time and hope to reach them. Also mention that they can call you back. This gives you the ability to call them again without feeling awkward or demanding and puts the ball in your court. (you always want the ball in your court!)

Here’s what my voicemail may say to someone I want to invite if I haven’t sent them a letter:

“Hi Julie, this is Jenn. Hope you are doing well. Hey I was wanting to talk briefly. I may call you back later, but if you have a second please call me back first.”

Here’s a voicemail to someone I have sent a letter to first:

“Hi Julie, this is Jenn. Hope you are well. Hey wanting to talk briefly in reference to that letter I sent. I’ll give you a call back, but if you have a second please call me back first. Thanks!”

TEXTING

If you feel more comfortable texting rather than calling, consider sending someone a text before you call them. In the text ask if it would be a good time to call and that you’d like to speak with them briefly. Don’t skip ahead and ask for an appointment on a text…

I know, texts seem so much easier than phone calls. So why do I (and other financial partnership coaches out there) advise not texting for appointments? One major reason is it’s harder to say no to someone when they are asking for something verbally. Reading a text or Facebook Message can be forgotten unintentionally, easily be ignored, or conveniently ignored (let the reader understand). Right? Right. Phone calls are also more relational than texts. They often come across as more genuine, confident, and professional. And lastly, phone calls give you more of an opportunity to explain why you are calling and share more smoothly why you want to meet. If you share in a text that you are wanting to talk about financial support, it will likely read like a billboard (as my friend at Support Raising Solutions Aaron Babyar says). If you say it in a conversation, it seems much more palatable. So call people. I know you don’t like it. But do it.

HOW MANY TIMES SHOULD I CALL BEFORE I QUIT?

Don’t give up too early, but don’t move into stalking mode either! Neither are good! How often do you call? And when do you throw in the towel? Here’s my advice:

Typically, go 2-3 times beyond what you are comfortable with in trying to reach someone on the phone. From what I’ve seen, we are likely to stop ourselves short in attempted communication way too early. It’s likely our fear of rejection or insecurities in asking will get the better of our reaching out way before we become too pushy and cross a line.
Switch up your mode of communication after several attempts via phone (my advice is 3 attempts at the very least) to a text message or a Facebook message. However, avoid written messages in asking for appointments whenever you can.
Stagger your attempts at calling. Consider waiting a couple of days before trying again if you’ve gotten radio silence thus far. It may look something like this:

July 1st – Attempt 1 to call Sally Jones (no voicemail).
July 2nd – Attempt two to call Sally Jones (brief voicemail: “Hey Sally it’s Jenn. Would love to connect with you on something – I may try to call you back, but if you get a chance give me a call.”)
July 7th – Attempt 3 to call Sally Jones (brief voicemail: “Hey Sally it’s Jenn again. Just trying to reach you on that thing I mentioned in the last voice mail. If you get a chance give me a call, but I’ll probably be trying you again. Hope to chat you soon.”)
July 21st – Attempt 4 to call Sally Jones (voicemail AND Text before: “Hey Sally there is something important I would love to discuss with you – and briefly. Can we use the phone for a minute?”)
August 7th – Attempt 5 to call Sally Jones (voicemail that tells her I will email her with information: “Hey Sally, it’s Jenn Fortner. I’ll go ahead and email you on the thing I’m trying to connect with you on to see if that works better for you. I’d love to connect soon if possible. I’m sure your busy but if you get a chance to check your email that would be great. Thanks Sally!”)

SWITCHING COMMUNICATION METHOD

Essentially what I did with Sally is switch modes of communication. Instead of calling again I am now switching to text and email for the time being. It could be that I would decide to switch the communication method just to text, or to Facebook Messenger, or to just email. How I choose to switch it up is largely placed on past communication I’ve had with Sally, and what I’ve noticed her communicating with to me and others in the past.

With Sally if I don’t hear anything via email or text from her at that point, I may put her in some type of organization system I keep with others I was unable to reach, and I will most likely try to reach out again after several months of waiting.

IN SUMMARY

There’s a lot of contingencies in the wide wide world or financial partnership development and phone calls, but I hope this post helps a bit as you think about your strategy in reaching people who don’t like to pick up the phone.

What are your thoughts? What works best for you? Post it in the comments! I’d love to start a discussion here!

How to DYI Your Appointment Kit

June 15, 2017June 15, 2017 ~ Jenn Fortner ~ 1 Comment

Below is an example of one worker’s appointment kit that includes homemade connect cards, magnets, giving instructions, and professionally made prayer cards. Having an appointment kit can serve you and your financial and prayer partnership team in multiple ways such as helping those interested in giving remember you in prayer, set up giving, and remember their commitment to financially support you. They can help keep you organized, make you look professional, give you needed contact information, and so much more.Have you made an appointment kit? Does making one seem daunting? With a little know how, making one doesn’t have to be complicated or overly pricey. Melody’s appointment kit was done using www.avery.com/print (free templates!) with the exception of her professionally made prayer card. When I asked Melody how long it took her to make this kit her reply was “not long! I spent maybe 30 minutes on the connect cards and 30 minutes on the giving instructions.” If you aren’t design coordinated or maybe are a little computer illiterate, don’t sweat it. Consider asking someone close to you or someone already on your prayer or financial partnership team to consider helping you create your kit!

Let’s drill down on each of the items in the kit and explain the uses:

THE CONNECT CARDCreating a connect card can be helpful when sharing your ministry with a small or large group, or at a fundraising event. Put these cards on a back table, hand them out during the event, or place on chairs prior to the event where you are sharing. Inform the group to fill one out based on their level of interest. Connect cards help minimize the bottleneck effect that can occur when just having a newsletter sign up sheet, as multiple people can fill out a card at one time. Also, connect cards help put the ball in your court instead of your potential partner’s. That can be a big help! Instead of just giving a prayer card to a interested individual and hoping something comes of it, now you have their contact information and the means to follow up with them after the event is over! Essentially connect cards allow you to relationally seek out face-to-face appointments. More information on connect cards can be found here.

GIVING INSTRUCTIONSCreating simple giving instructions can help a potential partner know how to give easily. Simply state several ways they can set up their giving based on their preference. Give these as needed to someone whom you’ve just had a face-to-face meeting with or someone interested in giving for the first time that you happen to connect with in passing, etc. Keep in mind though, if you don’t see that commitment go through don’t hesitate to walk them through the necessary steps to make it happen. The responsibility to get their commitment in is typically YOURS.

PRAYER CARDPrayer cards are fantastic for giving out to anyone and everyone! Keep prayer cards on you at all times and hand them out regularly. They should have giving information, information about where you are going, your contact information, a professional picture of you, your sending organization info and branding, and if you have created one – your tagline. I suggest spending a bit more money here and get your prayer cards done professionally (just like Melody did). There are some great places out there that make great looking prayer cards such as Commission Creative.

MAGNETSMagnets are a nice way to get your team praying for you regularly. Ask anyone who takes one to put it on their refrigerator and remember to pray for you when they see it. The magnets Melody made are nothing overly fancy, but they are a great way to reinforce the concept of “team” and put something additional in the hands of those who lift her up in prayer and financial support.

Here are some other suggested items to include in appointment kits:

Some type of visual/infographic on how much support you need to get to 100% – I call these log charts. (ie. 50 people at 50$, 15 people at 100$, 10 people at $150, 5 people at $200, etc.)
Brochures or other printed materials specific to your ministry assignment from your sending organization.
Pre-addressed stamped envelopes for anyone who wants to send a check in immediately.
Your organization’s commitment or pledge forms. (don’t leave home without it!)
A sheet with your budget spelled out. **I recommend giving this only as needed – to people who ask for more information on your budget. As in, don’t start off providing specifics on your budget unless your talking to someone like a pastor who may understand your budget needs a bit more – simply state that your need is to get to 100% raised, NOT that you need X amount of monthly support.
Small gift or token for those who commit to support and/or pray.

Things to keep in mind when making your kit:

Create some type of branding! Melody has made a stamp that creates something of her own logo. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a logo, but thread your branding and use the same fonts, colors, and concepts for each item. Create a cohesive look that makes everything sync together.
If you haven’t already, create a tagline and use that tagline throughout each of your appointment kit items (where appropriate).
Use professionally taken photos. No selfies!
If your ministry organization has a logo, make sure to use it! Put your organization’s recognizable logo into what you create so that people can quickly see you are a part of a larger organization with experience.
When creating your appointment kit, challenge yourself to always think through the lens of a potential partner. What questions would they have? What would be helpful information and/or wording for them?

Any other items you can think would be helpful in an appointment kit? Tell us in the comments!

Turning Verbal Commitments into Actual Gifts- It Doesn’t Have to Be Awkward!

June 7, 2017September 18, 2018 ~ Jenn Fortner ~ Leave a comment

Back in March I did a post on Follow Up here on the blog that I got a lot of great feedback on. I recently did an edit of the post and Support Raising Solutions just put it up on their blog. You can check it out here.

Here’s a quick excerpt:

How do I best follow-up with someone who has said they will give… but hasn’t started giving yet?

My guess is you’ve probably faced this question more than once, seeing this is the dilemma I’m asked about most often as a coach. The 2nd question I get the most? “How do I keep follow-up from being awkward?”

Follow-up can consist of reconnecting with those who are verbally committed, but who need time to pray/consider after an appointment, or for some reason haven’t started their giving yet. I agree, it can feel awkward to try to re-connect with them to get them to start their giving – but it doesn’t have to be. Here are some practical tips for changing verbal commitments into actual gifts:

Good follow-up starts at the appointment.

Start setting yourself up for good follow-up during the appointment by following the two C’s:

To see the rest visit https://supportraisingsolutions.org/turning-verbal-commitments-actual-gifts-doesnt-awkward/.

OVERCOMING OBSCURITY

May 17, 2017 ~ Pastor Chris ~ 1 Comment

Below is another excellent guest post from Pastor Chris. If you haven’t read his previous posts you can find them here, here, and here. Thanks for contributing Pastor Chris and letting us glean from your insight! – JF

OBSCURITY: The state of being unknown, inconspicuous, or unimportant.

When you are starting out on the path of fundraising your number one problem is OBSCURITY. People do not know who you are. More and more our culture is becoming relational. People and churches want to know YOU before they know what you are called to do. For this reason you must make it a priority to become known among the people and churches that you hope will fund your calling.

This problem is not unique to fundraising. 50% of all business start-ups fail in the first 5 years. One author says 80% of all new business owners know they are failing in the first 18 months! Some will have bad business plans, too much debt, the wrong location… but the majority simply cannot overcome obscurity. Their potential clients do not even know they exist.

“Obscurity is the single biggest killer to a business or entrepreneur.” – Grant Cardone

Grant Cardone asks young business leaders two questions in relation to obscurity:

#1. How far will you go to get attention?

#2. How frequent will you be in your attempts?

The ONLY correct answer is = “WHATEVER IT TAKES”

When it comes to fundraising we need this same attitude. Please do not take this too far and manipulate “whatever” to mean being immoral or unethical. I don’t believe Grant intended that and I certainly am not taking an extreme view of that word. But we have to get the desperation that is in that phrase into our hearts and lives. What will you do? Whatever it takes!!!! Will you face your fears? Will you be uncomfortable? Will you accept rejection? Will you remain prayerful and positive? Will you work 40 hours a week? Will you work 60 hours a week? Will you work 80 hours a week? Your answer to all these questions and a thousand more must be “Yes – I will do whatever it takes!”

The reality of your situation is that there are lots of people with lots of money that want to give it to a worthy cause. Trust me – there is NO shortage of money. So how do you break out of the obscurity you are in, find these people, and get them to join your team?

#1 – You Must Renew Your Mind

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. -Romans 12:2 NASB

To break obscurity you must first stop seeing yourself as obscure. (Remember obscurity is the state of being unknown, inconspicuous, or unimportant.) The only way to do this is to constantly meditate on God’s word… then you will make your way prosperous and you will have good success (Joshua 1:8).

You are NOT obscure… You are a child of the Most High God! He has made you the head and not the tail… He has set you above and not beneath… He has called you and given you a divine purpose and destiny. He has made you an overcomer and more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus!

If you see yourself as obscure then you are obscure. You cannot expect to break out of obscurity until you first break the obscure mindset that is holding you back.

#2 – You Gotta Get Social

Personally, I hate Facebook and I don’t Twit or Tweet or whatever! Whether you love it or hate it: You Gotta Get Social!! The people you are seeking to join you in your mission need to know you on a personal level. Do not wait to meet people. When you call a church, ask for the pastor’s email. Search for his name on Facebook and send a friend request. If he gets to know you, his church is more likely to support you.

#3 – You Need to Dig Your Well

Harvey Mackay wrote the best book on networking long before Facebook and even before email, it’s entitled Dig Your Well Before You Get Thirsty. If you should read his book you may be put-off as he describes how to set up your rolodex (some of you may need to Google “rolodex”). Look beyond that technical part (or lack thereof) for the true heart of how to network.

Mackay opens his book with a story about getting a call from an old friend at 2am who was semi-hysterical and said he needed $20,000 that day or he would be at risk of going to jail. He writes, “The strange thing is, I hadn’t talked to him in over ten years. I offered him a few thousand dollars, but I didn’t give him what he needed even though I could have.”

Then Mackay asks a revealing question:

“How many people could I realistically count on to bust a gut to help me out if I’d called them at 2am?”

#4 – You Have to Learn to Write

I am still learning this skill myself but if you say, “I’m just not a good writer” – you are most likely copping out. Remember? – You said you would do whatever it takes! A good amount of your support will come from writing letters, emails, and newsletters. So learning how to do it correctly is important. Write a lot! If you write an appeal letter, ask a pastor you are friends with to give you an honest opinion. Did it sound needy? Was it a crisis appeal? Was it too long? Was it boring? Did it communicate the vision? Did it make you feel connected? By honestly assessing your writing you will get better.

#5 – You have to Learn to Speak

One Sunday morning after the church service the pastor was feeling quite proud about the message he had just delivered. On the way home he asked his wife – “How many genuinely good preachers do you think there are in the world?” She muttered under her breath, “One less than you do.”

If you think you are a good speaker you are in the most danger because you are probably not as good as you think you are! So regardless if you think you are a poor speaker or the best thing since Paul the Apostle, there is room for improvement.

Anyone can get up and say things in front of a church, but can you make your appeal with passion? A pastor friend once said to me, “I cannot remember the last time I had a missionary in the pulpit who had a passion in his voice and a tear in his eye for the people of his calling.” Remember it is not what you say but how you say it. You are not trying to convince people or sell them a product, you are endeavoring to share your calling from God and invite others to sacrificially join you in changing lives.

#6 – You have to Learn to Ask

You may be bold in the pulpit, but if you are obscure when it comes to “the ask” you may find your support raising going slowly. Be convinced of who you are and of your calling. Be confident that you are not asking for “yourself” (you are not begging). You are simply saying – Has God touched your heart with this vision and will you use your resources to work with me?

#7 – You Should Make a Schedule

You are going to get busy with many things that will keep you obscure. Thus, create a calendar to guide you daily in overcoming obscurity. If you are raising support for the first time I would recommend:

Tweeting as often as you like, but no less than once per day
Posting on Facebook no less than once per day
Sending one E-Newsletter per month
Mailing one paper snail-mail newsletter per month

If you are using other networking platforms like LinkedIn, make sure you add them to the schedule. You should also add in how many personal phone calls you will make per day, and how many personal emails you will write (and send) per day.

#8 – Lastly, You Ought to Go to EVERY Event That You Can… and STAND OUT!

If your district or denomination hosts events, go! If your home church has events, go! If friends invite you to the park, go! Don’t make every event just about your financial needs, but work to build life long relationships. If you do that the funds will come naturally (see my previous post on how to grow a long tail).

Look for ways to stand out, both personally and with your mail and media. Get creative! Use your own photos when sending post cards. Hand address envelopes and if you know the person write a one-line sentence on the back of the envelope. When you go to an event, if you can, wear something that makes you stand out – especially if you can get something from the country of your calling. This season of fundraising should become the most hectic and crazy and social and fun period of your life. If done correctly fundraising is FUN-raising!

Obscurity is your #1 hindrance to raising your budget. Make Overcoming Obscurity your #1 goal, and you will be well on your way to reaching your budget in a timely manner.

– Pastor Chris

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