Year End Giving: 8 Ways To Maximize The Best Support Raising Time of Year

October 1, 2018October 3, 2018 ~ Jenn Fortner ~ 1 Comment

Did you know 31% of ALL GIVING in the States occurs in the month of December? And not only that, but that 12% of giving occurred in the last three days of the year? That’s right. 12% all in 3 DAYS.

So, you know, that’s a lot.

Do you have a year end giving strategy? It may seem early to be thinking about it, but you should, as you are going to miss out on a huge opportunity if you don’t start thinking about your strategy now.

In October and early November, it’s great to laser focus one’s efforts on face to face appointments as people are in solid routines with school, etc. Even as the holidays approach, F2F appointments now through the end of the year should continue to be your main focus. That being said, toward the holidays there are additional touches you can create to show your existing team you care as well as generate some excitement and cash gifts. So toward the holidays, let things shift a bit from business as usual. Statistically speaking, people are going to give. And they want to give to someone they know. Which would be you. Right? Right.

All of that being said, let’s break it down to some specific ideas for your year end strategy:

1. FACEBOOK LIVE Q&A

The main content of a FB Live Q&A should be comprised of giveaways, trivia / info on your assignment, questions for the audience, and time to let them as you questions. Make it simple and fun, and promote it however you can before hand. Consider doing one somewhere towards the beginning-ish of November. Here are some thoughts on a Facebook Live from a worker who did one last year:

REFLECTIONS ON A FACEBOOK LIVE Q&A:

DID YOU USE YOUR iPHONE OR YOUR COMPUTER?

I used my iPhone because it has a better camera than my chrome book. If your laptop has a good camera though, I’d recommend using that because I think it’s easier to the comments that come in. I basically had my computer off to the side reading comments from there. Also FYI if you start the live on your phone vertically you have to keep it that way-it won’t switch over if you turn your phone. I’d recommend starting horizontal.

DID YOU DO GIVEAWAYS?

I did giveaways of books. They were just what I had on hand as I thought of giveaways last minute. I had a prayer book for XX as well as some of the books from my ministry.

DID YOU DO TRIVIA QUESTIONS? IF SO WHAT?

My trivia was how I did the giveaways. Some was about me and my testimony and others were about the country.

OTHER THOUGHTS?

I announced it a couple days ahead of time, and went Live the day before just for a few minutes to make sure everything worked well. You can also practice going Live on your own feed by setting your security settings to “only me”. I did that just to set up the lighting, and to make sure my background was not too distracting. I also think it would be helpful, if you had somebody reading the comments to you. As a single gal, I was wishing that I had asked somebody to do that for me in the midst of it. Also, my parents had come up with quite a few questions that I had on hand just in case people were not engaging, or the questions lagged for a minute.

2. GIVING TUESDAY

Giving Tuesday, which occurs the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, is a day for non-profits and others raising funds to solicit donations. It is a GREAT DAY to post something online asking friends and family to give.

The example below is from a family who was going to a sensitive location. For Giving Tuesday they set a specific goal of $1,000 to go to pre-school and language learning. They promoted throughout the day (and prior!) by posting multiple times it on their Secret Facebook Group, which was comprised of people who were already a part of their team either in prayer and/or finances. They also created a post prior to Giving Tuesday on their regular Facebook page, asking if anyone was interested in hearing more about their journey. Then they added those interested parties to their Secret Facebook Group so that they could see the posts.

Do you want to know if they made their goal? Screen shots of their posts and progress are below. For security purposes I am not sharing the totality of their ADORABLE video, however, I did write down their script and have it below. It’s a great example of how you can raise over $1,000 in cash in ONE SINGLE DAY with a little bit of effort and excitement. By the way, the Smiths were EXCELLENT at face to face appointments and had a solid team in place by the time Giving Tuesday was in place. You may think Giving Tuesday wouldn’t work for an already established team…but see below for the results!

VIDEO SCREEN SHOTS:

VIDEO SCRIPT:

Jason: “Hi guys, we are the Smith family. This is baby Justin, my wife Sara, and I’m Jason. Justin just turned 1 year old yesterday (all: YAY!) We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!”

Sara: “After Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday if there is anything left in your bank account today is what is called “Giving Tuesday”. It’s an opportunity to bless people who are in the process of raising money. Many of you know that we are moving to X in the spring and we have been in the process of raising our monthly budget. But we also have to raise a cash budget up front. We are asking our friends and family on Facebook to consider giving us a cash gift of $25. Our goal is to raise $500 for Justin’s school and $500 for our language learning training for a total of $1,000 in just 1 DAY! You can give towards Justin’s school which will give him the opportunity to learn language, learn the culture, and make friends. Or today you could choose to give to our language training which will give us the opportunity to learn X and connect with people in their language.”

Jason: “Now it’s super easy to give, all you have to do is click the link and it will take you straight to the page where you can give. Then if you would send us a Facebook Message telling us which of these two things you gave towards – that way we can keep a running tally. Otherwise we won’t know for a couple of days, and that’s way less exciting.”

Sara: “Thank you friends for your generosity we appreciate you more than words can say.”

Both: “Happy Giving Tuesday!”

*funny bloopers with Justin and family at the end

*graphics displayed on video about link with arrows, Giving Tuesday, and Thank You.

*fun music in the background – light and airy.

POSTS:

3. NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER

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.
Use it to promote any Facebook Live or Giving Tuesday efforts you will be doing.
Say thank you!
Don’t do any asks on this newsletter.

4. CHRISTMAS CARD / YEAR END LETTER

Do Christmas cards along with a year end letter sometime before December 31st (think about sticking it in the mail the day after Thanksgiving). I think it’s a good idea in some circumstances (see below for more on this) to bundle these two and stick them in the mail together, the card of course being Christmasy with the year end letter inside. Send these out 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 to the right 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 year end letter:

Switch this up from a regular newsletter. Use a slightly different template than a regular newsletter and make it more like a letter.
Don’t send an ask year end letter to anyone who recently started giving, just gave one time recently, or just increased their giving. (probably within the past 6 months). Just send them Christmas cards instead. You don’t want to overwhelm them with too many asks.
Consider creating a different version of your year end letter to 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. 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 year end letter.
Keep it to 1 page make it look really nice!

5. FACE TO FACE NOW!

Have as many face-to-face appointments as you can NOW. Generally speaking, it’s the best time for F2F in October and early November. People are into their routines and willing to give. In November and December are you are tempted to put the breaks on contacting individuals for F2F appointments? Sure, time for interaction may level off the weeks of holidays but experience has taught me that it can also be a GREAT time for face-to-face appointments; particularly if you are in from out of town and catching up with family members or old friends! Don’t stop reaching out to connect with people over coffee and making the ask. Some tips:

Try and ask them for a F2F early. Give them a couple of extra weeks to put it in their calendar.
Get a small gift for your potential financial partner and bring it to your appointment.
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.
Pay for their coffee.

6. SMALL GIFTS

Send your members of your partnership team small gifts. December is a great time of year to express your thankfulness to your support team. Go above and beyond that newsletter!

7. FACEBOOK CAMPAIGN

A well crafted, intentional, relational Facebook Campaign can be helpful during these months of giving. Consider creating a Facebook Campaign in October, November, or December if you haven’t already done one recently. Keep in mind, this is advisable only if you have gotten far enough in your financial partnership (75-80%) to start one. Also, for Facebook Campaigns don’t do one for the end of the year if you already plan on doing Giving Tuesday and a Facebook Live Q&A. Try to pick between Giving Tuesday posts + a Facebook Live Q&A, or doing a Facebook Campaign. It’s best to NOT do all a couple of weeks apart so that you don’t over saturate your social media audience.

8. EMAIL AFTER CHRISTMAS

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.

OTHER TIPS:

Stay consistent with your goals and shoot for a multi-channel approach. The secret sauce for creating a successful year end strategy is all about sequence. What does that mean? Essentially, sequence is you creating a goal and using that message/goal consistently to create a multi-channel integrated approach. Your goal should be consistent across any blogs or websites, social media, email, and written mail.
Have your strategy in place and communication pieces written BEFORE November.
Sequence maximizes the return on your effort and time investment. Stay consistent.
Try to get a hook when creating your goals. Maybe an image, theme, tagline, story.
Try to be eye-catching. Be compelling.
Less is more. The fewer words the better. Try to keep letters, etc. personal and short. Keep videos as short, fun, and informative as possible.
Don’t send a year end letter to anyone who just started giving, gave a special gift, or increased their giving in the last six months. Just send them a Christmas card.
Customize two different letters: one for on-going financial partners, one for non-givers.
In your wording, focus on the partner. Example: “There is hope, and that hope is you.” Talk about how your partners make the world better with their gift: “You gave 50 kids the gift of Jesus last year with your donation, and now you can do more.” The partner and the partnership between you becomes the hero of this story. Acknowledge their important role in your mission.
Don’t let your partners only hear “asks” from you. Be sure you stay on top of personal communication. The routine newsletter that arrives in early November will be helpful – 1 page with pictures, ministry focused with specific stories. But get beyond that and reach out in micro relational ways to your team.

10 Easy Ways To Connect With Financial Partners

June 1, 2018 ~ Jenn Fortner ~ 4 Comments

Here’s a statistic that Bill Dillon, a guru in the support raising world and author of People Raising, has that I think you’ll find potent:

For every 100 people that stop supporting you:

66% of people stop giving because they think you don’t care about them

15% are unhappy with your organization

15% transfer their giving somewhere else

4% move away or die

Woah.

When I train missionaries on how to raise their support I tend to stay away from the word “fundraising” for many reasons, and when I really think about it — this statistic is at the heart of all of my reasons. Basically, No one wants to invest in something that yields no return. If an individual gives a worker monthly support and feels as though the worker could care less about their giving, they will likely go somewhere else with their giving dollars.

And in my opinion, they should.

Ouch! Why you ask? Because the reason donors are investing in the Great Commission is because they are called to be a vital part of the Great Commission too. And if they are called to be a part of the Great Commission, why should they be made to feel as though their “vital part” is on the sidelines and forgotten?

I believe that one reason we forget to invest in the relationships we have with our financial partners is because we forget (or perhaps don’t have the paradigm) that they are as vital to the work that we are doing as we (as ministers) are. That being said, many christian workers on financial support struggle in the area of continually connecting with their financial partners even they have a high value for their relationships with them.

It makes sense. We are all busy. Ministers are typically very busy. I totally get it.

As much as I understand, I also believe it isn’t a valid excuse. There are so many easy ways to connect across continents in our world. As such, I would like to offer up 10 suggestions on how workers on financial support can continually, quickly, and easily connect with churches and individuals who financially invest in the kingdom work they are doing.

10 Ways to Connect

1. The Quarterly Newsletter

Here’s a no-brainer: Send your newsletters. You should do a minimum of four a year. Keep them short and talk way more about ministry than personal things. Include pictures of active ministry (no vacation spots).

2. Short Email or Letter

When you get on the field, pick 10-15 financial partners each month and email them a QUICK and SHORT personal hello/touch base. For example:

“Hi Sally, just wanted to touch base with you and see how you have been doing. You and Chuck are on our prayer list for this month and we are wondering if you have any updates or requests? Things here are going wonderful. We just finished with our building project and couldn’t be more excited to receive students this coming fall. There will be 10! We will definitely be busy with it but we are pumped! I am also really looking forward to getting back into teaching. Anyhow, hope you all are well and let us know how we can be in prayer for you.” – Jenn

See…how painful is that? It took me all of two minutes to write that… You may be saying, but what happens when they write back? If they do, take another minute of your day to promptly reply to those who responded to your email. If all 10 respond it will take you around 15-20 minutes to respond to everyone. Then, take the time to mention them in your prayers and follow up with that as you have time and God leads. Keep a simple notebook. Write them down. It will make all of the difference and mean so much to the people spending so much time praying for you.

Once you have gone through your 10-15 partners each month, circle back around your list. Put these on some sort of white board in your room or house to remind you, or put it into a calendar each month. Whatever you do, calendarize it in some way.

3. Postcards and Presents

Send small gifts or postcards to your financial partners. Tell them thank you for their continuing support.

I recently received a postcard from a friend vacationing in Costa Rica. That postcard remained on my fridge for 2 months for two reasons: (1) My friend thought of me from a far off destination and it made my day getting that postcard! (2) It was beautiful! Personally, I’m a sucker for a pretty print of any far off destination.

Small gifts do not have to cost much to mean a lot.

4. Stay Active on Social Media

If you don’t already have one, create a Facebook page. Create a secret group if you are going to a sensitive country. Stay active on it while you are on the field. Pictures, prayer updates, short videos, scripture verses, and praise reports are all fantastic. *If you are somewhere sensitive keep that in mind while posting and follow the rules of your organization.
Consider getting onto Instagram and Twitter as well! This is not for everyone, and typically I say to start with one social media outlet (probably Facebook) and do it well. However if you have the time and know-how try one or both of these. I love posting on Twitter and have a personal Instagram page as a creative outlet. Both have been effective in communicating with friends and helping me to network on a larger scale.
Another great thing to think about doing in your secret Facebook groups or if you have a ministry page is a Facebook Live. If you choose to do one before hand promote the time your event will be taking place, and take care to choose a time that works well for your financial partners. When you do a Facebook Live event, make it a guided Q&A and consider doing your Facebook Live in an interesting place. That Facebook Live will record as a video so anyone not able to make the time can view later!
Facebook message your financial partners or like their posts. Stay active on your personal page (including Twitter or other social media outlets).

5. I’m Thinking Of You

Sometimes as I listen to audio sermons, worship sets, podcasts, or scriptures, I’ll check in with God and ask if He would like me to share any of those with my friends, family, or financial partners. If I feel prompted, I’ll send that sermon or verse to a friend on Facebook with a little message. These have to make sense and the sermons probably shouldn’t be overly convicting on major sins or anything. (Don’t imply that your friend has a problem). Use common sense. ie. Don’t send a message on tithing to a partner who hasn’t recently been giving.

6. The Church Letter or Video

Write a short letter to the churches that financially partner with you. Put a note in to the pastor to please read where he feels it appropriate to the congregation (small groups, prayer groups, Sunday school). If you don’t have time for a letter, create a quick video on your smart phone or computer and email it to the pastor. Ask the pastor to share that with his congregation or prayer group if possible.

7. Events

When you come back home, hold an event in key areas where your financial partners are. During the event provide desserts and coffee. Share stories from the field, answer any questions, tell them about your future plans, and thank them, thank them, and thank them.

These events can be as elaborate or simple as you want to make them. I would of course error on the side of taking care of your important guests by providing refreshments and some sort of dessert or snack – these also provide an incentive for your guests to come.

Create connect cards for those interested in giving for the first time.

8. Face to Face

In addition to the church event, when you come home set up one-on-one coffee times with pastors and friends and family that have supported you. Thank them and catch up on their lives while you were gone. Be relational and intentional. Really, this shouldn’t be optional!

9. FaceTime / Skype Meetings

Are you spending some time on FaceTime or Skype with your far away family and friends? Why not pick 6-12 financial partners per year to Skype or FaceTime while on the field? This is particularly good practice with financial partners that are giving sizable amounts or with churches and small groups that are partnering financially. Give them a real-time live update on where and how you are. Take them into an actual ministry event via Skype or FaceTime on your phone if you can. They will be floored at your thoughtfulness and most likely continue to financially partner you throughout assignments to come.

10. Text them!

There are multiple programs available that will allow you to set up video and picture messaging while on the field. If you have a urgent prayer request, why not send a group text message out to your financial and prayer partners with a picture detailing your prayer need? If you have a praise report, send a text and allow them to celebrate with you (of course, keep in mind time zone differences so that you are not texting them at 2:00am)!

In Closing

If you are a worker on financial support, I hope that these simple ideas to connect with your partnership base help you. Let’s remind our financial partners that they are important to us and to the Great Commission! Let’s keep our attrition rates up with our financial partners by spending just a little time letting them know that we care. Let’s value them! Let’s realize that they are vital part of what we do. Amen? Amen.

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

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.

Develop Your End of The Year Strategy

November 8, 2016September 18, 2018 ~ Jenn Fortner ~ 2 Comments

Did you know that last year 31% of ALL GIVING occurred in the month of December? Or that 12% of giving occurred in the last three days of the year?

That’s right. 12% all in 3 days.

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 December and only 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.

Here is a couple of quick ideas for your year end strategy:

CREATE A CHRISTMAS NEWSLETTER TO YOUR EXISTING PARTNERSHIP BASE. Sometime before December 31st (probably not on Christmas or Christmas Eve), send out a Christmas newsletter to your existing financial and prayer partner list. These should be people you have already communicated your ministry vision and details with. Make it short and sweet and include the following components:
1. Merry Christmas greeting and express your authentic thankfulness for your support team.
2. 3-5 bullet points of prayer requests.
3. A percentage update of where you are at raising your finances.
4. A gift-wrappy-Christmasy-wonderful-snowy graphic that is a clickable link to your organization’s giving website. (Make it pretty – I made this one in 5 minutes using Canva.com)
HAVE AS MANY FACE-TO-FACE APPOINTMENTS AS POSSIBLE and DON’T STOP SCHEDULING THEM NOW BECAUSE YOU THINK EVERYONE IS TOO BUSY. Are you are tempted to put the breaks on contacting individuals for face-to-face appointments in the month of December? Let me tell you, experience has taught me that it is 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:
1. Pay for their coffee.
2. Get a small gift for your potential financial partner and bring it to your appointment.
3. 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.
4. Make it about them when you meet as much as it is about you. Ask questions and get excited about who they are.
5. Send a thank you card after you meet with everyone!
6. If you cannot reach someone now, don’t sweat it. Try reaching out to them again in January.
SEND YOUR FINANCIAL PARTNERS CHRISTMAS CARDS / SMALL GIFTS. Now is a great time of year to express your thankfulness to your support team. Send a Christmas card with a handwritten note and include a small gift of thanks. It can go a long way in letting your financial partners know you care about them.
CREATE A FACEBOOK CAMPAIGN IN DECEMBER. A well crafted, intentional, relational Facebook campaign can be helpful during this month of giving. Click here to find out more how to craft your own successful Facebook campaign.
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 helpful. Whatever you end up doing for your end of the year strategy, make it as relational as possible.

Also, MERRY CHRISTMASTIME! I pray it is an amazing time of fellowship and family for you.

End of the Year Giving: The Facebook Campaign

October 25, 2016September 18, 2018 ~ Jenn Fortner ~ 2 Comments

During November and December try to focus on some good ways to reach out to individuals and utilize the best two giving months of the year.

If you are down the road in raising your finances enough (close to 80% raised) doing a Facebook campaign in the month of November or early December could be perfect in utilizing this window and helping you reach 100% (I DO NOT RECOMMEND FACEBOOK CAMPAIGNS BEFORE 80%).

You may have already read the previous post on this subject from last year: “How to Create a Successful Facebook Campaign and Other Glorious Facebook Information.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/jennfortner.com/2015/03/10/how-make-your-own-facebook-campaign-and-other-glorious-facebook-information/amp/?client=safari
If not, let me give you a summary. A Facebook Campaign essentially is getting together a team of 10-15 people who post daily on their Facebook walls, on your behalf, for around 10 days. You create the campaign with video content, give-a-ways, graphics, and a monthly goal you would like to reach over the duration of the Facebook Campaign. The end result is reaching out to a wide audience that may not have ever heard about you or your ministry any other way – and may be really eager to support someone in the ministry field.

If this is something that interests you, watch the videos below for more information and then read the very important tips:

Here are key things to keep in mind as you develop your Facebook campaign and develop any new relationships that come from it:

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, 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. It is also VERY IMPORTANT to 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. it is VERY IMPORTANT to create a reasonable goal. (see video)

4. It is VERY IMPORTANT to follow up with your new financial partners after the Facebook campaign. Never let someone give 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 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)

6. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you communicate well with your campaigners from the very beginning. Tell them your goal and how many days, 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.

I hope these tips help you create a solid Facebook campaign with new financial partners that you minister to along the way!

The B Roll: All the Things They Didn’t Tell You

October 14, 2015October 15, 2015 ~ Jenn Fortner ~ 3 Comments

Support raising is a dense subject! Right? Right.

As I continue to teach on support raising, I’ve found typically there is more to teach than time allots for. As I coach numerous small groups and individuals, we just never get to all of the things. Teaching and learning how to raise a budget can be like drinking from a fire hydrant. #TOOMANYTHINGS

Thus, I’m calling this post: The B Roll.

This post goes out to all of those workers I have coached along the way! Here are some random pieces of information that may have gotten stuck in the cracks of little time, lots of practice, and dense material.

I mentioned above the post on How To Create a Successful Facebook Campaign. Check it out and I hope it helps!

Also, a quick word on #5…I’m not saying never ask for a appointment on Facebook. I’m just saying do some strategic thinking before you do, and I wouldn’t default to it.

Want more practical tips, you can find them in the Financial Partnership Development Workbook here.

1. FACEBOOK LIVE Q&A

REFLECTIONS ON A FACEBOOK LIVE Q&A:

2. GIVING TUESDAY

VIDEO SCREEN SHOTS:

VIDEO SCRIPT:

POSTS:

3. NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER

4. CHRISTMAS CARD / YEAR END LETTER

5. FACE TO FACE NOW!

6. SMALL GIFTS

7. FACEBOOK CAMPAIGN

8. EMAIL AFTER CHRISTMAS

OTHER TIPS:

Share this:

10 Ways to Connect

1. The Quarterly Newsletter

2. Short Email or Letter

3. Postcards and Presents

4. Stay Active on Social Media

5. I’m Thinking Of You

6. The Church Letter or Video

7. Events

8. Face to Face

9. FaceTime / Skype Meetings

10. Text them!

In Closing

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: