Tag: Perspective

Tips for Expanding Your Capacity

~ Jenn Fortner ~ Leave a comment

If your in a season of support raising it is likely that you have thought about your capacity recently. Questions may have come up such as “How am I going to find the time to raise this budget?” or “What do I need to get done this week to reach my budget goal?” or “What’s more important, getting this laundry load folded or spending another 15 minutes calling potential financial partners on the phone?”

Believe it or not – capacity actually has nothing to do with time. We all have the same amount of hours in a day, we simply focus our 24 hours differently. 

John Maxwell in his book No Limits: Blow the Cap off Your Capacity says this about capacity:

“If you grow in your awareness, develop your abilities, and make the right choices you can reach your capacity. In other words AWARENESS + ABILITIES + CHOICES = CAPACITY.”

Let’s quickly explore awareness, abilities, and choices in light of capacity.

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AWARENESS AND ABILITIES

It’s not naturally what you would think, but capacity truly has everything to do with self awareness. The better word for capacity often times is the plural form, “capacities”. Another way to say it perhaps is “abilities”.

To explain – being realistic about your limitations, strengths, and weaknesses can create awareness that can be helpful in optimizing your capacity. If you are aware which capacities you have strengths in and others that you can explore growth in, you’ll naturally be more likely to grow.

You may find yourself struggling in an area that someone else may excel in (classic examples include organization, public speaking, task management). Exploring what comes naturally to you and what areas you can improve in have everything to do with maximizing your capacity. The more your grow in self awareness, the more you can challenge yourself to grow in areas of weakness – it’s all about knowing who you are and working to strengthen your abilities!

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CHOICES

As Maxwell states, a large part of our capacity is also determined on what choices we make. If we make the right choices to work toward our overarching goals, we can be healthy in our capacity concerning those goals. To do that, we have to figure out what goals we have and what we want our lives to be all about.

The hard part comes in when we have to make decisions on what we are willing to give up in order to reach the goal or do the thing we really care about. The mom with 2 kids may decide that time with her family is more important than her career goals, and take a step down at work. A person raising support may have to decide not to lead the small group or church committee anymore and let someone else step in to do it, so that they can have more time to devote to raising funds. The student who decides it’s important for them to take care of a sick parent may decide to move back in instead of stay on campus and maybe take a few less hours that semester. Bottom line, the choices we make have a great impact on our capacity. And sometimes those choices can be very challenging to make.

In a season of raising support there maybe some good things that you have to hit pause on. That’s okay! The thing to keep in mind is to know where you want to focus and ultimately land. If we aren’t intentional typically the loudest voice will grab our attention instead of the goal or area we really want to focus on. Before we know it – we look up and our capacity is swallowed by a thing we never intended it to be! Oftentimes I see this in workers who are raising support but also have full time demanding jobs. With these workers, the loudest voice is their current job and it’s rigors, and they struggle to find extra time to raise support. If they aren’t careful they will loose the long term goal they have to get to their field of ministry, because they are so busy trying to keep up with the job they will eventually leave behind. Our goals and our “why” in life often have to be fought for, especially in circumstances when they aren’t actualized immediately and take hard and consistent work to achieve. Those long term, non-immediate goals need to be known, recognized, and remembered to intentionally spend ourselves on. Ultimately it’s a CHOICE that requires diligence along the way.

In summary, if you find yourself challenged with capacity in this season of raising support, think about the following:

A. Are you self-aware? Are you aware of the places you naturally excel and the places you find challenging to implement? Challenge yourself to grow in those areas and give extra time and thought into expanding the capacities you find yourself low in.

B. What choices are you making with your time and this season of life. Are you reaching toward your long term goals, or listening to the loudest voice that may be crowding out your capacity and overall ability to reach that goal? Maybe it’s time to make some changes to adjust life according to your larger goals.

I hope this post inspires you to think about your capacity and how you can grow in this season!

This post is a re-post from 2018 I tweaked just a bit. Capacity is such an important topic to discuss in the area of support raising. I hope you find these ideas helpful! – JF

It’s All About Perspective

~ Jenn Fortner ~ 2 Comments

When talking about support raising, I try whenever possible to stay away from the words “fundraising” and “donor“when describing support raising as a ministry worker. Instead I use the phrases “partnership development” and “financial partner“.

Why you ask? The nuance lies within the overall perspective of raising one’s budget.

The word “donor” denotes someone who gives blood, gives one time, or is involved in a limited transaction. “Fundraising” denotes car washes, bake sales, golf tournaments, and transactional events. Right? Right. Of course fundraising and donors are in and of themselves not bad. OF COURSE. However, neither indicate an ongoing relationship between the giver and the organization or ministry. If our perspective of raising funds leads us to believe all we are doing is fundraising, it is likely we will struggle raising our support because what we are doing is truly more than fundraising. Simply put: we do more than fundraise. We invite people to partner with us in ministry.

Conversely, partnership is defined as this: “two separate but equal parties, with separate but equal responsibility, working together to achieve a common goal.” 

I like that definition much more as it encapsulates a what a healthy perspective while raising a budget looks like. It clarifies that the one sending is vital to the ministry instead of merely standing on the sidelines. The word partnership keeps us mindful that we are to be good stewards of our resources as Christians, and stewards of our calling to the Great Commission – whether that looks like going or sending. “Partnership” says WE ARE DOING THIS TOGETHER.

Experience has shown me that ministry workers who know the difference (in their hearts and attitude) between “fundraising” and “partnership” are those that succeed in raising their financial partnership teams. And FYI, success looks different than just getting to 100% and getting to the field fully funded. Again, think perspective — getting to 100% is only part of it.

Success in partnership development looks like fulfillment, retention in partnerships, healthy mindsets, healthy relationships, joy, actual enjoyment in the process, and getting to one’s field in ministry fully supported.

The opposite of success is strained relationships, procrastination, anxiety, 80% raised budgets being “good enough”, and low attrition in partnerships.

I believe that success in partnership development is 90% perspective.

“If our perspective of raising our funds leads us to believe all we are doing is fundraising, it is likely we will struggle raising our support because what we are doing is truly more than fundraising. Simply put: we do more than fundraise. We invite people to partner with us in ministry.” 

Those that are successful hold Paul’s perspective when he says “Not that I desire your gift, what I desire is that more be credited to your account.” Philipians 4:17 

Successful partnership development knows those that join your team are a vital and dynamic part of your ministry.  Partner relationships become important, growing, and vibrant instead of obligations and burdens.

I challenge you to take a look at your perspective in partnership development. Is it a fundraising perspective, or one of partnership? Why is it important to see it differently than fundraising? What’s the difference?

You may not immediately see the difference, but as you work to find out what a biblical perspective of financial partnership looks like, it’s likely you’ll find it much more enjoyable and doable. Perspective leads to attitude, which determines action. You will do what you believe. Try and shift to a healthy perspective on partnership development. Having a wrong perspective may hinder you staying in full-time ministry long term, and can lead to stress every time itineration season rolls around again. Let’s not do that. Let’s do successful partnership development that leads to vibrant 100% funded ministry and healthy engaged partnerships.  – JF

Spoiler: this post is older. I wrote it in 2018. But I think it still holds up and it’s an important topic. Thus, here it is again for those who missed it or need the reminder. Also, here are some other blog posts that may be helpful as you grapple with your own perspective on support raising.

Raising Support: Just A Necessary Evil?

5 Support Raising Lessons from the Widows Olive Oil

The Secret Ingredient to Successful Support Raising

A Canonized Thank You Note

Don’t Just Fundraise, Multiply Yourselves

Setting Your Focus from Support Raising Solutions Blog

10 Ways To Connect With Your Financial Partners (Without Taking Too Much Time)

~ Jenn Fortner ~ 2 Comments

Hey guys, I posted this 2 years ago and 5 years before that (with some changes of course), but I think this is one of the most important topics in the area of support raising there is and thus — here it is again! Easy ways to stay connected with your partners while you are busy in full time ministry! – JF

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 if 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, but it’s probably better to do one every other month. Keep them short and talk way more about ministry than personal things. Include pictures of active ministry (no vacation spots). Here’s a great link from the Support Raising Solutions blog on creating great Newsletters.

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.

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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, Twitter, or TikTok 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 tdownloado 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.

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). Make-your-own-Video-1080x675If 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!

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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.

Partnership Development and the Coronavirus Part 3

~ Jenn Fortner ~ 3 Comments

Part 3: Thoughts After 5 Months of Support Raising During a Pandemic

It’s July and we have been in the midst of this pandemic for 5 months now. Whew! Guys, I know we’ve been through a lot already! It still remains that 1. YOU’VE GOT THIS and 2. God is still on the throne and knows the times and the seasons.

I wrote a post back in April on 7 Things I Am Learning About Support Raising During A Pandemic, and wanted to write some more recent thoughts now that we’ve been getting adjusted to our temporary-who-knows-how-long normal. Here we go:

  1. MINSTER. It still remains a go-to in your to-do-list to continually check in with existing members of your partnership team, people that are in your life (whether or not they are on your support team), and churches. Ask them how they are doing and how you can be praying. Many church communities and individuals are in the midst of spikes in their area and may be experiencing stress and need some additional prayers! Text. DM. Send a postcard. Send kid artwork (if you have kids). Call them. Email. Etc. – you get the idea – say hi! Being a minister starts now, not once you get into your assignment.
  2. ADAPT. Zoom appointments and outside social distance appointments still count! If you are in a community experiencing high exposure, it’s possible you will need to adapt (meaning meet outside instead of inside, mask up, meet via Zoom, etc.) to meet with some on your list. That’s okay, still go for it. Remember that not everyone’s level of comfortability is the same so be willing to meet people where they are at. If you have to meet outside in the heat, try to pick a place in the shade or someplace with fans and/or copious amounts of ice water. It may no be 100% ideal but don’t let it stop you from making progress!
  3. CHURCHES. Churches are still sort of a mixed bag. Some churches are back to regular meetings. Some churches were back to regular meetings, but are now meeting online only again. Some churches have only been meeting online for a long time now. It’s likely that whatever the case, most pastors are met with new normals that have them on their toes. When reaching out to pastors for services stay sensitive and begin conversations by asking the pastor how they are doing in the midst of the pandemic (see #3 in the link). If now is not a good time for that pastor, ask if you can circle back with them in a couple of months (throw that in your calendar with notes on the conversation and stay organized). Here’s a couple of more thoughts on churches:
    1. Here’s a link for overall tips on contacting pastors. Check it out if your wanting to brush up on connecting with churches.
    2. Consider creating videos that share your presentation in a 2, 3, and 5 minute version. You can send that video to the pastor in advance of reaching out, and if that pastor has taken things online only he/she can use the video time segment that works for that pastor for online services. Make sure the video is well done and your communication is clear. Take care to explain how God called you, what you will be doing during your assignment, and what your strategy is for reaching the lost. **More information on a good 3 minute presentation outline can be found in the FPD Workbook. **Videos / streaming can potentially work for workers that are going to sensitive countries. Simply talk about the area or region you are going to during the video instead of specific placement, do not share proper nouns within your ministry, no last names, and consider being masked for the video (with explanation – perhaps with humor – as to why).
  4. KEEP GOING: A STORY. Recently a couple I coach reached 80% fully funded, and they started raising their support IN MARCH (that’s right the beginning of this pandemic thing. Glup). On the phone last week I asked what their secret sauce was, and they said to me “We just kept going as if the pandemic wasn’t going to effect our support raising.” They had Zoom appointments during shelter in place and kept their focus on reaching out for appointments, and now on the heels of August are close to 100% fully funded. Morale of the story is KEEP GOING! I believe that if we are confident during this season others will be confident in us. The need in our world is great right now, and the Great Commission isn’t waiting. The truth is if you are raising your support during this season, God called you to ministry during this season. He knew you would be raising support during a pandemic. Let that encourage your heart and don’t let the pandemic stop you from what God has called you to do now!
  5. IF YOUR CLOSE AND IT’S CLOSED: COMMUNICATE. Many people are asking what happens if they are heading overseas and the country they are going to is closed due to travel restrictions. The answer is of course varied, and if you find yourself in that position you should connect with your mentor about what that scenario looks like. Whatever the case though, keep in mind that most supporters are going to be very understanding if you reach 100% and have to be delayed in your travels due to the virus, particularly if it’s only a span of several months. In most cases you need not worry if you will loose support or find your supporters angry with you for things beyond your control. If you do find yourself in the situation of being at or close to 100% and you cannot travel, I would simply take care to communicate that you will be going as soon as it is safe and the travel restrictions lift. Also, let them know what you will be doing in the meantime to stay active (depending on your situation). It doesn’t have to have every detail or possible scenario (and in fact sometimes too many details are not helpful) to communicate that you are still committed and going as soon as you can.
  6. PERSPECTIVE. Overall, I’m seeing workers continually add to their partnership bases during this season and am actually overwhelmingly encouraged by progress. In so many ways, I think this season has a way of lending itself to perspective. It’s typical to look for reasons why not to work on raising support — and a pandemic is a really good excuse — I get it. But what I’m seeing is for those who continually work on it even though conditions haven’t been ideal — they have been met with regular increases in their budgets and their efforts have not been wasted. It really is what you make it, and it always has been when it comes to raising support. It’s likely there will always be something inconvenient about raising support, and likely there will be something “more important” to work on or a reason not to do it. My point is to check any reasons you are giving yourself permission to coast when it comes to raising support, and if you find yourself making the pandemic an excuse… fight to snap out of that (see #4). Stay the course. God called you now. Let’s do this!

I hope you find this helpful. 2020 is not at all what we expected, that’s to be sure, but praying in the midst of this season God fills your heart with strength and purpose. – JF

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 3:14-21

7 Things I Am Learning About Support Raising During A Pandemic

~ Jenn Fortner ~ 3 Comments

What day is it of whatever this is? If you’re like me, you’ve lost count somewhere along the way. As our groundhog days have gone on I have been busy coaching workers who are on the front lines of raising their support, many for the first time. I’ve been carefully listening and dialing into what is working and what is not. Thus, I wanted to take a moment to share some tips I have learned from coaching numerous workers raising their support during the Coronavirus. Here we go:

  1. If you have not done a newsletter in awhile (or you did recently, just pre-Coronavirus), NOW is the time to do one. I’ve been hearing workers mention that the number one question they are getting from their supporters and potential supporters is “are you still going to do your ministry assignment?” Stave off any doubt your supporters have by sending out a short newsletter that shares the following:
    • Reassure them you are feeling your call to ministry now more than ever! Remind them there are amazing opportunities to minister as people are searching for meaning and faith right now, and you’re excited to get on the front lines.
    • Yes, you are still called! Yes, you are still going to the field / on staff / your assignment! Let them know you are working as you are able to minister during this time, continue to raise support, and pray.
    • Ask them if they have any specific prayer requests.
    • Write a hearty thank you for their continued giving during this season. Let them how grateful you are. It’s huge they are committed to giving.
    • Don’t be afraid to keep it short and to the point.
  2. Video conference appointments are working. I have been taking with many workers who are having great appointments with individuals and are adding to their support teams during this time, Thus, don’t think of it as a time to stand still and do nothing! Reach for Zoom appointments using a mixture of discernment, wisdom, common sense, and prayer. When you do ask for an appointment, follow the guidelines found in this post and develop your own scripts.
  3. I coach a couple who shared this idea I thought was brilliant: for local appointments, think about having “porch picnics” with those who are comfortable. Their instructions:
    •  Get a Signup Genius ready (www.signupgenius.com)
    • Send link to potential supporters after you have called and asked for a appointment (or those already on your team that you want to build relationship with and see) to schedule appointments
    • “Take them” to dinner/lunch/coffee. (go pick something up with washed and sanitized hands or use UberEats or GrubHub or DoorDash)
    • Hang on porch at a distance
  4. Staying spiritually healthy matters. I talked with a couple yesterday who mentioned they are praying together for a different church every day, and are viewing this time as an opportunity to dial into their prayer life separately and together as a couple. They feel blessed to have extra time to bulk up spiritually. I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine that this couple won’t be lead into great opportunities as a result of their heart and prayer life. Go and do likewise.
  5. Facebook / Instagram Live Q&As can be a good way to stay active and are FUN! As we all know, there are a lot of people online right now. Why not utilize that opportunity by doing a Facebook Live Q&A or Instagram Live and talk about your upcoming assignment? 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 ask you questions. Make it simple and fun, and promote it however you can before hand.  This post outlines some details on the subject.  (*sensitive workers — this is doable for you too with some extra precautions and permissions!)
  6. Continue having ministry moments. Ask pastors if you can help serve their congregation (if you have technical skills they could probably really use you)! Ask friends and family members how they are doing, just because. If someone comes to mind take a moment and reach out. What you sow you will also reap, so continue to sow into your relationships.
  7. Having a good attitude and staying empathetic matters. Remember, your ministry doesn’t start when you get to your assignment – it starts now! And hey, I totally get it, of course this time is challenging! I SEE YOU. But here’s a wild thought: God knew about the pandemic and still chose YOU for this time. Knowing that, choose to be the inspiration of courage and hope to someone else, as chances are they need it. Chances are you will be inspired by being an inspiration. You will be blessed by being a blessing. Stick with a good attitude. Stay empathetic and serve those around you in everyday small ways. One worker I know realized she is getting a lot of joy from having flowers on her kitchen table and tending to her plant babies. She is now driving around to her existing partnership team (who are local) and putting small plants on their porches with a short note of encouragement. What a great idea!

Friends, I hope some of these tips help or get the wheels turning on ideas of your own. What has been working for you? Post it in the comments! – JF

The Widow’s Olive Oil 2 Kings 4:1-7

~ Jenn Fortner ~ Leave a comment

Let’s read 2 Kings 4:1-7.  Before you do though, a little precursor: If your anything like me, you may be tempted to read scripture on a blog post like a cereal box in the morning – as in – not throughly. I invite you however to slow down and take a moment and really read this woman’s story. You will find some great nuggets of wisdom in the area of support raising I promise.

“The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”

Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”

Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”

She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”

But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.” 2 Kings 4:1-7

So lets take a few moments to consider this widow’s story together. This woman’s prophetic, God-fearing husband is dead; making the widow a single mom of two boys with insurmountable money problems. As in, she doesn’t have any. Because she is so behind on payments, creditors are coming to take the two boys to be sold into slavery. From reading about the widow’s situation we can induct she is likely to be experiencing frustration, exhaustion, anxiety, stress, and loneliness amongst other things.

In her desperate need she seeks out the man of God (Elisha) for help. Elisha asks what she has in the house, and she says nothing at all but a lonely and useless jar of olive oil. (Have you ever wondered if that is literally all they had? I mean, do they even have straw beds in the house? Perhaps a dishrag? Only a jar of olive oil?!? What about a a pair of socks or a dust pan or broom? (I digress. I realize this is not the point.)

Essentially Elisha tells the widow what to do to save herself and her sons. Go collect empty jars from her neighbors and pray for a miracle of course! You have to know she probably felt crazy following his seemingly unhelpful instructions. I know I would. And not only does it seem absolutely NOT the right answer for creditors coming to take her sons, but then factor in the potential uncomfortable situations this creates for the widow. Maybe she has already asked her neighbors numerous times for resources and favors, making Elisha’s plan dig into her already existing wounds. Maybe there is a judgmental neighbor in the neighborhood, someone she wouldn’t want to ask a favor of in a thousand bad years. Maybe the neighbors are long distances away, making this task seem to be the icing on the cake of her exhaustion.

All of this to say if I were the widow I’d be in no mood for all of this faith business. But then again, she asked for it.

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There are so many lessons on healthy support raising in this story I do not even know where to start!  For the sake of brevity, here are 5 lessons I’d like to point out:

Lesson #1: Having faith often doesn’t make sense and often makes us uncomfortable. 

I’m a very practical person. Sometimes to a fault. If God told me the solution to my epic mountain of a problem was to go collect empty jars from my neighbors I would think twice. Actually probably more than twice. I’d like to say I would do it, but I would be hesitant. For me the actual act of gathering the jars from neighbors would include a lot of faith, some embarrassment, awkwardness, and loads of uncomfortable self-talk (ie. “this person is going to think I’m crazy”, “she will give me a jar but has nothing herself, how can I ask?”, “she will give me a jar but will hang it over my head” ) Sound familiar?

When the widow acted on her faith and said yes to God’s plan, she experienced a miracle. It is likely that God may be asking you to act in faith so that He can provide. Maybe collecting jars to you looks like inviting someone to join your team that you haven’t talked to in eons. Maybe it is just asking someone that makes you uncomfortable. Let the self-talk go and ask God what He wants to do.


Lesson #2: Having faith DOES NOT mean we should sit around and wait for God to do all of the work. 

Have you noticed that God’s plan usually involves us actually doing something? Elisha could have clapped his hands and made the jar appear out of thin air, but typically that’s not how these things work. Just like the fish and five loaves, or Peter getting out of the boat – we often have to take action in our faith. We WALK by faith and not by sight.

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In your support raising, you will always have what I call “manna moments”. It’s that thing where without asking an individual eagerly jumps on your monthly partnership team, or a church CALLS YOU and asks if you can speak at their next service. Most of the time, manna moments are the exception and not the rule. Sure God provided for the Israelites for awhile with manna from heaven, but at some point they had to move forward.

Lesson #3: Ask and you you shall receive. “We have not because we ask not.” (James 4:2) 

What would have happened if the widow asked even more of her neighbors for jars? Quick answer here: she would have had more money to live off of. What would have happened if she gave into the awkwardness and not asked her neighbors for the jars? Quick answer again: She wouldn’t have had enough money to pay her debts.

Raising support is not about waiting for people to get the hint and support you. There must be action on your part, and your part is to invite others to join in what your doing and be a part of the Great Commission.

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Lesson #4: God wants to involve others, and it is about more than just you and your needs. 

As I stated above, God could have just snapped His fingers and provided enough oil and jars for the widow. But He didn’t. I believe He wanted the widow to act in faith but He also cared for the neighbors. He wanted to show Himself to them. He wanted them involved for His glory.

You may think you it would be lovely to just get paid via check for the ministry work you do. I’ve been there. I get it. But think about the team you are building around you and I challenge you think about the big picture. Just as God didn’t want to provide the miracle in a vacuum for the widow, the same goes for you. He’s all about them being involved, revealing hearts, and moving them forward in the call on their lives and of the Great Commission too. Think macro, not micro. Think no vacuums.

Lesson #5: Listen to God, not to your fears. 

Again, the self-talk going on in my head if I were the widow would be un-ending. It’s likely that you could be experiencing something similar as you step out in faith. But I challenge you to be like the widow and WALK by faith and not by sight. To move beyond the awkwardness and boldly ask. To involve others, even the uncomfortable ones, in the story. I challenge you to listen to God and not your fears.

Let’s be like the widow people.

God will provide the oil if we go get the jars. – Tweet this

this is a resurfaced blog post back from 2015 that I thought would be helpful to break back out for those newer to the blog! – JF

Get the Right Perspective, Get to 100%

~ Jenn Fortner ~ 3 Comments

I try whenever possible to stay away from the words “fundraising” and “donor“when describing support raising as a ministry worker. Instead I use the phrases “partnership development” and “financial partner“.

Why you ask? The nuance lies within the overall perspective of raising one’s budget.

The word “donor” denotes someone who gives blood, gives one time, or is involved in a limited transaction. “Fundraising” denotes car washes, bake sales, golf tournaments, and transactional events. Right? Right. Of course fundraising and donors are in and of themselves not bad. OF COURSE. However, neither indicate an ongoing relationship between the giver and the organization or ministry. If our perspective of raising funds leads us to believe all we are doing is fundraising, it is likely we will struggle raising our support because what we are doing is truly more than fundraising. Simply put: we do more than fundraise. We invite people to partner with us in ministry.

Conversely, partnership is defined as this: “two separate but equal parties, with separate but equal responsibility, working together to achieve a common goal.” 

I like that definition much more as it encapsulates a what a healthy perspective while raising a budget looks like. It clarifies that the one sending is vital to the ministry instead of merely standing on the sidelines. The word partnership keeps us mindful that we are to be good stewards of our resources as Christians, and stewards of our calling to the Great Commission – whether that looks like going or sending. “Partnership” says WE ARE DOING THIS TOGETHER.

Experience has shown me that ministry workers who know the difference (in their hearts and attitude) between “fundraising” and “partnership” are those that succeed in raising their financial partnership teams. And FYI, success looks different than just getting to 100% and getting to the field fully funded. Again, think perspective — getting to 100% is only part of it.

Success in partnership development looks like fulfillment, retention in partnerships, healthy mindsets, healthy relationships, joy, actual enjoyment in the process, and getting to one’s field in ministry fully supported.

The opposite of success is strained relationships, procrastination, anxiety, 80% raised budgets being “good enough”, and low attrition in partnerships.

I believe that success in partnership development is 90% perspective.

“If our perspective of raising our funds leads us to believe all we are doing is fundraising, it is likely we will struggle raising our support because what we are doing is truly more than fundraising. Simply put: we do more than fundraise. We invite people to partner with us in ministry.” 

Those that are successful hold Paul’s perspective when he says “Not that I desire your gift, what I desire is that more be credited to your account.” Philipians 4:17 

Successful partnership development knows those that join your team are a vital and dynamic part of your ministry.  Partner relationships become important, growing, and vibrant instead of obligations and burdens.

I challenge you to take a look at your perspective in partnership development. Is it a fundraising perspective, or one of partnership? Why is it important to see it differently than fundraising? What’s the difference?

You may not immediately see the difference, but as you work to find out what a biblical perspective of financial partnership looks like, it’s likely you’ll find it much more enjoyable and doable. Perspective leads to attitude, which determines action. You will do what you believe. Try and shift to a healthy perspective on partnership development. Having a wrong perspective may hinder you staying in full-time ministry long term, and can lead to stress every time itineration season rolls around again. Let’s not do that. Let’s do successful partnership development that leads to vibrant 100% funded ministry and healthy engaged partnerships.  – JF

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Raising Support: Just A Necessary Evil?

~ Jenn Fortner ~ Leave a comment

Is raising your support just a means to an end or a necessary evil? Have you considered the implications of support raising from a big picture / macro standpoint? Let’s talk about it for a minute.

The difference between a missionary who raises their funds verses a missionary who is paid is simply that – one raises their financial support and the other is paid to minister. Right? Right. Typically missionaries who raise their financial support are the norm. However, there are a denominations / sending agencies such that pay their missionaries. Though being a paid missionary sounds awesome, as we found out late summer of 2015, this method of funding can have it’s own set of challenges and downfalls. 

If you think about it from a macro viewpoint,  a sending agency / denomination that pays its missionaries / workers by design is limiting the amount of missionaries it can send out to the nations. I don’t know this as hard fact, but I can surmise that there simply isn’t enough money divided up amongst all of the sending agencies in the world to pay enough missionaries to finish the task of the great commission. 

Hence God’s good idea — calling us all to be a part of the Great Commission. Yes, all of us. This is where the brilliance of God and raising support comes in. Throughout the Bible (the Levites, Elijah, Nehemiah, Jesus, Paul, the Apostles) you find examples of ministers being supported to do the work of ministry the Lord has given them. It doesn’t just start with modern missions, raising finances has been God’s design all along. I venture to say it is His idea not only because it works, but because we are all called to take part – either as goers or senders – as I mentioned above. Mark 16:15-16. 

Let’s talk about some major pros and cons from a macro (big picture) and micro (smaller picture – your perspective) standpoint of a missionary who lives off of support versus one that is paid.

Benefits of a Missionary Raising Support:  

  • Macro: Provides the opportunity to inspire others into missions in congregations that you travel to speak at (missions simply wouldn’t be as prevalent without this type of advocacy – around 80% of the missionaries I work with say they were inspired to go to their mission field because of a conversation they had with another missionary or hearing another missionary speak)
  • Macro: The opportunity to invite and inspire friends and family to be a part of the great commission in a direct way
  • Micro: Raises awareness of your ministry
  • Micro: Preparation for the field before going to the missionary field
  • Micro: A team of individuals and churches who are likely to carry you in prayer, provide emotional and spiritual support, and are invested in what you are doing

Cons of a Missionary Raising Support:

  • Micro: Oftentimes it takes longer to get to the field
  • Micro: The uncomfortable feeling of asking friends and family for financial support
  • Macro: Some agencies do not require the missionary to raise 100% of their financial budget before going to their mission field leading to underfunded ministers and propelling the “poor missionary” mentality

Benefits of a Missionary Being Paid:

  • Micro: Doesn’t have to spend time raising support instead of going straight into assignment. **I believe this can also be a detriment in some cases, see below!

Cons of a Missionary Being Paid:

  • Macro: Fewer missionaries on the mission field, thus less people hearing about Jesus!
  • Macro: Less churches and individuals being inspired to be a part of missions
  • Micro: No team of committed individuals and churches lifting the missionary up in prayer on a continued basis. 

A common misconception and attitude amongst workers who raise their support, is that support raising is just a necessary evil and means to an end. I would challenge that thinking by saying let’s get past ourselves and see it for what God intended it to be! In the macro sense, raising support is about so much more than one person’s budget, essentially it is about the body of Christ partnering with the Great Commission. And in the micro sense, the fact of the matter is, when done correctly and with the correct biblical perspective, support raising is actually ministry. Raising support can be a exciting, rewarding, and truly vital ministry.

As I mentioned above, the one major upside to a missionary being paid for their service is they get to the field quicker and “waste” less time before they go into their assignment. However, I can’t tell you the amount of times I have heard missionaries that raise their support say that their season of itinerating (particularly at the beginning of their journey in missions) is the absolute best preparation they could ever imagine for the field. 

Pastor Chris, who is a guest blogger on this blog, recently wrote an article in which he explains this principle: 

“As a christian worker or missionary you are going to find many people interested in speaking to you about Jesus, but they may not always be ready to make a commitment.  They may not be prepared to forsake Islam or their family’s religion of many generations because you told them a nice story.  Successful ministry work requires faithful and patient follow-up with that person who has shown some interest.  The man who pumps my gas gave his life to Jesus, but only after I spoke with him many times.  He had to know more than my “story” about Jesus… he had to know ME. Was I a worthy person to carry such a story to him?  Could I be trusted?  Did I really believe the message I was sharing with him?

The first place you learn and practice how to do follow-up is while raising your financial support.  You may think raising money and sharing the gospel are vastly different but they are not.  If you are unable to look a pastor square in the eyes and say, “I need your support to fulfill God’s call on my life” – then you will find it difficult to look another man, with another religion, square in the eyes and say to him, “I need you to abandon everything you have been taught and follow Jesus!”I encourage you to think of the macro implications of raising your support in your season of itineration! Ministry, the Great Commission, God’s plan, more missionaries, etc. etc.”

In this season of itineration, I echo what Pastor Chris said- think of more than just the micro implications of raising your support – think of the bigger picture as well! Raising support means more missionaries spreading the gospel, more workers doing more good things, involving the body of Christ in the Great Commission, more prayer, more preparation, etc. It’s so much more about God’s plan than it is about raising your budget!

Capacity: It’s Not About Time

~ Jenn Fortner ~ Leave a comment

If your in a season of support raising it is likely that you have thought about your capacity recently. Questions may have come up such as “How am I going to find the time to raise this budget?” or “What do I need to get done this week to reach my budget goal?” or “What’s more important, getting this laundry load folded or spending another 15 minutes calling potential financial partners on the phone?”

Believe it or not – capacity actually has nothing to do with time. We all have the same amount of hours in a day, we simply focus our 24 hours differently. 

John Maxwell in his book No Limits: Blow the Cap off Your Capacity says this about capacity:

“If you grow in your awareness, develop your abilities, and make the right choices you can reach your capacity. In other words AWARENESS + ABILITIES + CHOICES = CAPACITY.”

Let’s quickly explore awareness, abilities, and choices in light of capacity.

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AWARENESS AND ABILITIES

It’s not naturally what you would think, but capacity truly has everything to do with self awareness. The better word for capacity often times is the plural form, “capacities”. Another way to say it perhaps is “abilities”.

To explain – being realistic about your limitations, strengths, and weaknesses can create awareness that can be helpful in optimizing your capacity. If you are aware which capacities you have strengths in and others that you can explore growth in, you’ll naturally be more likely to grow. Have you ever taken a capacity quiz? John Maxwell provides a very insightful one. Take a few moments and take the quiz: http://go.johnmaxwell.com/no-limits-capacity-quiz.

You may find yourself struggling in an area that someone else may excel in (classic examples include organization, public speaking, task management). Exploring what comes naturally to you and what areas you can improve in have everything to do with maximizing your capacity. The more your grow in self awareness, the more you can challenge yourself to grow in areas of weakness – it’s all about knowing who you are and working to strengthen your abilities!

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CHOICES

As Maxwell states, a large part of our capacity is also determined on what choices we make. If we make the right choices to work toward our overarching goals, we can be healthy in our capacity concerning those goals. To do that, we have to figure out what goals we have and what we want our lives to be all about.

The hard part comes in when we have to make decisions on what we are willing to give up in order to reach the goal or do the thing we really care about. The mom with 2 kids may decide that time with her family is more important than her career goals, and take a step down at work. A person raising support may have to decide not to lead the small group or church committee anymore and let someone else step in to do it, so that they can have more time to devote to raising funds. The student who decides it’s important for them to take care of a sick parent may decide to move back in instead of stay on campus and maybe take a few less hours that semester. Bottom line, the choices we make have a great impact on our capacity. And sometimes those choices can be very challenging to make.

In a season of raising support there maybe some good things that you have to hit pause on. That’s okay! The thing to keep in mind is to know where you want to focus and ultimately land. If we aren’t intentional typically the loudest voice will grab our attention instead of the goal or area we really want to focus on. Before we know it – we look up and our capacity is swallowed by a thing we never intended it to be! Oftentimes I see this in workers who are raising support but also have full time demanding jobs. With these workers, the loudest voice is their current job and it’s rigors, and they struggle to find extra time to raise support. If they aren’t careful they will loose the long term goal they have to get to their field of ministry, because they are so busy trying to keep up with the job they will eventually leave behind. Our goals and our “why” in life often have to be fought for, especially in circumstances when they aren’t actualized immediately and take hard and consistent work to achieve. Those long term, non-immediate goals need to be known, recognized, and remembered to intentionally spend ourselves on. Ultimately it’s a CHOICE that requires diligence along the way.

“No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.” -Alan Watts

In summary, if you find yourself challenged with capacity in this season of raising support, think about the following:

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A. Are you self-aware? Are you aware of the places you naturally excel and the places you find challenging to implement? Challenge yourself to grow in those areas and give extra time and thought into expanding the capacities you find yourself low in.

B. What choices are you making with your time and this season of life. Are you reaching toward your long term goals, or listening to the loudest voice that may be crowding out your capacity and overall ability to reach that goal? Maybe it’s time to make some changes to adjust life according to your larger goals. 

I hope this post inspires you to think about your capacity and how you can grow in this season!

Here I Am, Or There You Are?

~ 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

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