I spent a weekend in Ottawa helping a friend put on a volunteer training clinic for 40 people. While I was there I was able to help a mission committee as they planned to start-up some new volunteer opportunities, they wanted to know about training, how to raise money for mission, where they should focus.
All the usual suspects
While I was with the missions committee, they had one of their international partners join them. This partner had just delivered a report to the crowd and people were excited.
The mood was invigorating.
The committee was thinking through the plans for their next steps. They wanted to head overseas and make a difference, but they couldn’t figure out where to go. They began to do what committees do with big decisions
They began to bat around ideas with one another as is often the case when a committee is involved in deciding anything, every possible concern began to be raised. There are always people who will get stuck on the “what about?” questions.
What about risk?
How would they raise money for mission?
What about the distance?
Once you start asking those questions. They are hard to stop. There are always many more questions than answers
How do we make great mission decisions?
It is easy to pay attention to the risks and make decisions based on the wrong details. Fear of danger. Ease of travel arrangements. The lowest cost to go.
These reasons make sense. After-all, shouldn’t we be careful with people and prudent with money?
Sure, if you are not looking for much impact.
Eventually they remembered I was there and asked my advice. Where should they go? To me the answer was obvious. I reminded the committee that they already had people excited about the partner who had just spoken. Why not go there!?
They stopped and thought about it. Then mentioned that the partner did not live in an easy to access country – this would mean that their first trip would be a LOT more money then if they just decided to start somewhere in Mexico. They were worried that the cost would be too much for people. They were not sure if they could be able to raise the money for mission
I responded with what I have found to be true time and again.
Here is the simple rule if you want to raise money fast
It is far easier to raise an extra $1000 per participant, than it is to raise passion about a place that people are not already talking about.
If you are planning a trip,
Go where people want to go.
Go where they can’t wait to go.
Go where people are interested.
This sounds obvious, but many people plan trips based on everything else – cost, safety, ease of travel – everything other than what people want. Start with passion, the rest is easy.
What is your best way to raise money for mission?
Mark Crocker