Highlight the Impact from the Beginning of Fundraising

How do you share impact when you're not on the field yet? You might be in the middle of fundraising, so what does it look like to implement the principle of focusing on impact when you're still "at home"?

Great question!

Here's the thing, it's important to understand impact from your ministry even if you aren't directly involved (fundraising, office staff, etc.). You need to think about it like a natural disaster situation. If you're asking people to give so your team can help people in Haiti put their lives and communities back together after an earthquake, you wouldn't be fundraising around just getting you there. You would probably be promoting it well before you went, and hopefully well after you came back. Why? The focus is on the solution, of which you are only a part.

So, essentially as soon as I knew where I was ministering and that team or location, I would want to be informed on at least a semi-weekly basis. You have a vested interest in what's happening there. These regular updates will allow you to share details about your motivation and vision, and why it's so important for you to be there helping.

THE FOCUS IS ON THE SOLUTION, OF WHICH YOU ARE ONLY A PART.

I think, problematically, a lot of missionaries aren't connected very well at all with their team or field, at least not until just before they leave.

That's a big lesson to implement.

You need to stop thinking (and therefore communicating) that nothing really happens from the giving until you get there. You need to start thinking and communicating that your team is trying to solve this problem in a specific way. Well, here is the progress your team has already made, but here is the progress we all still need to make, including you and your financial partners actively participating on the ground. You can't do this without them.

Kiley Hawkins, Co-Founder