Have you ever walked away from a chance encounter mentally kicking yourself for not sharing what’s on your heart? I know I have! I believe that God is constantly giving us opportunities to share His goodness and how He is moving. It’s up to us to maximize those moments. The challenge is figuring out how to take those surface-level conversations and transform them into an opportunity to share about God’s goodness.

A veteran missionary couple, Mark & Anita (not their real names) are fundraising cross culturally. Anita wanted to be very careful in explaining their ministry to her husband’s Canadian friends, believing that the typical straight-forward approach could be offensive to the laid back culture. Anita felt self-conscious talking with her accent, and Mark felt overwhelmed by trying to keep the goals of their ministry simple. He was unsure how to clearly explain the needs of their ministry and their goals to reach single mothers in Costa Rica.

Every person who initiates a meeting with a potential financial partner desires to clearly communicate their mission and walk away with a new partner in ministry. But how do you do that well?

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Just now thinking about a year end appeal? You're late but not completely out.

Are you looking at the numbers and getting nervous? How can you end your calendar year in the black.

It can be incredibly frustrating to be so passionate about a ministry, cause, calling, or idea when you feel alone in the journey because of a lack of partnership or financial resource. This will make you feel as though you are screaming at the top of your lungs for resources... yet no one is responding.

You want your financial ministry partners to give, and they are ready to give. Yet, sometimes the actual giving can be a frustrating process and confusing that it can actually turn away people who are prepared to give to you.

One solution? QR Codes.

Do you feel the pressure of the end of the year to try to raise more funds than any other time of the year?

But there’s a better way to phrase the end of the year appeal to your financial partners than the typical “it's December, so let's fundraise” encouragement. Here’s a couple tips you can apply to your own creation of a year end strategy for giving.

Quite often, when thinking about raising funds, we think about the amount we have to raise - and get petrified. Or, we think about the barriers we're facing in the midst of the process - and get overwhelmed. It's important to see way beyond those dynamics of fears and what-ifs to something much bigger and more powerful.

Asking for funding is all about helping donors understand how their giving makes a difference. When they make a donation, we want them to clearly know what we are accomplishing together.

What if a donor begins asking questions about why you are going on a mission for God, or they bring on a multitude of suggestions about something else you should be pursuing instead? What you don’t want to do, above all else, is take these objections personally. So, if a potential donor has questions, what is the best way to respond?

Missions is hard; it's tough, it can wear you down. And, when a missionary struggles financially and worries about how they are going to provide for next month’s rent, it detracts from their ability to do ministry well. God did not mean for us to go at life alone, but to live in community. A financial partnership team is a part of that community.

Have you ever sent out a fundraising letter that was only focused on the money? Did you write it like that purposely, or unintentionally? If you wrote it purposely focused on the money, did you read it back to yourself and think, “Man, people are going to be so excited to give to me when I talk about how much money I need before our deadline.” Well, nope.

When I first started raising funds, I was encouraged to find a promise in the Bible that would anchor me through the journey of fundraising and financial partner development.

And I found it:

The scariest part of fundraising for so many people is just one little question, asked a few different ways. This one question can terrify people and make fundraising feel like a massive, unclimbable mountain.

You aren’t alone! This is totally normal. There’s an extremely important reason for this fear.

Having a good perspective about fundraising can make your experience, or it can break you. Most people underestimate the power of perspective. It’s like laying a foundation before building a house. Laying a foundation isn’t complicated. You level the ground; create a mold; and pour concrete. Simple but important, right? (I may be oversimplifying this, I’m not a contractor. And it’s really all about the illustration.) How you view your relationship with money can be one of the biggest factors in your success in fundraising. So let’s lay a good foundation. Shall we?