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Paying for a Mission Trip
Paying for a short-term mission trip does not mean that you should pay for all
of it out of your own pocket. The concept of raising support takes the burden
off of coming up with the cash yourself, and forces you to share your ministry
with church members and friends.
Raising support for your campaign:
• stretches your faith
• allows you to develop deeper personal
• opens doors to evangelism and ministry relationships with supporters
• builds a base of prayer support
• allows God to develop you
• stimulates a missionary vision in the church
• gives people the opportunity to invest in body of Christ something with
eternal consequences
And it’s a very simple process:
STEP 1: PRAY
Where God guides, God provides. Acknowledge your total dependence on the Lord of
the harvest to bring eternal fruit from your labors. Acknowledge your dependence
on Him to provide the resources that are needed for the campaign. Consciously
turn control over to the Holy Spirit. Acknowledge your willingness to do your
part, whether that be to use resources God already has given you or to be
diligent at gathering in the support that God provides. Thank God for growing
you through this process.
STEP 2: BEGIN WITH YOUR HOME CHURCH
If you are part of a team from your church, everything you do should be
coordinated with your church’s team leaders. Get your act together! This outline
focuses on your personal support raising. These suggestions are in addition to
your group’s fund-raising projects.
If your church is not sending a team on your Mission Trip:
• Meet with your pastor or appropriate church leader when you have them sign
your application. Talk to them about the trip. Give them information about the
trip if they are not yet familiar with the mission agency you are using.
• Find out if there are resources available from your church to help with the
cost of your trip.
• Ask for suggestions on people to talk to and methods to use to raise support.
STEP 3: MAKE A LIST OF PROSPECTS
If you are part of a team from your church, talk with the others on the team and
decide how the group will approach people in the church. Don’t bumble and
stumble all over one another. You do not want to wear people out receiving
bunches of letters.
Will only the team raise money as a group from people in the church? Find out if
your church has a policy on this.
Will team members be able to personally ask for support from certain groups?
Your Sunday School class? The choir? Youth group? Bible study group?
Will you coordinate requests so that each team member knows who is being
contacted by whom?
People to consider putting on your list:
• Church friends
• Lawyer
• Barber/beautician
• School contacts
• Friends from other churches
• Banker
• Doctors
• Mechanic
• Relatives
• Contractors
• Accountant
• Your Christmas card list
• Current neighbors
• Parents’ Christmas card list
• Former neighbors
• Club and civic contacts
• Insurance agents
• Your wedding list
STEP 4: MAIL LETTER
Below is a sample letter to send out to family, friends, etc. We recommend,
however, that you do not use it verbatim. Use it only as a guide to write your
own personal letter.
{DATE}
Dear _____________:
{Personal 1st Paragraph}
God has opened the door for me to go on a mission trip to {country} with
{mission agency} on {date}. {Take a few sentences to describe the ministry you
will be doing.}
Your help is needed! This is a team project, and you are needed on the team.
First, we need your prayers for the spiritual battles ahead. Second, your help
is needed to help cover part of the cost for this trip.
The total cost is $ . Please consider investing $35 or $50 in this project. Much
of this amount is due on {date} .
If you would like to join us in this, please make your check payable to {mission
agency} and return it to me in the enclosed envelope. The mission agency then
will send you a tax receipt.
If I do not hear from you by {date about 2 weeks after you send letter} , I will
attempt to contact you to see what you have decided. I can answer any questions
you may have at that time.
You are very important to me. Thank you for praying about being part of our
team.
Sincerely,
Name
{Add handwritten note at bottom of letter to personalize your letter a bit
more.}
The following are some pointers on how to personalize your letter:
STEP 5: MAKE FOLLOW-UP CONTACTS
As you get ready to follow up your letters, remember that people give to people:
• justified by the cause.
• they know, justified by the cause.
• they know and trust, justified by the cause.
• they know and trust and care about, justified by the cause.
Honor people with your attention. One-on-one visits provide the best way for you
to get to know others better. They also give you the best opportunity to tell a
person about what God is leading you to do and to answer their questions.
Your available time probably will not permit you to go see everyone, but look at
your priority list and decide where to start. Do not assume that just because
you know someone well you do not need to see them. Honor their friendship by
taking the time to meet with them.
The toughest part is asking for help. Remember, people give to people they know,
trust, and care about, justified by the cause. Your cause is ETERNAL! These
people probably want to help you more than you want to ask them. So ask them!
You may want to say something like: “Our goal is to raise $1,000 by May 1. We
would be honored to have you on our team. Would you please support me for $50
for this opportunity.” Be as specific as possible about the deadline and the
amount, just as you were in your letter.
For those who join your team, tell them how to make out the check. It should be
made payable to either the mission agency or to your church, if appropriate. Ask
if you can take it with you. If you are talking to them on the phone, ask if you
can come pick it up or get it from them at church, or the office, or wherever
you will see them next.
STEP 6: KEEP TRACK
Keep track of who gives. Who promises to give. Next steps for different people.
How much has been promised. How much has come in. How much you have to go.
People are turned off by someone who is in a fog about their situation. They
wonder if they are being good stewards if they give to someone who appears not
to know the score.
STEP 7: SEND FUNDING TO MISSION AGENCY
As you receive donations for your campaign, it is your responsibility to forward
them to the mission agency. Your leader will give you information about how to
do this. Remember the following.
Always include your full legal name as it appears on your passport. Help us
properly give you credit for donations given to you. At the end of each week,
send in the donations you
received that week. Don’t wait until the end to send everything in at once.
Always include the place and date of your trip.
Never send cash. It is much better to get checks from your supporters made
payable to the mission agency. If you receive cash, get a money order and send
it in to the mission agency, along with information about who the gift is from.
STEP 8: SAY THANK YOU
God’s principles require gratitude, both to God as the Provider and to people as
His instruments. As God provides your support, thank Him first and then apply
the following principles:
• Say thank you.
• Say thank you immediately.
• Say thank you immediately by phone and in writing.
Set as your two goals a) to telephone the giver and b) to send out a thank you
for each gift the day you receive it. In your written thank you: Be neat. Be
brief. Acknowledge the amount.
STEP 9: SERVE GOD ON THE MISSION TRIP
Hallelujah! It finally arrived! By this time all your support raising will have
been well worth seeing the people whose lives have been impacted.
STEP 10: SAY THANK YOU AGAIN AS YOU REPORT THE RESULTS
Thank each of supporters again after the trip is over. Before you leave, decide
how you will say “Thanks” to people. Letter? Pictures of you with some new
believers? Small gifts? Picture party? Report in Sunday School class? Report to
Missions Committee? Small group?
While you are on the trip, look for ways to show your appreciation when you get
back home. Perhaps it will be by telling a story of someone who trusted Christ.
Or by bringing back something with the foreign language on it to give to people.
Or names and addresses of new believers so people can pray for them. Maybe even
letters from one or two of the new believers. Be creative!
Source:
Global Missions Fellowship
Campaign Guidebook