Week 2 - Increase Ask

As you get started on week 2, be sure to ask everyone to share how their last week went. As a reminder, here are the questions we recommend asking:

NOTE: Go "around the room" so each person can report on their MTD work (couples can report together). This helps to make sure everyone shares. 

• Number of Financial Asks. (Feel free to inquire how it went.)
• Something you’re thankful for in MTD this week
• Something that's working or a question or discussion item for your group → [If they can’t think of anything] What would make this call helpful for you today?
• Action items update - see last week's column on the Action Items Spreadsheet
• Optional: What’s in the way? What are some of the obstacles in your MTD work?

After everyone has given an update, move on to the Q&A portion. You decide what questions to tackle first. Encourage your group to answer each other's questions. This can often be the place where the most insight is gained. 

After Q&A, move to this week's strategy skill session: the increase ask.

PS- Often it's been years - or never - since a missionary has done an increase ask. It may take some time for this concept to sink in. It will help the reluctant to hear from others who have done an increase ask. 

The Increase Ask

Along with an increase in vision, we engage our donors in regular increase asks because income changes. That supporter who came on your team as a new college grad likely has a different income ten years into his career. If you've never engaged him in an increase ask, it's likely something he hasn't considered, even though he has the capacity. 

This is the same wisdom we use for MTD increase asks! In gardening/ farming terms; we look at the crops we already have in order to discover how to increase their yield. We don't go out and plant more crops if we aren't weeding, fertilizing, watering, and pruning the crops we already have. And we certainly don't leave fruit on the vine come harvest time!

So, before you go out to plant new crops, let's work on increasing the yield in the field God has already given you. 

Elements of the Increase Ask

• Be Bold. Don't be shy about letting your supporters know you'll be talking about giving. Don't beat around the bush and pretend this is just a friendly catch-up call. If you're feeling some guilt because you haven't done a great job keeping in touch with your supporters, take a few months to re-establish that connection before you launch into an increase ask. 
  
  
• Rooted in deep connection. One advantage to both donor and missionary in the increase ask is the idea of investing deeply. The main vision is for your current team to increase so you can invest more deeply into them, vs spreading yourself thin among a lot of people. 
  
  
• As your commitment increases, bring them along. As your commitment to ministry increases, it's only natural to reach out to those who support your work - those who are taking this journey with you - to ask them to pray about also increasing their commitment to this Kingdom work. 
  
  
• Make it a regular conversation. Just like our corporate investors' example, it's normal to make a habit of regularly connecting with your investors about their support. Some will contact their supporters annually with a message like: "It's that time of the year where I get to connect with you about your ministry giving and seek the Lord together about it!" Using "it's that time of the year..." or "it's the season to..." language sets the table for this to be a normal conversation that's expected to also happen again in the future. 
  
  
• Personally connect. "Prayer letters are important, but they pale in comparison to one-on-one connections." - Greg, Reliant staffer for over 20 years. Greg has held a regular rhythm of texting or calling supporters throughout the year to see how they are doing, update them on something that recently happened in ministry, and pray with them. It's no wonder his financial support is consistently strong, even though he has a very large goal. No matter where you are in the timeline of an increase ask, make the one-on-one connection with your supporters a priority. Some choose to take a season of reconnecting before calling for increases. Others choose to use the increase ask call as a way to reconnect. Below are a few examples from missionaries on how they structured their increase ask process, whether internationally or stateside.
  
  
• Faithfully follow up. Organize your MTD with automatic reminders to follow up with those who are making a decision (DOH) or have said yes but haven't started giving yet. 
  
  
• Thank personally. Thank those who increased. The general standard is a hand-written thank-you card and a phone call. (Other ideas HERE.) A welcome packet sent to a new donor or a small gift for a particularly impactful gift can go a long way! 

Scripts

Here are some example scripts of the actual increase ask. Please change the wording to suit your needs:

• I have some good news! The Lord is leading me to take the next step in ministry. I’ll be working with students and sharing the gospel. As my commitment to ministry increases, it feels natural to reach out to my support team - those who are taking this journey with me -to ask you to pray about also increasing your commitment to the Kingdom's work. I have $300 monthly or $3,600 annually left to raise. I’ve seen God work so clearly over the last month – the people of God are giving out of faith and not fear. It’s been incredible to experience, and now I’m almost across the finish line! So, I’d like to ask: Would you take the next 24 hours to ask the Lord if He is desiring for you to increase your commitment of giving toward ministry? (wait for a response) Great! I will commit to praying for you over the next 24 hours as well. I'll reach back out with a phone call at this same time tomorrow. Does that work for you? 
  
  
• After years of being in ministry, I've realized it's been hard to keep up with a large team. So, I'm looking forward to keeping up with a smaller number of people that I can stay personally connected. They know me and I know what's going on in their lives (and that sort of thing). But, what that means is I do need to have a higher average. And, for me, that averages out to about $150 per donor. And I'm wondering if you'd be willing to be one of those partners with us at that amount… or something else.
  
• My goal with this is to be able to invest deeply in those who are investing deeply in the ministry. And I want you to be one of those people. Would you take the next 24-hours to ask the Lord if He would have you increase your giving to this ministry to $amount?

Resource Pages 

Pages you can send to those you're coaching.

The Invitation to Increase (Increase Ask)

Fundamentals for Large Donor Asks