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What is the Magic Number?
The average monthly gift you would need monthly per donor if you were to cap your support team at 60-75 a certain number of people.
This naturally leads those raising toward a larger goal to be asking for larger investmentsThe ethos behind this is to keep your support team small so you can stay connected in ministry partnership with them as individuals.
How to calculate your Magic Number:
- Take your total monthly support goal (make sure it’s updated!)
Divide your goal by
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the number of people you want on your team.
Expand title How to determine this number. - Think of how many people you can realistically wrap your arms around and stay connect to within a given year.
- Aim for two personal connections per person per year. Examples of connections: An in-person meeting, a phone call, or a simple "How can I pray for you today?" text.
- Take into consideration personality and energy. For example, you might want to keep your ministry team on the smaller side if you are an introvert and will have a ministry assignment that requires you to constantly be engaging people. Another example would be if you're an extrovert who is working an admin role. You might give room for your support team to grow past the average because connecting with them gives you energy.
- Averages:
- Single: 50-65
- Married (one spouse working MTD): 60-70
- Married (both spouses working MTD): 60-75
- Think of how many people you can realistically wrap your arms around and stay connect to within a given year.
Example:
$6,000 month support goal divided by 60 supporters =$100 magic number.
The magic number is the amount at which you invite people to join your team or increase to.
FAQ
Example:
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If your magic number is below $100, it's recommended you still ask most people to prayerfully consider giving "$100, or some other amount." |
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If a supporter is already giving at or above your magic number and you are in a season of encouraging supporters to increase, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you to an amount to set before your supporter. Do not exclude someone from an increase ask because they're already giving your desired amount. It's our job to continually encourage people toward generous and joyful giving. It's the Lord's job to determine the amount. |
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It's natural that those raising toward a larger goal will be asking for larger investments. If Reliant has given you a large goal, then it also means you have more responsibilities and will be investing in your ministry assignment at a deeper level. As you seek out ministry partners, you want those who can invest deeply alongside you. Asking for those larger investments will produce a ministry support team that is on-level with you and what you're seeking to accomplish. |
Why does it matter?
Comes from a heart of intentionality, honoring and a deeper connection with your team.
First off, it works. Donors feel honored and missionaries become funded.
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It builds long-term sustainability. When a raise or budget increase occurs, current donors are naturally engaged in increase asks vs seeking out more and more new donors to join the team.
What are other Reliant missionaries saying about this?
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Real stories from the field:
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Initially, I was super afraid to ask this amount (Magic Number of $150). It seemed like too big/ too much to ask for some of the people I was calling (like the guy who is just two years out of school). But, it's gone really well. I've been surprised. Even the people who can't do that amount have thanked me for asking them and have said they feel honored. Those positive responses have been really encouraging to me to keep making this ask in this way. (Raised $1,000 in new monthly in 2 months working 1.5-2 days a week on MTD.) |
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- Josiah |
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Using the Magic Number in my increase ask has been helpful in thinking how many supporters I can handle while also maintaining connection with them. I appreciated putting the magic |
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number out there because it gave me the freedom to talk about my reality of wanting relationship and connection with my donors. "The reason I'm asking this amount is for the purpose of building the right team - and the right size team - for seeing this work accomplished." When I put my magic |
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number out there, people consider it! It helps me to share the vision and purpose behind the magic number I put in front of them. After Sarah shared this in a cohort, one of the other people on the call expressed concern over offending someone who can only give a small amount. He gave the example of a teacher on a small salary. Here’s how Sarah related: I've worked as a teacher on a very low salary for most of my life. The missionaries I support… well, I wish I had someone help me think through |
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who am I investing in and what's the impact of my giving? Am I giving to these people because I feel obligated or out of a joyful heart? Am I really praying over all |
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eight of these missionaries as frequently as I want to? How can I put my money where my heart is? |
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As a teacher who made very little, I would have really appreciated having one of the missionaries I supported taking the time to educate me, ask some of those questions and help me be more intentional and prayerful in my financial partnerships. - Sarah |
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When calculating my Magic Number, I took into account some other factors like donors I knew who were at their max giving amount. My number ended being larger than I felt comfortable asking. But, I felt God’s hand in it and decided to try it for a month. The result? Every single increase ask AND new supporter came in at that amount. It was such a breath of fresh air! - Kevin |
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I was nervous to invite people to partner with me at the magic number amount. What if the number was too large and it scared them away? What if they were offended? Through the encouragement of my coach, I decided to try it out. When I invited a former student to partner with the ministry, I asked her"to consider $100 a month, or some other amount." The student got back to me quickly and said she could partner at $50 monthly and would start her giving tonight. I was overjoyed! When the gift didn't show up when planned, I promptly followed up. She did not respond. I followed up again. No response. After a few more follow-up attempts, I was sure I'd offended her or I was asking too much. Then she got back to me. She says, "I know I was going to give $50 monthly. Is it ok if I do $100?" Of course I said yes! She explained how her initial thought to give $50 monthly was because it was easy and she knew she could do it. But, when it came time to sign up, the Lord began talking to her about giving and was encouraging her to give boldly and out of faith. She knew He was challenging her to give $100 monthly, but she had to take some time to work through that with Him until she was at a place where she could give that amount joyfully and freely. That's why I wasn't hearing back from her yet about starting her gift. It wasn't about me at all! haha. She's since started her giving and is excited to see what the Lord is going to do! This is what my coach meant by donor discipleship. The process of support raising can lead my donors closer to Jesus. I love that I get to play a role in that. - Charissa |
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My magic number was $150. I asked someone to seek the Lord about coming alongside me at that amount. It took them a few days to get back with me. When they did, they said they could start their giving at $75 monthly, but they plan to increase it over the next three years so they're eventually giving $150. |
