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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! The Biblical wisdom for this can be seen in Prov 20:4, The Parable of the Talents.

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

Because careers change, salaries flux, investments grow and giving capacity changes, we regularly engage our donors in opportunities to lift (increase) their giving. That supporter who came on your team as a new college grad likely has a different income ten years into her career. If you've never engaged her in an increase ask, it's likely something she hasn't considered, even though she has the capacity. Encouraging your ministry partners to seek the Lord on the level of engagement He is asking them to lean into this year, yields a more robust support team and a deeper connection with them. 

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

How Do I Know What to Ask For? (The Intentional Gift amount)

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• Rooted in deep connection. The reason you're asking this amount is for the purpose of building the right team - and the right size team - to see the mission work accomplished. Example: 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 $Intentional Gift, or some other amount?
  
• As your commitment increases, invite your supporters to come alongside and deepen their impact as well. As your current team increases their investment, your ability to invest more deeply into them increases as well, vs spreading yourself thin among a lot of people. 
  
  
• Make it a regular conversation. Just like our corporate investors' example, it's normal to make a habit of regularly connecting with your supporters about their Kingdom investment. (See Sarah B's story below) "It's that time of the year where we get to connect and talk about your giving and the impact it has made. I also want to pray over you and seek the Lord together on how He might have you deepen your impact. (ministry update & personal conversation. Increase ask, if led) ...How about you seek the Lord over the next 24 hours about this and I'll pray over you during that time as well? We'll reconnect tomorrow around the same time and see what the Lord brought up. Sound ok?" 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.  
  
  
• Expect slight attrition. About 1% of those you ask to increase will reveal they need to decrease or end their engagement. That’s normal and still something to rejoice over. Take the time to honor and celebrate your supporter for the work they've done in partnership with you. Share a few stories of people they've impacted with the Gospel because of their giving. And let them know how much you've appreciated their faithfulness to the work. Then give them an opportunity to connect you with one or two others who may be interested to hear how the Lord is working through your ministry. 
  
  
• 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, either take some time to re-establish that connection before you do an increase ask, or own it during the call. (See Matt's story below) 
  
  
• Personally connect. "Prayer letters are important, but they pale in comparison to one-on-one connections." - Greg, Reliant pastor 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 increased their giving yet. 
  
  
• Thank personally. Thank those who increase. The general standard is a hand-written thank-you card and a phone call. (Other ideas HERE.) 

Practical Steps

1. Connect with your coach. If you don't have one... 
2. Pray. Ask the Lord for a goal. 
3. Decide on a chunk of time you'll give to this project - and block time out on your calendar for phone calls/ admin/ follow-up
4. Top 20 list *Hint: Point them toward those who give a small amount, but their income has increased since they first started giving.  Medium-top tier donors are also good to ask to increase. 
   1. In the future, you can link this to the page about how to use MPDx to track an appeal. 
5. Reconnect with those supporters - or not. (Insert Matt Moore story)
6. Calculate your Intentional Gift Amount
7. Pick a script you like and rewrite in your own words
8. Go for it! And meet regularly with your coach for encouragement throughout the process. 
9. Follow up! It takes someone about 7x to hear a message before they act on it. If you haven't talked to them 7x by now, you're just getting started. Some follow-up ideas include: 
   1. Call. If you get them on the phone, ask if they have 5 minutes for you to walk them through..
   2. Text the link to your giving page and instructions on how to increase (LINK to a Solomon pg. Don't they have to delete current gift and create a new one?)
   3. Snail mail
   4. 3-way call with Gift Services (ph # & office hours)
   5. Donor can email Gift Services with the request to increase *make sure they use the same email address as used for their Reliant donor account. (insert GS email)
10. Discover who gave and thank them *Keva, see Pickens' description on how to find increases in giving. 

Real Life Examples

• Josiah: Initially, I was super afraid to ask this amount (Intentional Gift 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, they've 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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