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Practical Steps

1. Pray. Ask the Lord for guidance - including a goal and who He wants you to call. 
2. Connect with your coachMTD Coach to set up a strategy call. If you don't have one or need a new one, email MTD@Reliant.org
3. Pray. Ask the Lord for a goal. 
4. 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
5. Make a Top 20 list of supporters the Lord led you to contact. Narrowing the list to ~20 people makes this project more manageable. *You can always contact the rest at a later date. Possible people to start with could be:
   1. Those who give a smaller
   Top 20 list *Hint: Point them toward those who give a small
   1. amount, but their income has increased since they first started giving. 
   2. 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. 
6. Reconnect with those supporters - or not. (Insert Matt Moore story)
7. 1. . These people are usually "all-in" and will prayerfully consider an increase.
8. Decide how to reconnect. Some want to connect with their "Top 20" on a personal level and at a separate time from inviting them to increase. Others jump right into it. A lot of this depends on how much time you have. See Matt's story below for one example.  

9. Calculate your Intentional Gift Amount

   Expand
   title How to
   The steps below will lead you to an average gift based on your support goal. This is a major step in rooting your ask in honoring the partnership (the smaller the team, the more we can stay connected. The deeper the investment, the more we're empowered to invest deeply.)  Excerpt Include MTD

   Calculate your Intentional Gift Amount

   You can actually calculate an Intentional Gift amount that is an average based on your support goal. To do this:

   Excerpt IncludeMTD

   "Intentional Gift" MTD "Intentional Gift" nopanel true *If a supporter is already giving at or above your Intentional Gift amount, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you to an amount to set before your supporter.

   
   

10. Block out chunks of time on your calendar for phone calls/ admin/ follow-up.
11. Pick a script you like and rewrite in your own words
12. Go for it! And meet regularly with your coach for encouragement throughout the process. 
13. 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. 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. 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)
14. Set up your database & pull a monthly giving report. It's hard to know who increased if you don't have their original gift amount. Before you start asking, follow these steps to save a copy of your monthly giving report.  to track this appeal. Here's how in MPDx. 

15. Invite your Top 20 to increase. Make this ask boldly, vision-driven (NOT because you're getting short-checked) and rooted in prayer. Examples and scripts below. And meet regularly with your coach for encouragement throughout the process. 

    Expand
    title Ways a supporter can change their recurring giving.
    Update giving online. Reliant.org Here's how to update recurring giving online. MAKE THIS INTO IT'S OWN SOLOMON PAGE log into the website, click the drop-down menu under the supporter's name, and choose giving dashboard. That will bring them to their recurring gifts. Then they can choose "make changes" and then just put in new amount. Snail mail the giving form to Gift Services at Reliant Mission, Attn: Gift Services, 11002 Lake Hart Drive, Suite 100, Orlando, FL 32832 Call Gift Services at 877-614-4600 between the hours of 8am-4pm, EDT. Email Gift Services at gift.services@reliant.org with the request to increase *make sure to use the same email address as used for your Reliant donor account.

    
    

16. 
    

    Expand
    title Follow-up ideas.
    Call. If you get them on the phone, ask if they have 5 minutes for you to walk them through how to update their giving online.  Text the link to the login page your giving page and instructions on how to increase. Here's how to update recurring giving online:  Snail mail a note with the giving form. *Fill out the form with the info you know and use a sticky note or highlighter to point them to where to enter the new giving amount. Include a stamped envelope addressed to Reliant Mission, Attn: Gift Services, 11002 Lake Hart Drive, Suite 100, Orlando, FL 32832. 3-way call with your supporter and Gift Services at 877-614-4600 between the hours of 8am-4pm, EDT. Donor can email Gift Services at gift.services@reliant.org with the request to increase. *make sure to use the same email address as used for their Reliant donor account.  Follow up! It often takes someone about 7x to hear a message before they act on it. If you haven't had at least 7 interactions about giving with your donor, then it's time for follow-up, not frustration. Organize your database or calendar 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.

    ***Send these sections to Judi Major to check for accuracy

17. Discover who gave and thank them . 
    1. How to see who gave (expand) 
    Discover who gave and thank them
    1. *Keva, see Pickens' description on how to find increases in giving
    . 
    2. Thank those who increase. The general standard is a hand-written thank-you card and a phone call. (Other ideas HERE.) 
18. Plan for ongoing connection

    1.  If we're looking for a donation, the conversation generally stops after we've received the gift. If we're looking to build ministry partnerships, the gift is only the beginning. simply the launching point to invite further conversation, further input and

       As Henri Nouwen states, everyone has a "poor" and everyone has a "rich." Working together as the Body of Christ looks like ministering to each other's "poor" out of our "rich." That wealthy supporter of yours also has a "poor."

       "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 and pray with them. Sometimes he updates them about what's happening in the ministry. But, most of the time, these calls are his chance to connect with and minister to his supporter. It's no wonder Greg's financial support is consistently strong, even with a 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.

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