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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 opportunity to increase her impact, 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.
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Elements of the Increase Ask
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How does inviting a supporter to increase honor them? In the Practical Steps section, of this page, you'll find instructions on calculating an Intentional Gift Amount. This is based on the number of supporters you feel you can wrap your arms around and stay connected with over the course of a year. Why think through this? Because when it comes time for cultivation of your MTD partnerships, you can have a quick touch-base with 150 partners or a meaningful connection with 50 partners. It's for you to decide. Do you want a team of ministry partnersdonors, or ministry donorsministry partners? There's a big difference, and it will impact every aspect of how you do MTD. If you're desiring partnership, consider; "What makes someone a true partner in ministry with me? And how do I honor that relationship?" Writing your prayer letter in a partner-centered way; showing them how they're making an impact, is a start! Other things to consider: Asking for their advice, inviting them to volunteer, giving them opportunities to speak into your life, sending short prayer texts, investing in their life as a spiritual friend - a place in which they can find meaningful connection that points them to Jesus (this need for can be especially high among some of our higher-capacity partners). Yes, this will require some extra work on the front-end. But, it will also mean less time on the back-end having to find new donors. Start small, with the vision to build up to this ideal over a number of years. The Practical Steps section will encourage you to start with a list of 20 people. Ask the Lord to show you what 20 partners He wants you to invest in and go deeper with this year. |
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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. Just like our corporate investors' example, it's normal to make a habit of regularly connecting with your supporters about their Kingdom investment. 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. "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?" For more, see Sarah B's story below. |
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As your commitment to ministry increases (through a change in your role, an increase in responsibility, even a deepened resolve to reach the unreached), invite your partners to increase their impact. Some have put it this way, "As my commitment to minister has deepened, it makes sense to invite you, my partner in ministry, to deepen your commitment as well by increasing your ministry impact." 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. |
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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. might be passionate about this ministry work. Don't be surprised by this attrition. ! Bless them and release them. It's part of the pruning process and it leads to a more vibrant and healthy team. |
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When reaching out , 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 invite them to consider an increase ask, or come out and own it during the call. (See Matt's story below) |
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What's my point here? Paint a pic for ongoing 1:1 connection after the increase ask. |
Practical Steps
The invitation to increase is the beginning of a deeper, more honoring connection with those who have decided to lock arms with you through financially supporting your ministry. Plan to thank those who deepen their investment. A few months later, reach out personally with a story of how their giving is making an impact. A few months after that, reach out to pray with them and connect personally. Wash, rinse and repeat this process over a number of years and you'll find you've nurtured a garden full of deep, honoring connection... connection that fills up and inspires both you and your supporter to press on toward the prize set before us in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:14). For more on why this matters and how to shift from "donors" to "ministry partners," we recommend Henri Nouwen's 8-chapter booklet, A Spirituality of Fundraising. |
Practical Steps
- Pray. Ask the Lord for guidance - including a goal and who He wants you to invite to increase. Specifically, ask Him to show you what 20 supporters He wants you to invest in and go deeper with this year.
- Connect with your MTD Coach to set up a strategy call. If you don't have an MTD coach or need a new one, email MTD@Reliant.org
- Write out 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 of your partners at a later date. Possible people to start with could be:
- Those who give a smaller amount, but their income has increased since they first started giving.
- Medium-top tier supporters. These people are usually "all-in" and will prayerfully consider an increase.
- Non-current supporters.
- Decide how to reconnect. Some choose to take a season of reconnecting before calling for increases. Others decide to use the increase ask call as a way to reconnect. See Matt's story below for one example.
Calculate your Intentional Gift Amount
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.) The steps below will lead you to an average gift based on your support goal.
Excerpt Include MTD "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.
- Block out chunks of time on your calendar for phone calls, follow-up & admin (sending emails, entering notes into your database, scheduling reminders, etc).
- Pick a script you like and rewrite in your own words
- Pull a monthly giving report. It's hard to know who increased if you don't have their original gift amount. Save yourself a headache later and download a copy of your monthly giving report before you begin asking supporters to increase.
- From StaffNet go to MTD/Recurring Gifts. Print or save for your records.
- PS - while you're there, look to see if you have any "Non-Current" giving (Status drop-down menu). If anyone is on this list, they might be the first to call. Useful scripts & steps found here: Calling Non Current Donors
- Set up MPDx to track this appeal. Here's how in MPDx.
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. Meet regularly with your MTD Coach for encouragement throughout the process.
Expand title Ways a supporter can change their recurring giving with Reliant. - Update giving on Reliant.org
- Log into the website
- Click the drop-down menu under your name (top right of the screen)
- Choose "Giving Dashboard." This will bring you to your recurring gifts.
- Choose "Make Changes."
- Enter the new recurring gift amount.
- Call Gift Services at
- Update giving on Reliant.org
- Pray. Ask the Lord for guidance - including a goal and who He wants you to call.
- Connect with your MTD Coach to set up a strategy call. If you don't have one or need a new one, email MTD@Reliant.org
- 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:
- Those who give a smaller amount, but their income has increased since they first started giving.
- Medium-top tier donors. These people are usually "all-in" and will prayerfully consider an increase.
- 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.
- Block out chunks of time on your calendar for phone calls/ admin/ follow-up.
- Pick a script you like and rewrite in your own words
- 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.
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.
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.
- 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.
Follow up!
ItIt often takes someone about 7x to hear a message before they act on it. If you haven't had at least 7 interactions
about givingwith your
donorsupporter about increasing, then it's time for follow-up, not frustration. Organize your database or calendar
with automatic remindersto automatically remind you 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
- Discover who gave and thank them .
- How to see who gave (expand) *Keva, see Pickens' description on how to find increases in giving
- Thank those who increase. The general standard is a hand-written thank-you card and a phone call. (Other ideas HERE.)
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 updating their giving online.
- Text the link to the login page your giving page and instructions on how to increase. (See #10)
- 3-way call with your supporter and Gift Services at 877-614-4600, between the hours of 8am-4pm, EDT, Mon-Fri.
- Supporter 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.
- Discover who gave and thank them .
- Pull a giving report at the end of each month to check for increases (See #8).
- Thank those who increase. The general standard is a hand-written thank-you card and a phone call. (Other ideas HERE.)
- Plan for ongoing connection
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 simply the launching point to invite further conversation, informed input and deeper connection.
You will discover everyone has a "poor" and a "rich." Our work, as the Body of Christ, is to minister to each other's "poor" out of our "rich." That wealthy supporter of yours also has a "poor." And you have a "rich." One-on-one connection allows you to discover these ministry opportunities and lean into them over time.
"Prayer letters are important, but they pale in comparison to one-on-one connections." - Greg, Reliant pastor for over 20 years. Greg has a regular rhythm of texting/calling supporters throughout the year. 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
Plan for ongoing connectionIf 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.
Calculate your Intentional Gift Amount
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.) The steps below will lead you to an average gift based on your support goal.
Testimonials
- 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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Table of Contents
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Additional Resources
Annual Stewardship Plan & Timeline
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