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We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: your home assignment has the capacity, when properly understood and planned for, to breathe new life, courage, and conviction into your soul that enables years of fruitful work. On the flip side, because of poor expectations (dreading it or imagining America will be some new-creation utopia), it has the capacity to disappoint, frustrate, and wear you down as you spend several months away from your new home, living like a nomad, becoming disoriented by how your friends and church have changed. We want the first narrative to be your story, and to that end there are several resources you should check out.
- “Home Assignment” course in LEARN
- Furlough planning timeline
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There are two key questions you must answer before embarking on this season of MTD: 1) How much do I need to raise?, and 2) When do I need it?” We are talking about specific, concrete goals. “As much support as we can get,” is true for nearly any missionary, but infinity makes for poor communication and vision as you lead your partners into the next season of ministry.
Setting a specific date is just as crucial as a specific amount. When do you need it? “Right away! Any time!” These answers may be true, but are just as unhelpful as not communicating a clear dollar amount. A ministry partner needs to know “when?”, if they are to respond with any sort of urgency. Back to Jeff. He’s found that he’ll be able to cut away from full-time ministry responsibilities in mid-April and has most of the summer set aside for MTD. He’s hoping he can meet his goals by the end of June, but isn’t sure. In order to communicate a clear deadline for donors, however, he chooses July 15 as his deadline. This gives an urgent window of time, but leaves enough space so that potential partners don’t delete an old email because they think the date has passed. Jeff writes further, “In order to return to full-time ministry, we need to meet this goal by July 15.” Resources
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There are several categories of contacts to consider as you step back in MTD and, depending on the time you plan to give to MTD, prioritizing whom to give priority will be crucial. Here are some categories to consider:
Depending on your experience in ministry and your freedom to travel, we recommend the following orders of priority: Full-time Staff, more than four years since initialMore than Four Years since Initial MTD
Less than Four Years since Initial MTD
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We use the term “partner” frequently around here, but the reality is that partners don’t happen automatically but through relationships of trust. And one of the most significant ways to build trust is through consistent communication. Donors passively sit on the sidelines, and we fear that they will withdraw funding if they see ineffectiveness or something they do not like in the ministry. Partners, on the other hand, have a sense of ownership or stake in the ministry. Even though they are not on the frontlines, they see challenges as problems of their own — ones they want to help solve. A missionary who thinks of their ministry team as “donors” may think of them as the opposing team, to be played with good strategy and a fear of loss. However, thinking of them as “partners” puts them on the same team, and each partner becomes a possible ambassador for our funding. To engage and activate our partners’ participation with the full-time MTD push, we need to communicate early, concretely, and regularly through the process:
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Prioritize your ask according to your needs and who you are contacting.
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The people most committed to your ministry are those who have already invested time, money, or emotional energy to it. The partners who are committed to financially supporting your ministry every month are invested in you, want to see you flourish, and therefore are unlikely to be offended by a strong ask. If they can’t say yes, they likely wish they could. Therefore, aim high when you invite a current partner to increase their giving. Don’t begin with an ask to increase by $10 each month; this is too low. For instance, consider your total goal. If you have a 50% yes rate for current partners, this would be not nearly enough. Of course, consider past increases as this may not be effective for a partner who has already increased in the last year or two. Recommended: Ask all partners to double their currently current monthly commitment. Not all will be able to consider this, but you can always graciously ask for a lower amount. Many will say yes, especially if they understand your total need and the date you need it by. “In order to meet this goal, would you consider doubling your monthly gift to Reliant? You have been a valuable part of this ministry team, and rather than continue to expand the team I would love to invest more deeply. In whatever way God leads, I have been thrilled to see the fruit that has abounded from our partnership together, and look forward to continuing that in the years to come!” |
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When asking for connections with those you have previously asked this, be sure to:
Resource“Getting Connected to Others” course in LEARN |
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