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- Pray. Ask the Lord to show you areas in your MTD that you've been scared to lean into. Ask Him what repentance looks like in this area for you.
- Circle back around. After you meet with a referral, always go back to the people who referred you; Tell them how it went and ask them to introduce you to others. "Who do you know that I should know?"
- This is essential; especially for social mavens. A maven won’t give you all their contacts the first time you ask; they won’t even give you their good contacts on the first attempt. They’ll give you 1-2 easy connections to test out how you will steward that relationship. They're waiting to see how it goes before they'll give their really good contacts. So, please, go back to that person, tell them how it went, and ask for more contacts! It's perfectly ok to do this a handful of times with the same person; especially if their connections are yielding great results.
- Sample script: “Thank you so much for introducing me to Caleb! We had such a great time getting to know each other. It was amazing that (mention a common connection or something they liked about your ministry). He was so excited about the ministry he's already come out to one of our student Bible study nights. I have to ask: what other "Calebs" do you know? Maybe in the last few weeks, the Lord brought someone else to mind who might be interested in hearing about this ministry? I’d love to meet with them! Who do you know that I should know?”
- Do-overs. Make a list of people you met with early on in your support-raising process and didn't ask for connections (or didn't do the ask well). Pick a few of those people to reach out to and "redo" your ask for connections.
- Top 3 donor traits. Make a list of your top donors: those who give $100+ monthly or those who give $1,200+ annually. Ask the Lord to show you the commonalities between these groups. You're looking for 2-3 traits. Note: these tend to be traits they exhibited when they first started giving to your ministry. For example, people who work in the tech or digital marketing space, people who have a child in high school or college, people who have been on a trip to (your area of ministry).
- Bring those 2-3 traits in your ask for connections. For example, The people who tend to get the most excited about what I'm doing and want to come alongside me to help me make this happen are: those who work in tech or digital marketing, those who (trait 2), those who (trait 3). [then make the ask for each individual group] Who do you know in tech or digital marketing that I should know? Who do you know in (trait 2) that I should know? Who is (trait 3), that you want to introduce me to? (See Names Ask - Karl K. for a more detailed description of this as well as additional scripts.)
- If they can't/won't think of any names, ask "Who do you know that I should know?"
- If they're still having trouble coming up with a connection, ask: "Who is just one person that you think I should meet? Maybe it's the person that came to mind when we first started talking about this."
- Think through who are your networkers/ social mavens. Ask for a 15-minute call with them to namestorm just three people they could introduce you to. "Who do you know that I should know?"
- Namestorm again. You've met new people. Relationships have changed. Revisit the namestorming process. Is there anyone you've met in the last 3-6 months that you could engage with? Reference your social media friend lists. You might be surprised by how many new names you can come up with.
- Mine your data. Go through your entire MTD database and make an action step for each person.
- Offer to guest speak at small groups. Ask partners to set up a time for you to come and speak to their small group, Sunday School class or Bible study. In our virtual world, this is really easy to do and it's a great way to be introduced to a handful of people all at once. The group is usually delighted to have a missionary show up and give a talk. The goal of this small group talk is to share testimonies and encouraging stories from the mission field and to get connected with people who the Lord may lead to partner with you in the work. Don't plan to do an ask at this type of meeting. You'll follow up, one on one, to book an appointment so you can share a deeper vision, hear the donor's heart and invite them to partner with the ministry. (more about this here: Group MTD Meetings - the Laurent's Strategy)
- Donor-hosted events. Think of five partners to host a small dinner or dessert in their home where you're able to meet some of their friends and family. This one is more "old school" and can be tough to do during pandemic lockdowns. So, tuck it away for a time where in-person meetings are more available. The goal of this dinner or dessert is to share testimonies and encouraging stories from the mission field and to get connected with people who the Lord may lead to partner with you in the work. Don't plan to do an ask at this type of meeting. You'll follow up, one on one, to book an appointment so you can share a deeper vision, hear the donor's heart and invite them to partner with the ministry.
- Go local. Contact local friends you have been putting off contacting. Many will be interested in hearing about your ministry. International missionaries: This is also something for you to consider when you're in-country!
- Resurrect ghost referrals. Sometimes we get referrals that don't respond to our attempts to connect. We tend to personalize this and think it's because they don't want to meet. All too often it's not the correct phone number or it's an old email address. Assume something like this if there is no response. Go back to the person who referred. Check to make sure the contact info is correct. If so, ask for their help connecting with the individual.
- Referrer hosted meetings. Since most of our meetings are virtual now, it's easy for the person making the introduction to pop into your meeting for the first 10-15 minutes. They can introduce you to the referral and (my favorite part) introduce your ministry and why they are involved in it (this gives you a peek inside your donor's minds like nothing else can! It's wonderful!). Give a few of these ideas a try and see if they create some new energy for your MTD!
Pick three from this list to start with. Need encouragement to get started? Talk with your MTD coach or find a call night buddy.
Cheering you on!
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