Vision, Mission and Your team

You’ll be successful if you faithfully do the best you can with what you have

The 2021 Australian National Church Life Survey asked church attenders whether their church had a clear vision, goals or direction for its ministry and mission, and if they were committed to that vision.

68% of church attenders said they are aware of their local church’s vision, goals and directions and are partly or strongly committed to them.

Read the article on this here

How does that compare to your team?

Does everyone know the Vision and Mission of your ministry? Are they all strongly committed to it?

Because in ministry, 68% isn’t going to be good enough!

To be a winning rowing team you need everyone, 100% of your team, pulling in the same direction perfectly in sync with everyone else on the team. And they need to listen and follow the rhythm set by the Cox, drummer or whoever is setting the beat for the rowing.

If one person starts rowing to their own beat the race is over and there is a good chance of capsize.

This analogy serves to show why it is so important that you, as leader, are constantly inspiring your team with the Vision and Mission of why your ministry exists.

It is when we all pull together that our canoe goes the fastest and the straightest – that’s a winning team!

Record Your Donor Details

Here is a simple Excel spreadsheet as a starting place for recording your donor details.

Download

Read a little more on CRM systems.

CRM Software

There are literally hundreds of options for a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system for your ministry. There are some free options but usually they are limited to a short time or a small number of records.

One truly Free option worth exploring is TNTConnect

As CRM software is a rapidly changing field you are probably best to do your own search. But before you do here are some questions you should consider. Start by thinking about Strategy.

  • Are you doing agressive donor acquisition or more focussed on retention activity?
  • What Details do you want to store? For Who? Donors, Customers, Volunteers?
  • Where do you want to house your data? Locally? Cloud?
  • How many donors do you need to manage?
  • What questions do you need reports on?
  • How many people will need access to your donor details on a daily basis?
  • What other systems do you need to work with? eg email lists, websites, events, social media?
  • How will you manage Privacy and Security?

More Fundriasing Tips here…

Monthly Support

I was excited to see that Tomu has begun building Fiji’s Monthly Support strategy. Because building a robust monthly support program is crucial for...

read more

Are you ready for the new year?

There is only one person who can make (or break) this year for you – that’s YOU! What is your fundraising strategy? If you are happy with the amount of donations your ministry is receiving then, great - keep doing what you’re doing. But if not, then perhaps something...

You gotta Ask!

Ok, that’s out in the open. 😊 If you want to get donations for your ministry, you have to ask. I’ll come back to this in just a mo, but first it is important to remember that the Ask is only Step 1 in a 3-step process. Step 1 – Ask Step 2 – Thank Step 3 – Report You...

Finding New Board Members

Recently the Non Profit Times published the following helpful advice on their website regarding where to look for new Board members.  You can read it for yourself at  www.thenonprofittimes.com The Plan To Replace Board Members “The first step is to consider to whom...

Gardening

Before you get to enjoy your harvest of fruit and vegetables you first prepare the soil, then you plant seeds. But that’s not all, you have to make sure you tend and water often, otherwise the young plants will wither and die. If you want to harvest fruit and...

Fundraising is not all up to you

Time and time again a reading in The Word for Today provides us a really good reminder of how fundraising for our ministry is actually in God's hands. We can often worry that it is all up to us to get people to donate and if they don’t we take it as a bit of a...

Everyone Loves a Success Story

So share! Share the stories you hear about people being positively impacted by your ministry. Share about any 'wins' you've had. Give God all the Glory Thank your donors/partners for being the ones who made it happen, because of their prayers and faithful...

How are your fundraising plans coming along for this year? 

The other day I read the following on www.futurefundraisingnow.com and thought it worth sharing as it applies to our letters, emails, on air appeals, and face to face communication. 4 Game-Changing hints for Powerful Fundraising Remember to talk to your donors, NOT at...

Monthly Support

I was excited to see that Tomu has begun building Fiji’s Monthly Support strategy. Because building a robust monthly support program is crucial for any charity aiming to achieve long-term sustainability and impact. Here are 7 reasons why you should invest your time...

Fundraising Leaders

And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written:  “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.”  Now he who...

Change it up for the New Year

On a scale of 1 – 10 where 1 is “Terrible” and 10 is “100% Successful” where would you rate your ministry’s fundraising efforts in 2022? This is actually a good question to talk about with your leadership team.  Because, unless you gave yourself a 9 or 10, then you...

Your journey of Continous Improvement

We highly recommend you sign up for the FREE Tactical Thursday's webinar series. We believe you will find it is a very valuable resource for you and your local fundraising efforts. Sign up here... In a recent session they explained the Virtuous Circle.  The concept of...

Visionathon: We’re Here to Help!

  Visionathon is Vision’s biannual fundraiser that celebrates the power of faith, hope, and love. It’s a time when we all come together to support our mission of spreading the Gospel throughout Australia and beyond, and helping people look to God daily.  During...

Sometimes it’s actually Not That Hard!

At times we can all be guilty of not doing something because we 'think' it is going to be too difficult. But often times we just need to give it our best shot. Or, to quote sports apparel giant Nike, ... We need to overcome the Paralysis of Analysis When I travel I...

The Word for Today Distribution and Messaging

Ian and Grant had the opportunity to encourage some of the volunteers from our UCB Fiji team that will be distributing The Word for Today 2025 edition. They provided some very practical advice in preparing to give these out to the people locally. Hope you get...

Monthly Support

I was excited to see that Tomu has begun building Fiji’s Monthly Support strategy. Because building a robust monthly support program is crucial for any charity aiming to achieve long-term sustainability and impact. Here are 7 reasons why you should invest your time...

R&D

If your ministry is flourishing and growing and you are happy with the results of your fundraising activity, great!   Why not share with us what you are doing so others can learn. If however, your ministry needs more donations to facilitate growth, then read on... The...

Story Telling as Part of Your Radio Appeal

By Ian Worby CEO UCB Asia Pacific Part of my role in helping Vision Christian Media when they have their two radio appeals each year called Visionathon is that I am The Story Teller. I tell faith-building and inspiring stories from the past of how God and others...

Getting Donations 101

Fundraising guru Jeff Brooks says "Donors don't give to support organisations or programs: they give to make something happen" Trouble is, as fundraisers we tend to think in terms of programs and organisations. Often we are facing a financial challenge so can be very...

Everyone Loves a Success Story

So share! Share the stories you hear about people being positively impacted by your ministry. Share about any 'wins' you've had. Give God all the Glory Thank your donors/partners for being the ones who made it happen, because of their prayers and faithful...

Get out of the Way!

As much as possible you want to connect your supporters action directly to the changed life. Eg "Your gift today of $60 will feed 10 children" not "Donate $60 to our ministry and we will be able to feed 10 children" or "You donation today gives someone, who cannot...

Fundraising is not all up to you

Time and time again a reading in The Word for Today provides us a really good reminder of how fundraising for our ministry is actually in God's hands. We can often worry that it is all up to us to get people to donate and if they don’t we take it as a bit of a...

Monthly Support

I was excited to see that Tomu has begun building Fiji’s Monthly Support strategy. Because building a robust monthly support program is crucial for any charity aiming to achieve long-term sustainability and impact. Here are 7 reasons why you should invest your time...

Changes in Africa – Brenda Uwubuntu

Watch this great video from Brenda Uwubuntu that was recently shown at the CMAA Conference 2022 - Truth Goodness Beauty. Brenda shares about the change that she is seeing in Africa's Media ministries and supporters as well as some amazing things that God is doing in...

Fundraising Leaders

And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written:  “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.”  Now he who...

Thank you – two small words with huge impact.

In a recent email Tom Ahern referred to Thanking Donors as the “Secret Sauce” for your fundraising efforts.  He went on to talk about the importance of thanking sincerely and thanking fast. In fact there is evidence that if you personally thank a first time donor...

How are your fundraising plans coming along for this year? 

The other day I read the following on www.futurefundraisingnow.com and thought it worth sharing as it applies to our letters, emails, on air appeals, and face to face communication. 4 Game-Changing hints for Powerful Fundraising Remember to talk to your donors, NOT at...

Value Small Gifts

Something from Bob Gass that applies 100% to Fundraising Don’t belittle your gift ‘Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.’ Ephesians 3:20 Next time you see a big oak tree, remind yourself that it began as a tiny acorn. What...

“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it”

“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it” do the best you can with what you have and see how your ministry grows.

Getting to know your Donors

Why record details? Did you know that it costs more, and you have to work a lot harder, to get a first donation from someone than it is to get the second or third or… donation? That is why there is so much emphasis put on what fundraisers call ‘Donor Retention’. So...

Change it up for the New Year

On a scale of 1 – 10 where 1 is “Terrible” and 10 is “100% Successful” where would you rate your ministry’s fundraising efforts in 2022? This is actually a good question to talk about with your leadership team.  Because, unless you gave yourself a 9 or 10, then you...