If you've ever gone on a mission trip you wrote one of these letters. If you know anyone that went on a mission trip, you received one of these letters. This is the simple piece of paper that asks you to give money to a friend or family member so that they can go on a mission trip. They are a staple of Christian life and I should practically apologize for how long it has taken me to address this subject.
The main problem is that for the last 30 years or so, we've all been sending out the same letter. Here is the basic outline:
1. Intro:
Two or three sentences of pleasantries, how are you, how are things on your end, boy it sure has been a hot summer/cold winter, do you think the mayor will do something about the geese problem, etc.
2. Here's what I've been up to:
Now that I've asked about you, let me tell you a little about me. Things are good, I'm staying busy with school/work/the flounder farm. One of the things I have started to get involved with more is my church.
3. Church Transition:
Whoa, speaking of church, I'm going on a mission trip this summer/spring/fall/winter. Few sentences about the place you are going, what you will be doing, etc.
4. Money Pitch:
The cost of the trip is $#,###. It would be great if you could support me and the church in this endeavor.
5. The Pretend You Don't Care about the Money Line:
You've just asked for money, so it's good to soften that hard sell with a sentence like, "Whether or not you are able to support the trip, I would greatly appreciate your prayers."
Maybe the letters you receive are completely different, but for the last 20 years, that is essentially the letter I have written and received. Until today.
In addition to starting what may be the largest "we named our kids after Lord of the Rings characters community," I thought it might be good to write the next mission trip fundraising letter you send out. You don't have to use it, but at the bare minimum it might give you some ideas. Anywhere you see "/" that's me trying to account for different situations. Simply choose the option that fits you best.
Let's go.
Dear _______,
I never write you letters.
That's a weird way to open a mission trip letter. My youth minister/pastor gave me a form letter to follow but that felt even weirder. The truth is that I don't write anyone letters and if I opened up this letter by pretending this is just the latest in a long chain of correspondence we've kept up oh these many years, that would feel as fake as when people run out of things to say and ask you questions like, "hot enough for you?" Wow, that was a really atrocious run on sentence, but I'm excited about this trip and I'm not going to let sentence structure stand in my way.
If I were you, I would probably be thinking, "_______ is going on a mission trip?" That's a completely fair thought. I keep asking myself that too. I'm not the first person people think of when it comes to feeding the hungry/helping the poor/working on a coconut farm. Plus, I'm so busy. School/work is really intense right now and this is not a good time to go on a mission trip. But I'm not sure if there is ever a "good time" to go on a mission trip. And I could probably come up with a list of reasons why I shouldn't go, but I keep coming back to the one reason I should – God loves people.
I've been trying to live that in the life I currently have. I mean it's easy to pray for far off places and far off people, but loving who you live and work with is a challenge. I've been trying to see my life as a mission field, not just this trip. And it's been cool to see the way God has used this new approach to everything from the way I tip at restaurants to the way I treat people in traffic. But now, it's time to take the things I've learned to a new longitude and latitude.
I'm going to _______ for ________days/weeks. Going wasn't a hard decision. When it comes down to it, Jesus laid out a pretty simple religion for us, didn't He? Love God, love others, and love ourselves. Nope, deciding to go was easy. Paying for it however, is a real challenge.
To be honest with you, I just don't have $#####, laying about the house, eating baked Tostito chips and watching soap operas. So, instead of selling my plasma 87 times, I decided to send letters to people I don't usually write and ask for something I don't usually ask for, money. I'd love if you could financially support me on this mission trip. A little, a lot, any would be great. And if you want to know more about the trip, please let me know and I will give you a call.
The one thing on the form letter I got from church that I agreed with was the request for prayer. If you could pray about the trip, that would be great. As much as God loves mission trips, other people don't. There will be a whole host of obstacles that pop up and entangle themselves around our ankles as we prepare to go love the people of ______. And knowing that you are praying would mean a lot to me.
Thanks for reading this rambling letter. I have included the form letter version as well in case you prefer a more traditional approach to the "can I please have some of your money" letter.
Sincerely, _________
P.S. If you do give, there's a good chance that you will be famous, or at least regionally famous because my friend Jon at Stuff Christians Like, God's favorite sarcastic Christian blog, will probably give you a shout out. I'm just saying, something to think about.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
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60 comments:
Could I tweak this and use it as a funding letter for our church plant? Because I'm pretty sure Pastor Jeff is running out of plasma...
My husband's step-mom is actually going on a mission trip in a few weeks, so we got a letter from her a while back. Surpriwsingly enough, it's a lot more like your letter than the traditional form letter:
-No fake, "we do this all the time" intro.
-Expression of shock that it's her who is going.
-The standard "where I'm going, what I'm doing" bit.
-Two paragraphs about how money would be nice because going to the Philippines isn't cheap, but more importantly she'd really appreciate prayer because she's a little scared to go, worldwide political situations change every day, and Satan just plain hates Christians who dare to step out and do something for God.
I think, when i go on a mission trip, I'm going to blend her letter and yours (mainly because I like your bit about the money eating Tostitos and watching Days). Of course, I will have to clean up that grammar, otherwise I'll twitch all the way to the P.O. ;)
Miss Hannah -
First of all, kudos to your husband's step-mom. It's always encouraging to hear that things are changing. Second of all, you are right, my grammar is atrocious at times. But since I am not fantastic at it, could you please shed some light on why you spelled the word "surprisingly" with a w in the middle of it? Is that Gaelic? Some form of Latin or perhaps how porky the pig from the cartoons would say it? I must confess that finding that delighted me. I suppose that makes our score 1 to 300, considering that you could easily count that many errors on the site.
Thanks for bringing so much additional fun to the site
Jon
haha! love it =)
LOL!!! i have to confess i find the traditional letters pathetic and i don't send money.
however, your more realistic approach in the missions trip letter would get a check from me without a doubt.
I think you should add:
P.S. My team leader is making me do this.
When i went to Mexico, i sent out a letter that was able to avoid most of the beginning part, but not the "i don't care about your money" part. i think i word-for-word quoted your "Whether or not you are able to support the trip, I would greatly appreciate your prayers" bit. It worked, though. Someone gave me their tax return (!) and a lot of other people gave. i ended up getting 3 times as much as i needed and two other people could go. i heart God for working that out for me.
Great letter, Jon. It actually reminds me of an idea for a post I got from my MOM when I was telling her about this site. She suggested youth group fundraisers as a topic - you know, carwashes, bake sales, etc. I, on the other hand, have an idea for a SCL dating site, but more on that later.
What a refreshingly honest and cut-through-the-meaningless-fluff version of the fundraising letter!
If someone sent me a letter like the one you wrote I'd send them at least $10 for not wasting my time. Or maybe a Wal-Mart gift card.
It's Gealic - I mean - a typo. :) I have to laugh at how often I make stupid mistakes like that on message boards when I am too lazy to reread my comments before submitting them. It makes it especially hilarious/embarassing when the comment in question addresses grammar and/or spelling issues. DFTBA,
-Hannah
I'm glad you touched on this one. The fundraising letter is appropriate and effective when done well (much like what you've written here).
But I have this one former coworker that handles this really badly, in my opinion. Instead of sending out low-pressure letters for his annual mission trip, he actually puts me on the spot and calls me every year asking for money (he finally stopped after 3 or 4 years when he realized it wasn't paying off from me). There are a couple of things about this that get me all riled up:
First is that since we used to work together, I know his ballpark salary, and I can say with complete confidence that a bachelor living on his salary with two roommates can afford to pay for his own mission trip, thankyouvermuch.
Secondly is that we were never really "friends" until he starting wanting money to go on these trips, and the ONLY time he gets in touch with me is around mission trip time every year. I'm not even a close enough aquaintance to be on his funny/annoying/ifyoulovejesus email forwards list.
All in all, it makes me feel like he's using me and whatever semblance of a former aqauintance-ship we had just to hit me up for money, and that frankly makes me indignant.
OK end of rant.
Please give definate permission to plagerize any or all of this letter. I had actually thought of doing something similar, but was talked into using the "standard" letter. Hence, lack of funds. I tried to tell them. But, no... they wouldn't listen!!
Back to yard/bake sales, it sounds like!! (and more plasma!!!)
Perfect.
Love it. I always do feel guilty when I don't give, but putting gas in my car has become a mission:)
This also reminds me of the annual Family Christmas Letter telling everyone how PERFECT life is and you think" What is wrong with me?"
my kids aren't honor students, I just hope they can kick the drug habit, I didn't get a diamond ring for my anniversary, we only only have 2 cars instead of 4 and poor Uncle Bubba just got sprung from the big house. Just Kidding!!!! But those letters do sound somewhat polished at times.:)
I am totally going to have my sister use that letter for her mission trip fund raising. Her trip is in about 2 months and the sponsors are freaking out because over all the trip is still about 2,000 dollars short. And some how I don't think Yale Plasma Services would let a bunch of high schoolers donate plasma. They could just send out your marvelous letter and I am pretty sure they would be in like flint.
First of all I loved the "honest" letter. We've been long-term missionaries for 14 years and this is refreshing.
One perspective missing in the posted comments, however is that there are some people who become your close friends through the process of supporting you.
Some of our best friends from our home church became our best friends after we went overseas. If we hadn't sent our first-year letters to them because they weren't close friends, both of our families would have missed out.
Thanks for making me smile; thanks for helping me remember to be authentic!
As a mission leader this summer, I only wish you had done this about weeks ago so I could have handed this form letter out to my team members. I think the best one I've ever seen was one that looked like the blanks were still on the paper, it was so obviously done....
Whoa how did you get a copy of my fundraising letter Jon? Pretty much word for word, apart from the tostito part. We don't eat those in Ireland.
This letter is great :)
Mine wasn't exactly a mission trip. Well not with my church anyhow, but it was a ministry, so my letter was more of a "you-would-be-helping-your-country" thing, which was of trueish, it was a 9-1-1 remembrance thing. My brother wouldn't let me read his last traditional money-begging letter, whish I'd had this one to model off!
Hi, my name is Helen and I am too lazy to sign in as anything but anonymous. Anyways, I think it is fine for teenagers who go on mission trips to use any form letter they like. After all, just a few years ago, weren't they being encouraged to write thank you notes which encouraged them to begin by asking their aunt how her rheumatism is doing? Besides, doing missionary work in poor communities can really help them to be grateful for what they have at a time in their lives when they are likely to compare themselves to people who have more, not less. I would be willing to sponsor a teenager if their mission letter was "give me money for a mission trip, please" written on a post it note!
But for an adult to use the form where they pretend we write to each other all the time is annoying. I think I would rather get the post it note from them. I might even contribute funds. Not one insincere word in the sentence!
The hardest thing about mission trip requests is that we send them to the same people in the same circle. If I've got one of these letters I've got 10.
The best way to get money for mission trips is to send them to your non-Christian, well-off neighbor/boss/friend. You should mention that you're going with your church, but don't get all churchy with it. These people don't mind giving to a good cause, but they get nervous when you get too churchy. You'll remind them of some televangelist. Just focus on your helping the kids in Africa. Only a person with a cold heart could say no to that.
I like letters that show what the church/ministry has been doing. It makes me feel a bit more comfortable about my sewing. I know I'm really giving to God and not the church/ministry, but hey I'm keeping it real. I've been a part of too many churches where there's been some integrity with the finances.
We usually get a few of these...at the same time I am trying to pay for my own trip.
We usually respond to the ones that offer to work for the money (and mean it). I know that they are supposed to learn that God will provide, but demonstrating that the trip means enough to you to earn it has merit too!
Great post!
Andrea-SCL dating site... good thoughts.
Jon, where were you when I was in college with this material? I still might rip it off anyway.
Jon,
As a missionary to the college campus who has to raise not just money for trips but money for my salary, this post was awesome.
I find the comments especially helpful, because I decidedly do not want to become that annoying guy who only hits people up once a year when I need some cash.
It is very disheartening, though, to hear people call other's (is that a word, Miss Hannah?) attempts at faith steps "pathetic," though. It took a step of faith for that person to mail you a letter, no matter how "form written" it was. Our western culture has demonized interdependence and asking for help.
The big issue, though, in my opinion (and I feel that five years of raising my salary plus 4 short-term trips of about $5,000 a piece gives my opinion a bit of weight) is the attitude and perspective of the asker. What I heard in your letter was asking (and tentatively, at that) for money. What I do in my letters, phone calls, and appointments is ask for partnership. I want people to join me, prayerfully and financially. You can't leave your job for a year and do outreach on the college campus. I can. Send me. And it sure would be nice if I could eat while I am there, so in sending me, could you send some cash?
If when I send out a letter for a short term trip and I feel bad about asking, I have one of a few things out of place... either I don't believe God has called me on the trip, or I don't believe that asking for money is biblical, or I am operating out of fear as opposed to faith.
We need (desperately) to realize that asking for money is extremely biblical (from the Levites in the OT all through the NT... the book of Philippians is a support letter) and the primary way God has funded his work in history. We also need to shift perspective from "begging for money" (as my dad says) to "challenging people to join with us and God in what he is doing on the college campus/in Puerto Rico/ on the coconut farm."
If you think any part of God's work in his people is "pathetic," you can keep your money. I want people with me who will encourage me even when my faith is weak, and I have to send out a letter that is form-written.
The neat part is, I am actually moving around the spectrum from "afraid to ask" toward "believing that God has called me here" and that it's OK to ask, and to challenge people to join with me. We just had our first child, and it's gonna be tough to feed him if I don't ask.
Great letter, man. I hope mission team leaders share it with their team members before they start raising money. Thanks for the laughs...
Hey Jon!
I really wish I'd read this post before I sent out my fundraising letters... awesome. Just... awesome.
I wanted to ask if you've read "Lamb" by Christopher Moore? It's a little blasphemous (okay, a lot blasphemous) but it tells the "untold" Gospel through sarcasm. (i.e. what Jesus was up to between the ages of 12 and 30). It is poignant and insightful in ways you wouldn't expect, and I think you would definitely appreciate the humor.
Also, I'm hoping you might want to do a post on this: http://www.newsweek.com/id/138347?GT1=43002
Keep up the good work! I love your site!
"Our western culture has demonized interdependence and asking for help."
Let the church say AMEN!! YOU'RE not asking for money. God is ... that is, if God has told you to go on the trip.
And I really like the concept of "partnering" with someone in their ministry. It's kinda like writing,
Dear ____, Aren't you crunk about what God is going to do through us in Africa?! *raise the roof*
Now the only way this works is if you report back to your partners post-trip. I helped two kids go to Japan a few months ago. I've yet to hear from them. No thank you note. Nothing. In the words of Whitney Houston - It's not right, but it's okay.
I'm dying here..........send a youth on TWO mission trips this summer......
Very funny... and yet sooo true. I have continuing fund raising and I always struggle with the letter writing because I don't want to sensationalize the work here, but life isn't exactly boring either. You could write a post about all the hype over revivals and numbers and the sappy articles in Christian magazines.
You could also try the short and sweet guilt trip/threat:
Dear so and so,
I'm going on a mission trip to _____. It's expensive. I'm poor. But ______ needs to be loved on because Jesus said so.
Please give me some money or /the starving kids will suffer/God won't love you anymore/I'll smack you in the face.
Sincerely,
_________
Too harsh? Maybe, but how often do you get to use the mission field as an excuse to slap someone? Not very, I'd wager...
Sweet Jon!
I am a career Missionary, You can get my name out there to.. :) theabbottjabber.com
I understand your point and got a laugh out of your alternate letter. However, having needed to help some of my kids raise the funds for mission trips, and having experienced a profound impact on my life from a short trip to Jamaica as a teen myself, I don't care what kind of letter I get from those who want to go. I will help them out. I think most self absorbed teens (and adults for that matter) need a good dose of the needy world.
I'm not sure who reads all the comments, if anyone at this pointe after 33 but here goes... and to top it off it turned out to be much longer than I'd planned.
I also need to add that I'm a different andrea than on a previous comment.
Our 17 year old daughter is going on a trip to Kenya this summer. She did not send "the letter" and felt particularly compelled that if she was meant to go, God would not want her write one of those letters. She started saving her birthday and Christmas money a year before this trip was even a dream knowing that she was going to Africa someday. She has diligently saved and those who love and believe in her and even random people that don't even know her all that well have given her money. The guy who teaches our son guitar gave lessons to him and asked that we put that lesson money into her Kenya trip account, she was given a Chi straight iron from someone who it wouldn't work on their hair because of it's texture. She was saving for that and those things cost over $100!
God has given this $3500 trip to her on a silver platter and she has no doubt that she is meant to go. What a great lesson and a journey it has been for her. She has been generously given hope that God is real so that she can generously share that hope in Kenya and for the rest of her life.
I know it may not always work this way but I am so grateful that it has for her. I just can't imagine writing one of those letters, the traditional or your version (yours is much better, though).
So back in high school I wrote a letter to a church family I actually knew really well. So rather than using the form letter, I said, kind of the honest, My youth pastor is making me ask you for money, I don't really want to but that's that.
Anyway, I didn't know he proof read these babies before hand! Yikes did I feel stupid. So you need to be careful of the always present possibility of the backfire.
"Our western culture has demonized interdependence and asking for help."
My church tried an experiment in this and had open offerings. (College fellowship) They passed around the basket and you could put anything in or if you were in great need take anything out while it was being passed around.
It's a scene right out of Acts with believers taking care of each other and we don't see it enough.
(also, I'm totally taking this letter) ;)
What IS the mayor going to do about the geese problem?
This is an excellent letter. I have indeed sent the form letter in the past (but in my defense, I was a teenager both times), but I like yours much better - at least, as long as it's true for the sender.
I am a Youth Pastor in Virginia. We are going on a missions trip at the end of the month, and I asked the students to write a fundraising letter. I am now ashamed to say that I gave them the standard. What a wonderful, honest letter, that I wish I would have come up with several times over.
Thanks,
Uncreative Youth Director
as one who has a missions letter floating out there in the :support me: universe....
HELP!!!!
my letter...a non traditional appraoch..still did not work....
i combined my support letter with the :i'm leaving a year after i was diagonised with cancer and God healed me and i have been given the oppurtuniy to share with the world (china) what God has done......
i have gotten some monies...
but not all that i need.....
i pulled every :heart string: that i can......
geeze
even through in some really cool :pray for us: scripture
I will ALWAYS support missions trips .. they touch the heart of the individual serving, you are never the same when you return and people are changed because you were willng to "Go ye therefore into all the nations".
I usually do not read the details, I see someone is willing to give up their time, lifestyle and comforts to go and serve those who have nothing and I say, "Praise the Lord" and I send my check.
Be the support letter what they may ~ horrible or delightful ~ it is the HEART that matters.
ROFL - I am a professional fundraiser (still waiting for capital campaign names in a post) who gets asked to help write these letters. I've written my own and have cringed every time. On my last mission trip, I ate beans and rice for 9 months and paid for it all myself, rather than ask for $.
As someone who is in the midst of fund raising, I really enjoyed reading the letter--and although I know the stereotypes all too well, fund raising IS all about relationships. People have to understand that it's not just about hitting people up for money, but it's about getting others involved in the ministry, and opening up an opportunity for an ongoing relationship. While I liked the letter, I think I'll stick with something more like the standard (with a little more sincerity like the tweaked version),followed up by a phone call. =)
just linked your blog from the Livesay site. great stuff. irreverant enough to make Tara Livesay look prudish! I am going to Haiti for at least 9 months maybe forever. I am planning a fund raising letter, and I like your style. I might not make friends with it, but then again maybe I will make real friends. anyone who is this sarcastic has to have great spiritual awareness. keep it up!
dan j
Oh, and another thing. The reason the traditional approach might work better is because people know what it is.
The most likely reason that humbledheart's letter didn't recieve a response? Because nobody read it. Sad to say it, but 3/4 of the battle is leaving enough white space on the page so that our ADD, distracted-by-shiny-stuff culture will actually take the time to read it. And let's face it, we all skim when we are reading the mail, on our best days.
The traditional letter is culturally identifiable. A two page, rambling letter will just not get read, sad to say.
These are the things that missionaries have to think about when we write letters. Be honest, express a need, show that you are passionately called and motivated by God, ask boldly, and do it all in three paragraphs that are two sentences apiece.
And no matter how correct our perspective is on asking, there is always a Monday morning quarterback in the crowd that talks about how Paul made tents, and we should too, and stop "begging for money." Then they critique our grammar, our choice of envelope and our stamp. ("should have used bulk mail postage and saved some money...")
And I shake the dust off my feet, and move on, praying that someone out there cares enough about the lost to send in a check so that my child can eat while I share the gospel.
I love it..its great ...when I have lead mission trips I have always tried to make the students keep everything real with their donors...I wish i could use your idea for what I am raising for...its alot bigger than a missions trip! haha
I totally wrote one of these one time and got ZERO support. How embarassing.
I'm pretty sure I would give twice as much money to someone with this letter than the standard. THREE times as much if they actually included the pastor's form letter too! (that's my favorite part.) it's so... honest. :)
My favorite is when people send fundraising letters and then tell me about how they just bought the newest DVD set of their favorite TV show, or some snazzy present for their significant other. It makes me think, "You can afford those things, but not putting some funds toward your own ministry that you are supposedly passionate about?" And then I spend a while wondering whether that's a legitimate concern or whether I'm just way too judgmental. Probably the answer is yes.
this is great!!
I posted this letter on my blog
gave you full credit
but filled in the blanks...
Okay. I am being sent on a mission trip, and I remembered this blog from a long time ago. I really like it.
Are you serious when you say we can use it?
this is by far my favorite post. hysterical. i laughed out loud so many times.
i love your letter - i have to come up with one for myself right now because i'm trying to go to Bolivia for 6 months. yeah. need money. haha but i HATE those letters...ahh..gotta love asking for money from people you don't talk to much! haha
I find it very sad when I get these "letters" from people in our church who never give me the time of day on Sunday morning. My wife and I got one of these letters from the Pator's daughter some time back. She never attends any of the church groups, never greets any visitors to our church, never hands out tracks in the nearby city, etc, etc. I would have more respect for her if she sent us a letter saying: "I would like to go on this exotic trip free of charge by having members of my father's church flip the bill".
I find it very sad when I get these "letters" from people in our church who never give me the time of day on Sunday morning. My wife and I got one of these letters from the Pator's daughter some time back. She never attends any of the church groups, never greets any visitors to our church, never hands out tracks in the nearby city, etc, etc. I would have more respect for her if she sent us a letter saying: "I would like to go on this exotic trip free of charge by having members of my father's church flip the bill".
I think Prodigal Jon's sample is a great improvement on the traditional letters he describes. But ideally, any form letter is falls short of an individualized letter written specifically for each person you are approaching. Yes, it's tedious crafting separate letters for separate people, but it's worth it.
And I hope anyone who is receiving donations from their letters is following up with a prompt thank-you letter and then at least one letter from the mission trip that describes how the supporter's money is making a difference.
Hi! Just wanted you to know that I recently sent out a support letter for a trip I'm going on in August to Uganda. I didn't like all of the form letters so I browsed around on the internet a bit and found yours and I used it!
I've read your site off and on since last year and love it so it was funny when google brought me back here.
Thanks for the great idea!
Different person from above!I appreciate your humor and boldness.I'm going on a mission to Honduras in June.I have been left with the responsibility(yeah,iknow i spelled that wrong)of raising the funds to go.I hate having to send out the standard letter,but I'm not that bold!Thanks to all the people who commented;I am now eager and more ready to write my own letter.
Oh! what about this formula:
The cost of my trip is $2000. If just two of you give $250, ten of you give $100, six of you give $50...
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