Brochures and DVDs are typically my two favorite whipping boys for what’s wrong with our fundraising programs. Nonprofits spend way too much time and money on them and frequently mistake a good brochure for a fundraising program.
So when I find a brochure I actually like, it’s a rare day indeed.
But I actually like this Hand_in_Hand_brochure from Joshua and Kelly Hallahan, missonaries with World Gospel Mission.
The Hallahans have done a nice job spelling out the covenantal nature of the relationship that I like to see typifying Engagement-level relationships with champions. In addition to listing resources about missions for the champion to read and study (with the assumption being that by partnering with the Hallahans the champion is committing to a path of growing maturity and involvement in missions), the Hallahans spell out how they intend to partner withthe champion, specifically:
· We will pray for your missionary efforts in your corner of the globe. Keep us posted!
· We will help you figure out what God is calling you to do in relation to your own missions service.
· We will hold you accountable to what God is calling you to do for missions in your own life.
· We will keep in touch, serving as your mutual accountability partners related to missions.
· We will come teach your small group or Sunday School class about being missions-active.
· If you are already involved in a mission of your own we would love to come serve with you!
I even like the picture on the front with the couple holding hands. As opposed to the
Fundraising Success magazine cover that I wrote about last week that portrayed the nonprofit as a cowboy and the donor as a cow, this brochure bravely and boldly portrays the relationship between missionary and champion as an intimate and even affectionate one. It’s a really nice touch.
…
We’re going to be focusing on the subject of how to develop an explicit accountability covenant with your champions in our June/July Mission Increase Foundation workshop sequence on
lapsed and jilted donors. (Such covenants can be instrumental in helping you reconnect with lapsed champions.) Make sure to
sign up now, as our workshops start next week.
…
(And if you can’t make the workshop, keep your eye out in the MIF
store for the DVD, which should be available mid-summer.)
About Pastor Foley
The Reverend Dr. Eric Foley is CEO and Co-Founder, with his wife Dr. Hyun Sook Foley, of Voice of the Martyrs Korea, supporting the work of persecuted Christians in North Korea and around the world and spreading their discipleship practices worldwide. He is the former International Ambassador for the International Christian Association, the global fellowship of Voice of the Martyrs sister ministries. Pastor Foley is a much sought after speaker, analyst, and project consultant on the North Korean underground church, North Korean defectors, and underground church discipleship. He and Dr. Foley oversee a far-flung staff across Asia that is working to help North Koreans and Christians everywhere grow to fullness in Christ. He earned the Doctor of Management at Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management in Cleveland, Ohio.
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