Why Asking Individuals Matters: The Biblical and Strategic Foundation

Why do missionaries raise support from individuals?

In this episode, Jenn Fortner and Josh Sears explain why individual partnership is foundational to becoming funded & sent. Research shows that most charitable giving comes from individuals, and personal asks are far more effective than mass emails or letters.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

What's up, everybody? Hello. Hi. I am coming at you from a sunny day in Springfield, Missouri, with my friend Josh.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

And we are also a sunny day, but in Brazil.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

Yeah. You're in Brazil. I'm in Springfield. Um, but we are the fully funded podcast with Jen and Josh, and we are coming at you today talking about. Well, let me ask you this. Let's start with our question. Okay. I like what if what if I told you, Josh? Hear me out. Okay. Are you listening? What if I told you that sending 200 emails? Okay. 200 emails will get you the same result as having a coffee with six people. And that's research.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

I would say on the face of it, that seems ludicrous.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

I mean, it doesn't seem like that that's that's that would be possible. I mean, 200 to 6, like that seems like just a wild no, I think maybe you're pulling the numbers out of the sky though, Jen.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Well, that's research from uh the Harvard Business Review. And as we get into it, today we are going to be talking to you about why asking individuals is important to incorporate into your overall strategy. So when it comes to support raising, why do we ask individuals for support? And why is that important to incorporate into your strategy? So that is why we are here today, Josh. And let me qualify the word individual, because a lot of people have some, well, what do you mean by individual? I mean by individual, people that you already know, love, and trust in your life. Okay. So that is what we're talking about today. When we say the word individual, that's what we mean.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

Somebody talking about individuals like knocking on the door, like the Girl Scout selling cookies. That's not the kind of individual support raising we're talking about here.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

No, we are talking about asking motto e moto, person to person, if they would come alongside of your ministry and support you at an ongoing month or sorry, an ongoing amount per month. That is why we're um what are talking about whenever we talk about individuals. So what do you think? Why do we talk, why do we incorporate individuals into our strategy, Josh?

SPEAKER_00 2:28

I mean, to be honest, the reason why we incorporate individuals, like Sophella, we talked about last time, right? I kind of give you my experience, right? Starting back in 2007. 2007, Josh started with churches and was like, that's where the money's at. Like I'm just gonna go talk to churches, or I'm gonna send out 300 letters to everyone that I know and just see what happens. Listen, that's a terrible strategy. It's just not something that's gonna be feasible, and it's not something that lines up with the legitimate statistics of how fundraising works, right? I mean, there's a reason why we're presenting individuals. And when you look at it, in our own organization, if you look at it, associates who associate global workers who are out there working for you know one to two years, when they raise their budget the first time, 60% of their budget comes from individuals. That's just pure numbers. That's our own organization. It is a lot.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

That's a lot. That is over the majority. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

It is. Only 20% comes from churches. And so that's already three to one that we're looking at there. I mean, you literally cannot do this process without having individuals a part of it. Did you know, Jay, that in 2023, Americans gave$550 billion to charities?

SPEAKER_01 3:42

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 3:43

That's a lot of money.

SPEAKER_01 3:44

That seems like a lot. Yeah, that's a lot of money.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

$150 billion was to religious organizations.

SPEAKER_01 3:49

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

Okay. 67% of that was given by individuals. So what did that tell you?

SPEAKER_01 3:57

But by individuals, meaning individuals individuals gave 67% of those are individuals that gave not corporations or organizations. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

That was mom and dad down the street, that was Uncle Joe, that was Aunt and Aunt Michelle, who were giving through an online platform to a religious organization, through a charity,$150 billion.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

67%. Or as my son would say, 6-7.

SPEAKER_00 4:26

Six seven, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

Uh I he's he's uh he just turned eight. Um, so yeah, anyway. Prime age for that.

SPEAKER_00 4:38

There you go.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Yeah, I just digressed.

SPEAKER_00 4:39

Um but a hundred billion dollars, a hundred billion dollars by individuals is is crazy. That's a lot of money.

SPEAKER_01 4:45

Yeah, it really is. Um yeah, that's wild, Josh, when you think about it over the major the majority of our global workers that are what we call missionary associates, um, over 60% of their support come from individuals. And then if you look at it from the global population um giving, and 67% uh um of gifts come from individuals. And what I have seen as a coach in the last 13 years um in the area of sport raising is that number has only gone up and up and up. Um I believe this is a little bit old, but right around the pandemic, um, we did a a study as well in AG or somebody's a god uh World Missions did a study and looked at some of the metrics of our giving. Um, and it was individual giving was going up to the tune of uh 22% within five years. And church giving was going down a negative one percent, which doesn't doesn't feel like a lot, but that actually equates to millions and millions of dollars.

SPEAKER_00 5:54

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

Uh the trend is going only northward or upward um in individual giving. And that is something that if you are not incorporing incorporating individuals into your overall strategy, I do believe that that is going to do be a disservice over um the long haul. So and a lot of organizations, honestly, these days, you know, we'll have people probably listening to this going, oh, I didn't think that there was anybody else to ask. So um so many more people. With assemblies of God, we we are so lucky and that we have a very robust um church population, like our church congregations give to overseas missions, and they give a lot and to foreign missions and to domestic ministries, they do so much to give our fellowship with assemblies of God. And not everybody falls under that umbrella. So they're thinking, well, yeah, Jen and Josh, like of course we're gonna ask, you know, individuals for support. But I think it's important to note for our demographic and our like um, you know, our people with assemblies of God, some of them are like, no, you ask churches, you don't ask individuals because that sounds scary. Um so anyway, we're kind of working with both here and kind of seeing.

SPEAKER_00 7:09

But if you look at it, I mean, if you if it's say that you you have a church and you have a church you attend, let's say the church you attend is 150 people, right? And you're gonna ask and step on that platform and give a presentation and ask from the platform for people to invest. You you get one chance on on that week because you're there for that one service and you may have that that five-minute window, but yet there are 150 people in your church family that are each individual that you potentially have the opportunity to connect with and ask. And that's 150 opportunities to one. That's such a different thing. And then it's not even included the people in your neighborhood, the people at your work or whatever. But what's the most successful way, Jen? Like, so I'm asking, right? So, like, so what I just send them a letter and and and say, great, I hope they respond to a letter.

SPEAKER_01 7:57

Well, I mean, and that's it, I think success rates by method really matter. So if you look at it, the most relational approach is going to be the best means of um walking through asks with individuals. And that's what we're gonna outline as time goes on, too. And we're gonna devote specific um episodes to the overall process um with individuals and what is sort of tried and true in support raising training um therein as we ask individuals. But really, if you could blanket it with one word that really sticks out as the overall strategy, if you could use one word, break it down with one word, it's relationship. Absolutely. How if you are honoring and you are moving the relationship like forward and you are keeping that in mind as you are asking, we are not doing sales, we are not asking people to do something that they're not interested in, we're not trying to manipulate. There's nothing to it but biblical asking is honoring and moving forward in relationship with individuals that are in our lives. So if we are doing that, we are overall success, like being successful. But I will say too, research shows that the more um relationship that is behind your ask, the better. So bulk mail appeal or mass letters, there's a one to three percent success rate. Then if you jump into like a segmented uh mass appeal, um mail appeal. So if you're saying, you know, sending uh if I'm sending you Josh and Lisa, you know, something in the mail that says, hey, give me money, um, two to seven percent response rate and then a um appeal and a newsletter. So if I'm giving you a newsletter like, you know, six, six times a year, like once every other month or something like that, and I ask there, it's a less than one percent response rate for that. But then if you do a like, if I mail you something and then I follow it up with a phone call, oop, there's a relational component there. And I'm actually like asking you um, you know, in person to some degree, at least on the phone, that jumps up to a 50 to 75% response rate. That's a huge jump. Then, Josh, if I ask you in person, so if we are um sitting across from the table with one another and I'm asking uh you and Lisa to hop on my support team and uh and give monthly, that yields a 75 to 90% response rate.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 10:30

So that reward relationship is not only because we want to honor the Lord as we do this, but it's also what works when it comes to asking individuals for support.

SPEAKER_00 10:41

So yeah And that's where you get that two that's where Harvard gets that 200 emails compared to six face-to-face conversations. I mean, 33 to one. That's crazy, right? So for every one conversation, that's 33 letters, which at the cost of stamps, a face-to-face appointment at a Starbucks is cheaper than 33 letters.

SPEAKER_01 11:01

Yes, yes. So it goes, it kind of goes in that relation, like that hierarchy of warmth of relationship is kind of how I like to outline that. Is the one-on-one face-to-face appointment is going to always be the best way to ask somebody for support. And then it can drop down to like a small group discussion. So, say you and I are like in a small group together. Um, you and Lisa and I and Zach, my husband, are all the same small group together, and I talk to our small group about um, you know, jumping on my support team. That's going to be number two. So face-to-face and then small group discussion, and then large group discussion, which would be standing in front of a church and doing an appeal. That's the third, and then a phone, then a handwritten letter, and then it goes down to, you know, all of the different types that are like shoved down into text messages and DMs and all of that kind of stuff. So all of that.

SPEAKER_00 11:50

Which all that is like less than 5% effective. So it's not a it's not an effective use of time, really.

SPEAKER_01 11:55

Yeah. So really when you think about asking individuals for support, think link it to the word relationship. And then I think you're gonna have a successful, um, a little bit more of a uh a helpful mindset when it comes into how do I ask for support from individuals. So yeah. Yeah. So I don't know that and that that's some of the reasons, you know, I think, or some of the ways that it works to ask um individuals puts for support. But why do we do it? Why do we go to individuals for support? Do you have any other thoughts on that specifically?

SPEAKER_00 12:31

Yeah. Well, I mean, why we go to individuals specifically, if you think about your own life, right? We rarely start a new habit unless somebody asks us. Like I'm sitting in a like I said, I'm sitting at work or I'm sitting in my church, and they need volunteers in the nursery, right, at church. Now, that is not my prime area of going to serve, but you make this mass appeal of all 200 people in your church, hey, we need volunteers to come and help serve at this dinner coming up in a month, right? For our event. You're in a big group. There's not as much connection there. It's a big group ask. You might say yes. But let's say your leader comes to you face to face, sits down and says, Hey, Jen, you know what? We had this event coming. I think you'd be fantastic at this event. This is what's going on. We could really use your help. Would you be willing to come and help serve? What's your what's the likelihood you're gonna respond to that ask versus the big group ask?

SPEAKER_01 13:22

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I mean uh I would yeah, I would definitely be more likely to respond. And again, it, you know, re-in- Yeah, of course. Of course.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

We want to be asked. We want to be involved, we want to be invited into something. And what that asked does is it communicates that I'm responsible enough with my time and resources that I can get involved and that you think I'm able to contribute something. It communicates value, it communicates honor when you're asking somebody face to face individually because I think you've been faithful enough. I think your character, your personality, who you are is something that is valuable and needed. And that's why I'm making that ask. And so it's a completely different paradigm when we're looking at it, when we're asking people, we're honoring them and valuing them when we do so. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

Yeah. It it's also something that um, you know, I talk a lot in uh financial partnership development, the workbook, as well as to the small groups I'm leading and, you know, during our journey training for our global workers on the ministry of partnership development and why it's so important to because this is, Josh, come asking you and Lisa to be a part of my team. So say I'm going, you know, to uh uh just for sensitivity purposes, let's say I'm going to Estonia, okay? And I am reaching the people of Estonia and I'm asking you to be a part of that. There is something that tethers you greater in a greater way to the Great Commission by personally supporting a missionary and putting your money where your treasure is, there your heart is also. So this is ministry. The body of Christ is called to be a part of the Great Commission. Amen. All of us as goers or senders. And by asking you to be a part of that, I am recognizing the fact that we are all involved in this together. I may be the boots on the ground that's going. I may be the one that is going forth to Estonia, but there is no way I'm getting there if I am not sent by um, you know, a community of people, individual comprised of individuals and churches, hopefully, that will come alongside of me as a missionary and send me. So, and as if we are all called as Christians to be a part of the Great Commission, this is where it gets real. Because I I am not going to go without my community backing me behind me. And that is personal. That's hard to ask for like for my head and my heart to connect on, okay, this is okay because I'm really going to ask my best friend to be a part of this, or I'm really going to ask my neighbor, or I'm really going to ask my small group director, or I'm really, but if I believe and I'm going all the way to Estonia and I'm asking you to be a part of it and holding the yeses and the no's loosely, knowing that the Lord has my team, then I am believing the fact that everybody is called to be a part of the Great Commission. So it's not only practical to ask individuals because it works and it's it's necessary to incorporate because really our budgets are comprised of both. And I think that individual giving is only going up because people want to be involved. This generation of people too want to be involved with where their money is going. So yes, yes, yes. And also the Lord's heart for missions is for all of us to be involved. So it's a biblical concept.

SPEAKER_00 16:43

I mean, yeah, if you look at Paul, right? Like Paul is writing and he's in 1 Corinthians and he's writing to this, to this church that he's planted and he's worked with and spent so much time with. And one of the things that Paul says is he says, Listen, one plants and one waters, but God gives the increase. And both he who plants and one the waters are co-laborers together in the harvest, and they each get a reward. That's the exciting part, is that you may not be going to I may not be going to Estonia, you're going to Estonia, I may not be going there, but by partnering together, we are co-laborers in the parts that I serve. And we both get rewarded for that because it's the Lord's harvest and his body working together. That's the beauty of the individual ask is inviting people to be personally invested in the global harvest. And that's exciting.

SPEAKER_01 17:28

Yeah. Yep. Love it. Yeah. So I think um one of the challenges is to sort of see individual support as not just an option, but really a part of the process and a part of the overall strategy. Um and uh yeah, I think leaning into leaning into the fact that, you know, where your treasure is, your heart is also is something that I'd like to part here uh parting words. And then it's not just a modern tactic. I think that the Lord has built it in by design um and for a reason. And I also think that obviously it works. So um but with that word relationship in mind, you are not just selling something, you're not just, you know, um, it's not a necessary evil. It is a part of ministry. It can be a vital aspect of your ministry if you allow it to be. So right.

SPEAKER_00 18:27

Well, and when we talk about relationship, relationships have basic needs. There are things that help support and build up a relationship, right? It's the same thing we're looking at, we're talking to individuals and connecting. There are needs that are there that help to establish and that need to have to have this relationship to be strong, right? Like, I mean, you need to have trust with people. Um, like when I say trust, I'm talking about they need to trust that when I say I'm going to Estonia and I'm gonna be using these funds to further ministry, they gotta have trust that I'm actually gonna do what I say I'm gonna do. Um, you know, for them to be to be getting to invest it. They've gotta they've gotta be confident in us and confident in our calling. How do you communicate confidence, Jen, when you're talking with somebody? How do you communicate confidence?

SPEAKER_01 19:09

You tell me. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 19:12

Well, I mean, it's clarity, it's simplicity. If I can clearly and simply communicate what it is that God's laid upon my heart and I'm confident about this call, what He's asked me to do, that creates confidence in the person I'm talking with. So if they trust me, they have confidence in me and confidence in my calling that builds that foundation of relationship, which creates a space where they're more willing to get invested because man, you're you have an obvious calling, you're confident, you're able to communicate that. I trust you because I know that you're going to do what you say because of past relationship, right? There's a personal heart connection with what's going on in the ministry, whether that's the type of work that I'm doing or where I'm going or just the fact that we have this relationship, there is a heart investment in that. And then there's seeing God work in that. Those needs, those basic needs, they form a foundation for our relationships. It forms the foundation for partnership, right? The trust, that confidence, that heart connection, and seeing God's involvement in our life, those things build that foundation that make it easier for somebody to give a yes.

SPEAKER_01 20:17

Mm-hmm. Yeah, absolutely. Love it, Josh. Love it. I think, yes, I think we are there. So why don't you recap and sort of close us out for this one?

SPEAKER_00 20:30

Sounds good. So just remember, okay, we talked about this. Individuals are foundational to being fully funded. This is not an optional strategy. This is a core part of what we're doing during this season of partnership development. Two, you are five times more likely to get a monthly partner from a personal ask than from doing so in a group setting. Five times more likely. There are four basic needs to partnership relationships. We have trust, we have confidence in you, we have personal heart connection, and then seeing God's active involvement in our life. And then lastly, individual partnership and mission is a biblical concept that Jesus himself demonstrated. Look at Luke chapter eight. Jesus had people who followed him and supported him from their own means. This is not something new, this is something that has existed for hundreds and thousands of years. Partnership together is the body of Christ. So look at your current partnership strategy, a little bit action step here from this episode. Where have you been placing the majority of your focus? So reassess where have you been placing your focus? Where have you been working? And is that really working for you? I mean, if you're if you're 18 months in and you've been working on the mass mailing thing, I'd say maybe it's time to shift gears and try something different, right? So, where could you improve in your partnership strategy? And are you seeing this as ministry? Are you actively looking at this? What's your thought process? So, where do we start, Jen? That's where we got to get to next. We talked about the the why, but where? So join us next time as we talk about building our individual lists here, contacts. and get started in the in the in the meat here of the partnership process. So we want to say thank you so much for joining us. This is the fully funded podcast with Jen and Josh, Building Kingdom Partners Locally to expand God's Kingdom Globally. Thank you guys.

SPEAKER_01 22:14

Thank you. Bye-bye.