The Individual Process (Step 2) Invitation Letters

In this episode, Jenn Fortner and Josh Sears explain the purpose and power of the invitation letter—a key tool for starting meaningful conversations with people on your contact list.

[High-quality color photo of Don & Dawn smiling]

Don & Dawn E_______ Training church planting teams to make Christ known in the Arab world.

May 5, 2014

John & Jane,

Dawn & I feel like kids who've just figured out what they'd like to do when they grow up! At 51 years of age, God is leading us into a new season of life, to work full-time as missionaries among unreached people in the Arab world. And ____________, the capital of ____________, will be the place we call home from 2027 to 2029.

It's been a while since we've had an opportunity to sit down with you and catch up on the things happening in each other's lives, so we wanted to write to you and share that we're transitioning out of the "normal" American life into God's missionary vision for our lives. After five years of active preparation for missions, we've committed ourselves to join a church planting team in ____________ and help support the visionary work of its team leaders in making Christ known where He is currently not known.

Last March, we became officially commissioned Missionary Associates through Assemblies of God World Missions (AGWM). Our plan is to move to ____________ in March of 2027, but before we can go we must raise 100% of our financial budget.

We would love to have the opportunity to share our mission with you in more detail. We will call you in the next week to chat about it a little more. In the meantime, will you commit to praying about being a prayer and financial partner with us, to help bring Jesus to ____________ and the Arab world?

We look forward to talking with you,

Don & Dawn

[Contact information clearly displayed] [Account number] [Email, phone, mailing address] [Website link]

[Handwritten PS at bottom:] "John & Jane - We still remember that wonderful dinner at your house in 2012. Your hospitality meant so much to us! Looking forward to reconnecting soon. - D&D"

[Enclosed: Prayer card with photo and ministry details]

What Makes This Letter GOOD:

1. Professional presentation - Clean design, high-quality photo
2. Personalized greeting - "John & Jane" not "Dear friends"
3. Catchy opening - "Feel like kids who've just figured out what they'd like to do when they grow up!"
4. Concise - One page, easy to read
5. Clear structure - Follows the outline (what they've been doing, how they came to decision, what they'll do, invitation)
6. Honest but not apologetic - Confident in calling without being pushy
7. Specific but not overwhelming - Names country/region without information overload
8. Sets expectation - "We will call you in the next week" (clear next step)
9. Respects their process - "Will you commit to praying about..." (gives them agency)
10. Handwritten PS - Personal touch that shows they remember the relationship
11. All contact info included - Easy to respond or find more information
12. Prayer card enclosed - Visual reminder and additional context
13. Professional but warm tone - Feels like a letter from friends, not a form letter
14. Clear organization affiliation - AGWM mentioned for credibility
15. Appropriate length - Can be read in 2-3 minutes
16. Good use of white space - Easy on the eyes, not overwhelming
17. No financial details - Saves that for the appointment
18. No presumption - Doesn't assume they'll give, just invites conversation
19. Ministry tagline at top - Immediately communicates the vision

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

What's up, everyone? Hello. Thank you for joining us today. I am Jen, and this is Josh.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

I don't know why I didn't like that.

SPEAKER_01 0:16

I like it. Um, and this is the fully funded podcast with Jen and Josh, and we are here to talk at you today about the invitation letter. Uh, last time we talked about, and this is the overall process with individuals that we are outlining and talking about. And today we're talking about step two or process number two with individuals, and that is the invitation letter. So we just did a podcast episode on namestorming your contact list, grabbing contact information. And now it's time to communicate with our potential partners for the first time. And one of the first steps that you can use to do that is the invitation letter. So let's get into it, Josh. What is an invitation letter?

SPEAKER_00 1:03

So let me start with what it's not. Okay. So one, this is not a quick dear John, please give me money. Thank you, Josh. Like that is not what we're doing here. We're not making an ask. We're not putting that out there like that. That's not what this letter is. This letter is also not a five-page newsletter about everything that's been going on in my life for the last five, 10 years. Like, I'm not giving somebody a mini biography of what's going on. That's not what we're doing. What this invitation letter is, is an invitation to the people we're writing, give them a little bit of information about what's going on, but inviting them into a deeper conversation. That's the point. That's what we're doing. We're inviting them into a deeper conversation about what the Lord's let upon our heart to have that partnership conversation. That's what we're doing here. So that's what an invitation letter is.

SPEAKER_01 1:56

Yeah, we so the invitation letter, um, you know, it's I will say this about the invitation letter. I think some sending organizations and ministries really emphasize the use of an invitation letter to begin the real the contact process with an individual, basically leading up to a face-to-face appointment. So um I was gonna share this later on in the podcast, but I want to say it now. There's a basic rule of thumb when it comes to an invitation letter. And again, an invitation letter is not a newsletter. It's not a um synopsis of everything about your life and your ministry, but it is a one-page um essentially invitation to an individual, not to a pastor, but to an individual, prompting that for first like um attempt at like asking them for a this is the whole purpose is to ask for a face-to-face appointment. Okay. Exactly. So back to my bunny trailing thought there is that some sending organizations really emphasize the use of an invitation letter and some do not. So this basic rule of thumb applies, okay. Whenever you think about now, how should I first contact an individual? Typically speaking, it's either via invitation letter first or a phone call first. Okay. So that's the classic way to teach asking the um an individual for support. You either begin with an invitation letter or you begin with a phone call. When it comes to the invitation letter, this is the basic rule of thumb. Um, when it feels awkward to send an invitation letter first to an individual, then you default to sending to making a phone call first. When it feels awkward to make a phone call first, then you send the invitation letter first. So that's the basic rule of thumb. Which is what everybody is probably thinking. So I think the the way to qualify that word awkward is if I am in like if say Lisa, your wife, is my best friend, okay, and um she knows all about what I'm doing overseas, it may feel too formal, aka awkward, um, to send an invitation letter first because you guys are really in like proximity and relationship and you know everything about what I'm doing overseas. So it might feel too formal. Uh or if I'm trying to reach out to my mom for the first time or my best friend or uh my sister or whoever that is, it might feel a little um over like too formal to send an invitation letter first. So I would default to uh a phone call slash text conversation to prompt asking for a face-to-face appointment. Um but in some cases, it makes total sense to send an invitation letter first because it warms the relationship. Um, there's a lot of pros and cons involved. I um, but let's talk. But first off, before we start talking about pros and cons, I wanted to outline that basic rule of thumb. But Josh, what is included in an invitation letter? What is the actual structure of an invitation letter look like?

SPEAKER_00 4:57

Yeah. So again, we're focusing everything we do in the terms of relationships. So personal connection with people. That's what we're aiming for. So obviously we're gonna open up with a personal opening there. It's not like dear friends or dear colleagues or so and so. You want to write their name out. So dear, I won't say dear John, because that's that's dear John letters are never good. Um, but if your name's John, that could be a good letter. Dear James, you know, we want to add that personal touch of their name in there. So this is not a form letter that's going out. I'm gonna read it and it says, dear friends, that that doesn't feel personal at all. We want to put the name in there. Then we have this little catchy intro to kind of grab the attention with the first sentence. So, for instance, did you know, Jen, that the Amazon rainforest is the same size as the lower 48 states? No. Yeah, I mean that's that's just a fun fact, right? My state in the Amazon is three times the size of Texas. So something to grab attention, a little tidbit of information, maybe a uh uh a statement there to kind of grab the attention and hook them into reading the rest of your letter there. The next thing you're gonna do is kind of what you've been up to. So a brief catch up. Hey, over the past few years, you know, I've been um serving in ministry here in this area. Again, not a long synopsis, but like a sentence or two, kind of leading people into this is what's been going on in life. Next, how we came to this decision. God began speaking to my heart after hearing about this or going on this trip. God began speaking to my heart about giving more of my time and serving. And then what will you be doing? A short little two sentences about little vision statement or little capsulation of this is what I'm gonna be doing. So this next season, God is leading me to go and serve in the jungles of Brazil to help reach the 80% of the communities that have no access to the gospel. And then we have an invitation to partnership. This is not an ask. We're not saying, will you give? But we're saying, hey, I would love to sit down and have a conversation with you to talk more about what this looks like and how we could partner together in finances and in prayer to help see this happen. I would love I'll be calling you in the next week to follow up and set up an appointment. So it's an invitation to an appointment face to face, not an invitation to give. But I say this all the time to the people that I coach in this letter and at every point of the process in communication, I want to be clear that we're gonna talk about finances. So that's why I said, hey, I would love to have a deeper conversation about partnership financially and prayerfully as we work, can work together to see this happen, because we don't want to blindside anybody ever. So I'm not asking now, but I want them to know we're gonna talk about finances as we get down the road. And then when we close things out, a little handwritten PS, because if you're like me, when I get a letter, if it's printed out, now if you want to handwrite these letters yourself, man, more power to you. But my hand, I don't know if I could do that.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

That would be a tall order.

SPEAKER_00 7:50

That's a lot of handwriting. Um, but a handwritten PS really does go a long way. If I look at something and something is handwritten, know where my eyes go first, right to that handwritten note. That's the first thing I read on the page because somebody took the time to actually write something on there. So a handwritten note of, hey, can't wait to catch up and talk more about this, or love seeing what's going on with your kids. Congratulations on winning the Little League World Series, whatever it may be, you know, something personal to kind of connect with them there and leave them that note. So personal address, catchy intro, briefly what's going on, kind of how you came to this decision, what God's asking you to do, a short little vision there, a couple sentences, an invitation to conversation about partnership, and then a handwritten PS. So that's a basic structure of what this invitation letter is going to look like. In this letter, when we're throwing this in there, not only put in that letter, but we like to have like a picture of our family. So you may put that on the letter if you want to design it. Yeah, you can get fancy and put a picture of your family on the letter if you want to design that thing and in Canva or whatever format you like to use. I like to use Canva right now because it's a great platform. But whatever happens to be out there that you're using, putting your picture on there. Maybe you have a nice little brochure that you've put together that shows some more information, some more statistics, some more information about the ministry, about the needs, those kind of things. Any information we can equip them with, again, that's not asking, but that's giving them the information they need so they can pray about this. Because ideally, I want them to think about it and know that I'm going to call for an appointment. And they've already been reading and thinking about it. And my big caveat here is make sure it's high quality information and high quality materials. Um, and what do I mean by that? Something that's designed, that looks good, that looks professional. This is a great little um side note here is that if you know somebody that works in graphic design or know somebody who is talented in this area, a great ask is if they'd be willing to give their talent to help you design materials. And that's a great way to support in lieu of giving monthly. Maybe it's a way of, hey, would you be willing to use your graphic design to help me put together a good-looking brochure or a good-looking prayer card that I can then put in and share with people? That's a great way for people to use their talents to support you in ministry in a way that is outside of giving on a monthly on a monthly basis. And then obviously, if you have a website, um like landing pages like Link Tree or BioSight or other places, it's like more of a landing page is kind of static that has all the information there. It's good if you're gonna put that link on there. The only challenge with websites is if you get into websites, it usually you want to keep those things updated and it's a lot more content. Landing pages are pretty static and just have the basic information on there. So that's why we talk more about landing pages, but having something there where they can find all the information in one place is really, really good.

SPEAKER_01 10:40

Yeah, that's good. Yeah, and uh I would the couple notes with this too. I think um this is again to individuals, uh, so people you already know, love, and trust in your life, not pastors. That process is different, and we will talk about that at a later episode. Um, but this is two individuals in your life that you are asking for support. And then um I think classically, this is a snail mailed letter. It is. So this is um not an email most of the time. Uh and this is actually to somebody's home address, you know, where they open it up. There's like an actual envelope and they open it up and there's a letter that comes out with a handwritten PS. So that's kind of what we're talking about when we talk about an invitation letter just to and then this is not a newsletter that I think sometimes um folks get that confused where they think that, oh, this is just a newsletter, and I'm gonna start by newsletter, like sending a newsletter to everybody that's potentially interested in supporting me. And this is like a two-part um episode on communication pieces as well, because um, I think when we teach on the invitation letter, it's important to also talk about the newsletter to not make sure that they don't get confused and about how important communication tools are. But that is an aside to the invitation letter. The invitation letter is sort of like a unicorn in this whole process because it's really. Um yeah, be and you know, it could look the yeah, I would say it could look like a newsletter with like your like a like a picture of your family or yourself on it in in that sense, but tone it down to where there's not a ton of background to it. I would say keeping it with a lot of white space and just the text and maybe minimal amount of branding is what we're talking about here. So if this is how you want to start the conversation with an individual and asking for um a face-to-face appointment, then you know, uh, and then one page, like I said before, not two pages. And at the very end, the bottom of the paragraph, and we'll try to link one of these um on the show notes so that you can actually see one and read one because it's harder to talk about it maybe than even it is to see it. But um, that ending paragraph should say, hey, in order to go, I need to get to a hundred percent um of my support before I can go. So I'm I'm reaching out to see if you'd be interested in grabbing a conversation um about joining some aspect, whether that's prayer or finances, both are needed. So I'll be in touch with you and I look forward to hearing from you. Or I look forward to connecting with you soon. So uh that's a bumbly way of saying the last paragraph should be about reaching for um like further contact asking for an appointment unto asking for support. So it sets the stage. And if you don't mind, I'll talk about some pros and cons. So there's some pros and cons to sending invitation letters. They're not, it's not cut and dry with that basic rule of thumb again. If it feels awkward to send an invitation letter first, then you make the phone call. If it feels awkward to make the phone call first, then you send an invitation letter. But there's there's several pros to sending an invitation letter first that I've found personally. I've talked through this with my husband, Zach, and I'm like, hey, would you prefer if, say Josh and Lisa were asking us for support, would you prefer to get an invitation letter first in the mail and then have a phone call or just Josh calling you on the phone? And my husband said pretty clearly, oh man, I would much rather get a like a prompting piece of mail first or something that prompts that the conversation is gonna happen. So put your uh yourself in the shoes of a potential supporter and you might have some of your answer there with the basic rule of thumb. But a lot of times people do appreciate time to pray first. Yes, um, before you call and ask for an appointment. That gives them the heads up that, hey, this is gonna happen. I'm gonna be contacting you, but it gives them the opportunity to invite the Holy Spirit into the conversation and the Lord into the conversation where they're like, well, do I want to support Josh and Lisa? Do I want to support Jen and Zach? You know, so I think it's um it's a helpful start and icebreaker. So though, and uh I think that it can show a level of professionalism as well that you're taking yourself seriously. You're taking the as easy these asks seriously, you're taking your relationship seriously, um, you're putting a lot of effort into it by sending something in advance and asking for the contact information on the front side. So there's those. Um, it creates a little anticipation. Um, and get just again, it gives them the process, the ability to process and pray uh beforehand. Some cons to sending, okay. So if I was to send you guys an invitation letter first, there's some downsides that it might that I might want to consider as well. It takes time. So it's another step in the process. It does warm the relationship on the pro side, but it does take time on the on the con side of things, um, and a stamp. So there's that. Um, and then some people I say, I think with global workers, I hear this a lot, like, well, what if it gets lost in the mail? Or what if the person doesn't read it? Those are all things that could happen for sure. Um, so that could be a con, is maybe they don't read it and you call them, and then what do you do? Which by the way, we'll cover in another episode. Um it could delay the process, particularly if you're in a hurry. So it's the again, it takes time. And then I would say, here's the biggest kicker, Josh. And when I'm teaching this in small groups with um my Eurasia global workers, I don't think anybody gets this one whenever they're in small group with me. And I don't know if you ask this question. I always ask in my small groups, like, hey, let's line out some pros and cons when it comes to the invitation letter when I'm teaching it. But one of the things that uh never gets brought up is ghosting. So a con to the invitation letter is there is a reality if you are the person sending the invitation letter that if they know why you're calling, okay, is to reach out for a face-to-face appointment, they may ghost you in the process. So because, yeah, you might hear crickets on the other line, because so I might, I might send you an invitation, you and Lisa and um an invitation letter and then call you a week after, which we'll line out and talk through the the phone call in another episode. But um, I might call you on the phone and then I might not, you might not answer because you know why it is that you know why I'm calling you and you may not want to have that conversation or for whatever reason. So not always that possibility. There is that possibility, but I I don't feel like that needs to be baked into the bread whenever you're not, whenever you're not hearing back from somebody. If you are calling them again, we'll we'll tackle this in another podcast episode, but it's important to remember if you are not getting them on the phone initially, that is not rejection. There's a lot of reasons why people don't answer the phone or answer a text message. So don't jump to conclusions. And most of the time people are not rejecting you. It's just your thing is not their thing. And I think if we keep that in the forefront and again, that relationship component in mind, whenever we're doing that, it'll lead us well. But it is uh as you're tackled, as you're thinking through what do I do first? Do I phone call the person first asking for the face-to-face appointment, or do I send an invitation letter first? There is that real practicality that, you know, they could realize why it is that you're going to call them and decide not to answer that. So there's that. It's just a little note there, just something to be aware of when you're thinking through the process of whether or not to send an invitation letter. So Right.

SPEAKER_00 18:13

Yeah. And I think something that's important to mention here as we kind of bring this to a close is that we are not going to take our newsletter or our contact list here, and now we've printed off our 300 letters, and then we're going to mail out all 300 letters at the same time. That is a sure way to stress yourself out.

SPEAKER_01 18:31

But that would be burnout too, in its finest form. That stresses me out just thinking about that.

SPEAKER_00 18:38

It really does. Thinking about that much money in stamps stresses me out. Um but when you take that, we're going to take this in chunks because the idea is that we're sending out letters. We're going to talk about later about a phone call and eventually having an appointment. This is a process. And so we want to give ourselves space in the process to do this in chunks, to do this in cycles. So, really, ideally, we're talking about we're writing this letter and then we're going to send it out five, 10, 15 people at a time and give ourselves some time to keep going through the process. So don't jump right to, I've written my letter, now I'm going to throw it out to everybody that I just made this massive contact list because then you're going to be stressed. No, we want to take it in chunks that we can handle and appropriately follow up on the process.

SPEAKER_01 19:21

Yeah. So and Mish and Global Workers asked me pretty regularly, um, like, how many should I send out at one time? And I think it's appropriate to think through like, well, what can you handle as far as appointments go for the following week? So I think, and how fast do you want to get to the field? So those are the two sort of variables is how much time do I have for individual appointments? Can I handle three or four this week and next week? Um, you know, and how long do I, how long do I have before my leadership wants me to get to my assignment? So if that's a pretty quick turnaround for you and you have the bandwidth to have three or four appointments a week, then send out a swat like a robust size of letters. And that robust to me is as an educator in this area for a while, I would say a robust amount would be like 20 at a time, is pretty robust. Probably no more than that, even if you're like wanting to get to the field ASAP. But I think personally, and we'll get into this uh in further podcast episodes, but just to tease it now, as far as cadence goes, um, I think to it's helpful to think through like how many initial contacts do I want to have each week, not how many invitation letters, because it could be based off of that rule of thumb that next week, whenever I start the process, I'm going to send out five invitation letters and make five initial contacts via phone. So I'm really contacting 10 people, but 10, five of them are stamps outlet and via, you know, mail. And then five of them are phone calls or text messages asking for appointments. So, and then to follow up that um that cadence on an ongoing basis is so helpful. I see whenever I whenever I see missionary struggle, it's uh oftentimes where they start and stop and start and stop and start and stop. But really, you should have a cadence where you're doing something every week and sort of sticking to a rhythm. And that's much more helpful than sort of starting the process and then stopping or only reaching out to churches or only reaching out to individuals. I think it's helpful to sort of salt and your pepper your efforts with churches and individuals on an ongoing basis and do something each week. So maybe week one, I send out six invitations. If my goal is to send out 10 initial contacts per week, then week one might be six invitation letters and four phone calls. And then week two might be four invitation letters and six phone calls. But it, you know, it's based off of that rule of thumb and the the whole world relationship sort of is your tether. Um, yeah. So there's that.

SPEAKER_00 21:55

So that's kind of a a breakdown of the invitation letter here. So just kind of recap really quick. Quickly here. Remember that our letter format is it's it's a blueprint here. This is something that can be adjusted to fit your needs. But one page, good looking, personal touches, that's what we're looking for. Two high quality materials with our letters. Anything we send out, we'll make sure it's high quality, looks good. Um, rule of thumb: if it's too awkward to send out a letter first, make a phone call. If it's too awkward to phone call first, send out a letter. And when in doubt, write it out. That's what we're gonna do here. So, action step for this episode. We want you to write out an invitation letter if you don't already have one. If you do, um, either way, ask a trusted friend or fan number to read it. Get some feedback on it. How does this come across? What is this communicating? What do you feel when you read this letter? What is this saying to you? Again, we aren't making an ask, just an invitation to a deeper conversation. And then also maybe take some time to develop some ministry material, maybe a prayer card or maybe work on a brochure, something you could put in there, an informational piece to help provide more information so that they can pray, so that they can think about it as they're preparing. So, doing that. All right, so next time, Jen, we're gonna talk a bit more about communication pieces and kind of start touching on this whole social media idea and newsletters and how we get into that and how we communicate on an ongoing basis with what's going on in ministry. But for this time, that's it. So we want to thank you again for joining us. This is this fully funded podcast with Jen and Josh, building Kingdom Partners locally to expand God's kingdom globally. Thank you guys so much.

SPEAKER_01 23:30

Thank you guys.