Fundraising for Ministry: Five Reasons You Need To Tell People about Your Work

Sometimes it's difficult to talk about your ministry with other people. It can be exhausting repeating the same pitch over and over again. It also can take away time from your work. I hear this all the time: "If I work on fundraising for my project, I wont have time to do the actual work!" 
Its a valid point! Another thing I hear is: "I lay awake at night worrying that we won't have enough money to continue."

Here are a few reasons that you need to be talking about your ministry more, and the first one is a doozie:

People will not give to your cause if you never ask them to. 
You can tell people about your work- but unless you ask them to give to your work, they probably wont.

Building relationships builds trust, Trust leads to partnership.
By sending regular updates about your work, the successes, challenges and future, you build trust. When people trust your ministry, they are more likely to support it financially and with their time.

Did you know that it usually takes between 3- 7 touchpoints to get a donation? (and sometimes up to 12!)
That means that people need to see your ministry pop up on their feed, in their email and in the post. Not all of these should be an ask- in fact most should be ministry updates and information about your ministry.

Stories go much further than annual financial reports.
Some ministries spend time talking about their finances (especially when times are tough) But that's not a compelling reason for a donor to give. A better reason for donors to give is a compelling story about what your ministry is doing. Did you host a VBS this summer and reach children from your community? Use quotes from the kids. Were you able to provide much-needed training to a community counselor? Tell her story. You can put numbers in there- but most people will read the stories first, and make gifts based on the stores.

A conversation is a 2 way street
It's easy to give an "elevator pitch" about what your ministry is doing - and you should develop one if you don't have one. But a two way conversation is so much more valuable than a monologue. By hearing what someone else has to say, you can learn a lot about their passions and you might learn that they have resources and knowledge that could be helpful for you in your ministry.

I would love to hear what you think. Have you had success when you share stories about your ministry?