What people want to know in a fund-raising letter

Sounds like ur going about it the right way. I figure I don't get any more junk mail than anyone else. I can only tell u the things that would increase my comfort level if I was thinking about making a donation to a mission. I have no idea what other people would look at. My wish list: 1) What denomination is it affiliated with ? 2) What or who will the major amount of funding come from ? 3) How much of each dollar will make it to the mission itself ? 4) Who will run it & how are they qualified ? 5) What function will the mission serve ? 6) Why is the mission needed ? 7) What will be the mission's goals ?

Fund-raising letter LH

     I have recently returned from spending two weeks working alongside Brent and Sandy Rogers, and would like to make you aware of my own personal thoughts and feelings regarding their life work in ministry to the Japanese people. 

     I’ve known many full time, long-term missionaries over the decades of my life, and they are my heroes.  Sandy and Brent are definitely right on par with all the hardest working, and most dedicated people I’m privileged to know; giving themselves fully to the work at hand for the purpose of expanding God’s kingdom.  I believe that the Rogers’ have been thoroughly aware of their purpose in life since long before they ever reached Japan.  Without being assured of their calling, they never would have been capable of remaining as devoted to the difficult daily tasks as they are.  I sometimes in fact, wondered how they managed to keep moving consistently onward, with the many struggles they face along the way.  Many of their struggles seem the same as yours and mine, but without the human contact that is often so needed when we run into hardships.  This lacking element, in my opinion, elevates the struggle to the status of what I would consider a valid trial. They have few people who are on a level with them spiritually to encourage and uplift when the going gets tough, yet they do keep on walking through the tough times.  Although they are a cohesive unit, life in general was given to us by God to be lived in community, and their community of believers is very small. 

     I remember praying before I left the states that there would be at least one or two brand new believers by the time I completed the two weeks on mission in Kojima.  This prayer was a scaled back request of the larger request I’d had in mind before realizing how tremendously thick and strong the walls are in most every Japanese individual.  I knew it was a major effort, given what is required to help them break down their fears of leaving the tradition of Buddhism and/or Shintoism that they’ve grown up with, but I had not absorbed the reality of just how tremendously fearful they are of ‘losing face’, and being potentially ostracized by family and friends because of embracing Jesus.  I can’t help but view this fear on the part of the people as possibly their largest obstacle.  The people’s resistance to the gospel is likely the hurdle which takes the highest toll on human inspiration; for both the missionary and the person Jesus is reaching out to, sometimes draining the pool of hope from which we all draw much of what our soul needs to keep on exerting the influence needed to help others catch the fire of the only living God. 

     A day in the life of Brent and Sandy includes getting up early to get to work, teaching English classes all day, and sometimes Bible, as well as into the evening.  Many of these are taught in the school building, but Sandy teaches part time on another campus.  So she must plan carefully, pack up her supplies and transport everything on her bike to the other location.  Since they don’t own a car, almost all transportation is either walking or riding their bikes.  Long trips to participate in their own Japanese classes must be taken by bus.  Logos school is run entirely on their own, with just a few hours per week of help from an assistant, so they must handle the logistical management including payroll and bookkeeping, cleaning, and anything that may arise.  After this, they go home to cook, eat, clean and take care of their own needs at home.  At least once a week, Sandy also leads a student in a Bible study in the Rogers’ home – obviously a sacrifice of time and energy after already having worked all day.  The self  supporting facet of their ministry was one of the most impressive things I witnessed in their set of circumstances.  Although I have no idea how much outside support they may receive from home, I was amazed at how much they provide of their own support.

     I have written this letter only as an informative, objective view of people you must be more than happy to be associated with.  I know it’s impossible for everyone

to go there to experience the life they live and the ways in which they serve, giving 100% of their talents and energies, belongings, time, and all that they are, to the worship of God.  My desire is simply for any who are interested in another person’s view of their world, to hear this version of a recent ‘up close and personal’ view of all that Brent and Sandy mean to the people who benefit from the Rogers’ presence in their lives.  Thanks for taking the time to read this. 

Fund-raising 1 LT letter

I'd be happy to help you as best as I can. To be honest, I'm not sure I had some grand plan of how to do things - I kind of just went with what seemed wise. But obviously it worked out, so I'll just tell you what I did and hope that it will be beneficial to you.

First, when we started raising support, Sara and I put together an idea of what kind of request packet we wanted to send and how we could make it stand out from the sea of packets these churches likely receive. We thought about what information people would want to know and how we could best present that information to them. We ended up with 6 things that we put in each packet.

1) A one-page cover letter. This letter told the very basics about the need for work in Japan, why we wanted to be involved, what our plan was, and what we needed.

2) A one-page intro to our family. This told a little about us as people, such as our interests and personal history - not so much worrying about our qualifications or things like that.

3) A letter from our elders. This was a more formal letter saying what relationship they had with us and why they would encourage others to support us and our work.

4) A letter from Steve Carrell. This expanded on the need for work and who we would be working with.

5) A pledge card along with an addressed, stamped envelope. This allowed people to respond immediately and without cost to them.

6) A DVD with a video about our work. This could be presented to the congregation, for example, but if nothing else gave a more personal touch to the packet.

Actually you can still see our original packet here: http://lestaylorphoto.com/files/TotalMissionsPacket2012.pdf

And you can see our original video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_nTvqCMu0k

I think that was our old school approach part, but as you can see we tried to included some things that were more modernized. We never actually wrote a formal letter, for example - we left that up to others. In our personal material we tried to build a reputation and let people get to know us. I think in today's culture that informal (but respectful) material resonates more than a formal letter. We also made sure to design our part a little bit. Our cover page is laid out in a specific way, as is our "about us" page. With computers today this isn't so hard to do - I suppose it's not much different from making a flier for Logos.

As for the digital specific parts, here's what we did.

1) Facebook Page

While this isn't necessarily pivotal, it does help connect with people from all over without having to friend everyone, etc. It also allows us to contact them at any point. We may go a month without saying much, and then for a week or two type several posts. So it doesn't really take a ton of time, but it's an easy way to update everyone at once whenever needed, and it's through a platform that so many people already are using every day.

2) DVD/video

I think this video was one of our best tools. I used iMovie on Sara's Mac and got fairly complicated, but honestly I think even if you just make a short personal video with you and Sandy saying a few words about who you are and what you're doing that would be good. The video aspect I think is more personal than pure pictures and words, and it's easy to share with lots of people at once, so that's also a benefit. Also if you put it up on Youtube you never know who might find you.

3) Blog/Website

Again, not necessary but I think having an online presence is never a bad thing. In our fund raising stage it really helped out and I believe we may have even got a supporter or two out of it. The great part about a website or blog is that you can share all of your information in one central location and point people to that. So for example even if someone else can't support they might be able to point someone who can to your information.

4) Email

One thing I'm pretty sure we did early on was sent an email specifically to people we are close to. We told them that we were looking for support and that if they could help, or at least forward our packet to their elders/missions committee, or anyone they think might be able to help, we would appreciate it. Some were able to step in and help. Some connected us to people who could. We got a good bit of support this way. Of course we also sent out a few messages on Facebook, and that gave us some opportunities too.

I think those are the main things we did. We kind of just branched out in a lot of different directions and it all came together. While the digital world has its share of problems, the ability to connect with friends far and near is so wonderful and it really had a big impact in our fund raising. Hope all of this helps you out as well! If you have a question please let me know and I'll do my best to get back with you soon. I'm pretty bad at writing messages sometimes ... not sure why. I always have been. But I'll still do my best!

ESTHER TO KOJIMA

We are happy to announce a new staff memeber for the camp and the church.

Esther Reed will ba a short-term worker before and after going to China.

Esther will be doing Bible studies, teaching, and helping out with whatever.

JAPANESE BIBLE STUDY ONLINE

Ask questions.

Many resources.

http://www.bible-room.org/

CAMP, CHICO, BLOG, NEWS

Dear LST and SWT Readers,

I tried to send an email, but I am afraid it is mostly moji bake.

Anyway, here is the latest.

We will be sending a letter, but this is faster.

iF YOU FIND MISTAKES, please leave a comment.

brent

最近の発表によると、
チーコのLSTとかShall We Talk　の皆さんが今年これな�くなりました。

今年のEvent　が
atarashii blog:
http://kojimaekimaekyokai.blogspot.com/
ここにお知らせします。
一番最初の　Event　は　3月1,2のキャンプです。そのちらしをご覧下さい。

Building a Bridge
児島スプリング・キャンプ
のご案内

ユースホステルで
春の楽しいキャンプをしませんか？
英語と日本語（それに茨城弁も出るかも！）
で共に語り合い、遊び、学び、
神様を礼拝するときを持ちましょう！

日時：2008年3月1日（土）ー2日（日）　一泊二日
場所：鷲羽山ユースホステル
http://www.washuzan-yh.com/kannaishisetsu.htm

1666-1 obatake, Kurashiki City, Tel: 086-479-9280

講師：小幡幸和（茨城県・水戸キリストの教会）
　　　その他、茨城・大阪からのゲスト参加予定！
参加費：一泊（夕・朝食付き）　2,000円 小学生 以下 1,000 円
お問い合わせ・申込：
brentkojima@gmail.com
泊まるこがとできない方も、大歓迎です。それぞれの時間のスケジュールがもっと�shy;わし�shy;情報を手に入れば、ここで発表します。 http://kojimaekimaekyokai.blogspot.com 是非、いつでもそのブログを見て下さい

毎週、聖書を勉強
する機会がいろいろあります
日曜日の礼拝　　Sunday worship at 5pm at LOGOS

Bi-lingual 聖書の勉�shy;
　　月曜日Monday 8 pm at LOGOS
火曜日Tuesday 1045 at LOGOS　Ladies class
水曜日Wednesday 11 am.　at LOGOS
木曜日Thursday 1930 at Copo La Mer 702
他の時間で勉強
したい人電話でも eメールで連絡して下さい。

http://http://kojimaekimaekyokai.blogspot.com


WELCOME
児島駅前キリストの教会
日曜日　午後4時英語の礼拝

日曜日　午後5時日本語の礼拝

電話　086-472-0712
電子メール　 brentkojima@gmail.com

Regular Meetings

LOGOS English
Washu Kanko bldg. 2F
1-100 Ekimae Kojima
Kurashiki, Okayama ken
711-0921 Japan

Sunday 4 pm English Worship
5 Japanese

Bi-lingual Bible Studies Throughout the Week.


電話　086-472-0712