Vineyard Church North Phoenix | BUILDING A SUPPORT BASE

BUILDING A SUPPORT BASE

Over the years - first as a student going on short-term mission trips, and then as a full - time missionary in Japan - I have raised over half a million dollars for missions outreach. When I began to make plans to plant our church in Colorado Springs, central to my strategic plan was the importance of having a strong financial support base before beginning. I raised half of my monthly financial needs.

I’m convinced that raising support is a catalytic tool for the vision and faith of the church planter: It teaches him the importance of being concise and clear in the articulation of his vision. (Almost every ministry in the United States raises support. What makes your ministry different? You and your vision.) The discipline of having to develop a clear vision and share it repeatedly to potential supporters is extremely helpful to the planter. Down the road, he will find that concise and passionate vision-casting will prove crucial to winning the first 200 people to his church.

Additionally, raising support teaches the planter courage and resiliency in making new connections. It’s not easy to pursue new contacts. Raising support often takes months of phone calls and prayer to build a strong support team. But the kinds of character qualities learned in this process serves quite well in the ups-and-downs of planting a church! (Resiliency is undoubtedly one of the top character qualities needed to be a successful church planter.)

Raising money also builds prayer support—crucial to all spiritual success. I had over 100 prayer partners involved in my church plant in Colorado Springs. Though most of those people never saw our church, many wrote and called about prayer requests in order to stay connected throughout the first few years of our church. Even if no money were to be raised, prayer covering alone is worth the effort of building a team of supporters.

A Fund-Raising Tutorial

1. Pray.
   
   Get a conviction from God concerning your calling, your vision, and your location. Write it down.
   
   
2. Put together a visual aid, a “Vision Notebook,” with photographs, statistics, and information about the people and city you are targeting.
   
   It should be no longer than 10 pages in a well-presented notebook or folder. Clearly articulate your vision throughout your presentation. Talk about the need, the solution, and how they can be involved.
   
   
3. Begin to make contacts with people -
   
   through phone calls, letters, talking to friends, or email, letting them know you would like to share with them concerning your ministry. Speaking to a group is a good idea, but a better idea is to get the names and phone numbers of the members of the group to contact them individually. Why? You need the individual touch for prayer support, and you will raise more money with the individual relationship.
   
   
4. Set up appointments and take no more that 45 minutes to share your vision.
   
   Ask them to pray about becoming a part of your Prayer and Financial Support Team. Simply telling someone about your ministry is a good start, but it is key that you make a clear request for their financial support. People need a clear challenge.
   
   
5. Re-contact the person within a few days to find out of their commitment to your ministry.
   
   Don’t skip this step. When you call back, 50-60% will respond positively; when you do not call back those percentages are cut in half.
   
   
6. Once someone has decided to join your prayer and support team, immediately send them a thank-you note.
   
   Commit to sending out a prayer letter every month from that day forward. In my 10 years on the mission field I rarely missed a month in which I did not send out some form of prayer letter to my team.

Steve Holt started the Mountain Springs Vineyard in Colorado Springs four years ago. The church now has over 500 members, has planted three churches, and sent out 10 missionaries. Coordinates: sholt@msvcf.org