Remix – # 256. Mission Trip Fundraising Letters (And why I should write your next one.)

In May, I wrote a post about mission trip fundraising letters. The summary of the post is that most of us send out the same letter using the following format:

Intro:
A few sentences of pleasantries, it sure has been a hot summer etc.

Here’s what I’ve been up to:
Things are good, I’m staying busy with school/work/the flounder farm.

Church Transition:
I’m going on a mission trip. Few words about where you’re going and what you’ll do.

Money Pitch:
The cost of the trip is $#,###. It would be great if you could support me.

The Pretend You Don’t Care about the Money Pitch:
Soften that hard sell with a sentence like, “Whether or not you are able to support the trip, I would greatly appreciate your prayers.”

I then wrote the kind of letter I think we should send out when it comes to asking for money for a mission trip. It was upfront and a little sarcastic. (Check out the original post.) Well it turns out I’m not the only one that thinks that way because without ever seeing my post, a girl named Emily sent out a similar letter to her friends and family when she was trying to raise money for a mission trip.

I thought it was funny and honest and worth sharing regardless of if it inspired her readers to “make it rain.” She was cool with me posting it. So here is the letter she wrote and the response she got. (I blanked out her college and the name of the ministry, but otherwise did not change a word.)

“People,

Let’s get right to the point: I’m going on another super expensive mission trip, and if you don’t know, that means I need money.

I would like you to know before you read my letter that I have no desire to entertain you, so here we go: I can’t even begin to explain to you my immense hatred for letters of this ilk. These long, boring, often overly dramatic letters that all end with the same objective: to lessen the load of your wallet.

Please do not misinterpret my frankness for insincerity. I do want and need your money, but what I don’t want is tear-stained, emotion-drenched money. I don’t want to receive a single penny from a person whose motivation is the pity they feel because of some sad picture or heart-wrenching story; if that is your cause for sending your money, forget about the monetary support and pray.

I ask that instead of acting on emotion or obligation, you pray- pray for the trip and pray about giving. Send in the cash only at God’s calling and only in the amount he exacts.

Now about the trip: I myself know very little about it, but I’ll tell you what I do know. I’m going to Brazil, the dates are July 5-26 (some of these days will be spent in “training”), I’m going with a small group through _______ University and we’ll be doing things like: street and tribal evangelism, supplying villages with clean water, and probably some of that wonderful drama and music stuff that I so thoroughly enjoy. Having been on a couple other mission trips, I know they make a huge impact not only on the people we’re visiting but on those of us who go.

I’ll be sending some kind of letter when I get back to tell you how the people of Brazil were blessed through your moolah and prayers.

Oh and don’t spend your time praying for my nerves, the plane ride, or safety as if there’s some imminent disaster of which I am unaware. I’m not nervous, I like planes, and I don’t fear death. Pray instead for the people I’ll encounter, that my desires are His desires, and that His will be done. Everything else will fall into place.

When you know for sure about the money thing, make the checks out to _____ and mail them to me.

Have a day,
Emily.”

Emily describing the response:
“I sent out one of those letters just a few months ago. For the first time, I wrote an honest letter which I prayed over and had peace about. Despite my efforts, it seemed to make the elderly cringe and the relatives scowl. My pastor received some phone calls, and I got a little talking-to from the mother.”