If you follow me on Twitter, then you know that I was out of town last week. My family went on an epic adventure that found us driving from Nashville, TN to Blowing Rock, NC and then eventually Tybee Island, GA.
Along the way, we drove by something I’d never seen before. I’m not talking about “the world’s largest fireworks store.” I’ve seen roughly 26 of those, every fireworks store is the world’s largest. Nope, this was something I saw on a church sign.
I’m not talking about a pillow fort. The average orangutan can throw one of those things together with enough couch pillows. I’m talking about in the woods, with sticks and leaves and acorns to throw at people. You don’t throw acorns at people? You’re missing out on half the fun of having a fort.
On May 27, 2008, I posted a mission trip fundraising letter that people could use as a template. Here is how it started:
Dear _______,
I never write you letters.
That’s a weird way to open a mission trip letter. My youth minister/pastor gave me a form letter to follow but that felt even weirder. The truth is that I don’t write anyone letters and if I opened up this letter by pretending this is just the latest in a long chain of correspondence we’ve kept up oh these many years, that would feel as fake as when people run out of things to say and ask you questions like, “hot enough for you?”
On the downside, my letter rambled a bit, but on the plus side it did not include the “Pretend You Don’t Care about the Money Line.” You know the one, it’s what I wrapped up a dozen fundraising letters with in the seventh grade:
“Whether or not you are able to support the trip, I would greatly appreciate your prayers.”
Asking for money is awkward. It changes your intimacy level with someone. That’s why even pastors do the tithing disclaimer when they preach about money, “I never normally talk about money…except today.” And asking for money feels hard sometimes.
I wrote that post three years ago as a satirical way to say, “Is there a different way to do mission trip fundraising?” Despite the clear awesomeness of the solution I provided, after talking to Razoo about this sponsored post, I think they might have something better to offer you than I did.
Here are what I think are the coolest things you can do with Razoo:
1. Receive donations securely from your donors.
2. Keep track of each team member’s progress.
3. Save time and headaches by eliminating all the paperwork.
4. Focus on the trip, not the fundraising of the trip.
Here’s basically how you do it:
1. You set up a page.
Your team leader sets up a team page on Razoo. Then he/she invites other team members to set up their own personalized fundraising pages. You can easily add photos and videos to your page to tell the story of the trip. (It is very difficult to add a video to a traditional paper-based fundraising letter.)
2. You launch the promotion.
We live in a social media world. You’re going to share your photos and your stories about the trip via Facebook, Twitter and blogs. Why wouldn’t we use those same tools to raise money for the trip? That’s why Razoo provides everything you need to promote your page. Each Razoo page is built to share on Facebook, Twitter, and email, making it easier for fundraisers like you to connect with your circle of family and friends.
3. You laugh at the paperwork you used to do.
That’s not technically a step, but you’ll probably still want to do it because Razoo handles all the annoying record-keeping you used to do. Razoo takes care of the tax-deductible receipts, sending a receipt to each donor’s inbox immediately after they donate. They also hook you up with an Excel spreadsheet telling you where every dollar you raised came from and what page it came through.
If you’ve got mission trips coming up later this summer or fall or whenever, give Razoo a try. My attempt to fix the mission trip fundraising letter dilemma was inelegant and prone to result in $0 raised for you. Razoo, on the other hand, is a great solution.
(It’s guest post Friday! Here’s one from Kyle Porter who writes a blog with his wife called Our Marriage Project. If you want to write a guest post for SCL, here’s how.)
The 4 Types of Christian Newlyweds (and 1 bonus couple) – By Kyle Porter
Hi my name is Kyle. I have a marriage blog where I (along with my wife) tell stories. We do our best to give people advice and tips on how to have a successful marriage or relationship. I’ve been married four months, and I have no idea what I’m talking about, so said advice should be taken with a bucket of salt. In my 120+ days of marriage, my wife and I have encountered some interesting couples, but none more interesting than these four (plus a bonus). (more…)
One of the big reasons I get to write a blog, write books, and go speak places is because generous folks sponsor Stuff Christians Like.
My rules with partnering with sponsors are pretty simple:
1. Do they match the goal of SCL? (To clear away the clutter of Christianity so that we can see the beauty of Christ?)
2. Would my own family use the product, support the cause, wear the t-shirt, read the book, etc.?
3. Do I really think the sponsor has something that would add value to SCL readers?
I say no to 99% of the sponsors that approach us. (I know God made the mountains, but I just don’t see how a harnessing rig for rappelling makes sense on SCL.)
But I’m honestly a big fan of the sponsors that we’ve worked with in June. Show them some love for the kindness they showed SCL this month by clicking on their links:
A friend and I once ate a 9 pound lobster on Martha’s Vineyard. It was the size of a small dog and had claws the size of my head. Later that day, a group of us toured the island on scooters named “Cobras,” which immediately inspired us to pretend we were the Cobra Kai from The Karate Kid. We zipped around that island like 12 year olds, waving at guys on Harleys as if, despite the candy apple red paint and insanely small mopeds we were all on, we were part of a larger brotherhood of bikers. They did not wave back.
I was reminded of this moment a few weeks ago while going through some photos.
The design firm putting together the visual story for the Quitter Conference asked me to find some personal photos they could include in the presentation. I’ve never included visuals with any talks I’ve given so this is uncharted/awesome territory.
But as I flipped through photo albums representing the years 2000-2005, I kind of got sick to my stomach.
Wait, huh? “Merry Day after the Fourth of July!” That’s not even a real holiday. No, it’s not. It’s really not. But fear not, Stuff Christians Like will return tomorrow. Funnier than ever. Well, actually, tomorrow is Serious Wednesday, so it’s probably more accurate to say it will return tomorrow “more introspectiver” than ever. But that’s not even a word, is it?
It is on Merry Day after the Fourth of July! That’s just the kind of thing you do on that crazy holiday I invented! I can’t stop using exclamation points!
I hope you’re enjoying some time off with friends and family. If you’re located outside of the US, I hope you’re enjoying Monday and perhaps looking forward to a national holiday of your own like Boxers Rebellion Day.
Normal Stuff Christians Like will resume on Wednesday, July 6th.
(I can’t believe we’ve been kicking around this site for 3 years. It’s become a tradition that 4th of July weekend I repost the piece that started the Skittles running joke and let the cat out of the bag about how church is going to be. Consider this your guide to what’s going to happen at your church tomorrow if you live in the United States.)
It is a poorly kept secret that the day before a big holiday, your church is going to do things a little differently than on most Sundays. That is, with a large portion of the congregation out on vacation, they’re going to mix it up a little.
For instance, at a lot of churches, the younger ministers are always asked to preach the day before Memorial Day. Senior pastors know that it’s a lot safer to have some rough-around-the-edges minister saying something crazy to 400 people than 800 people. Same goes with music. Go tomorrow (in the United States) and you’re bound to see some guy who’s always been in the background step forward for a totally unexpected guitar solo. Or a woman that’s always wanted to lead worship will suddenly be behind the mic for the first time.
I call it “Day Before Vacation Syndrome” or DBVS. (Not to be confused with DVS)
And because I am a huge dork, I thought I would offer 8 ways your church can spice up tomorrow and avoid DBVS:
