Life and Mission

As ministry practitioners and nonprofit communicators, we are often called to sit with difficult stories of human suffering and injustice. Even though we are storytellers, not every story is for sharing. Our words are also meant for remembering, exploring, questioning, and hoping.

Resources
Mark Vroegop, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament
Michael Card, A Sacred Sorrow: Reaching Out to God in the Lost Language of Lament (Quiet Times for the Heart)


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Mission Writers is a library of resources to help missionaries and nonprofits raise funds through storytelling. I've been re-organizing the content in response to some of your comments and suggestions, and I'll have some great resources for you soon. Sign up for my emails so you'll know when it's ready!

Parables have a way of getting around our defenses, short-circuiting our stereotypes, and making us think in new ways. In this episode, we're looking at the role of parables in Jesus' ministry, and how you can use stories to break through walls in your nonprofit's messaging.

Check out Jesus' parable in Matthew 13, and his answer to the disciples when they ask why he tells so many stories.

Things to think about:
What misconceptions, bad information, political twists, outdated approaches, prejudices, and stereotypes show up around the work you do?
How do those things affect your nonprofit?
What stories could you tell to nudge people toward a better understanding of the issues and the work that you do?

Resources:
Tell it Slant, by Eugene Peterson (affiliate link)
Get your 2023 Story Calendar

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Mission Writers is a library of resources to help missionaries and nonprofits raise funds through storytelling. I've been re-organizing the content in response to some of your comments and suggestions, and I'll have some great resources for you soon. Sign up for my emails so you'll know when it's ready!

The Fundraising Super Bowl is your nonprofit's big game - and winning looks like raising the funds you need to serve. Here are some lessons from that "other" big game.

Football coaching legend Vince Lombardi famously said to his almost-champion Green Bay Packers team,  “Gentlemen, this is a football.”

What he meant was they needed to execute the basics well, if they expected to win the big championship game. They had failed to win the championship the year before. But by focusing on the basics, they became a football dynasty.

Lombardi's advice is relevant to you, today, as a nonprofit fundraiser.

Even the best players aren’t perfect.

This year, the winning Super Bowl quarterback was Patrick Mahomes. He completed 21 of 27 passes in the big game. The Eagles’ Jalen Hurts completed 27 of 38 passes.  Not perfect. I find that reassuring.

During the season, the Mahomes completed  67% of his passes.  I’m sure he’d love to be perfect, but he also knows there has never been a perfect game. Nobody has ever started and finished a game without throwing an incomplete pass.

Can you imagine if Patrick Mahomes went out to play, threw a couple of incomplete passes, and then said, "That’s it! We obviously need to just run the ball. No more passing, because I can’t complete every one." He wouldn't do that, because he knows 67% is good.

You Real Job as the Fundraising Quarterback
If you’re the quarterback on your fundraising team. You have a job to do. And that job is simply to move the ball down the field. You line up your team, and execute the appropriate play for the moment. 

In fundraising, that means you’re doing the basics: 

• Communicating consistently with donors
• Getting your message in front of new people
• Thanking them when they give
• Sending emails 
• Telling stories 
• Reporting back

Ladies, and gentlemen, this is an email.
This is a phone call.
This is a face to face visit.

These are the basics that move us incrementally down the field, one play at a time.

Some of those incompletes have nothing to do with you. Other times, you need more practice, training, or time with a coach.

Keep doing the basics–with excellence.
If you need training to tell your stories, check out Mission Writers. 

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Mission Writers is a library of resources to help missionaries and nonprofits raise funds through storytelling. I've been re-organizing the content in response to some of your comments and suggestions, and I'll have some great resources for you soon. Sign up for my emails so you'll know when it's ready!

Being a guest on podcasts is a great way to share your message. Here's your guide to being a great podcast guest.

Find full show notes and a checklist at lifeandmission.com

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Mission Writers is a library of resources to help missionaries and nonprofits raise funds through storytelling. I've been re-organizing the content in response to some of your comments and suggestions, and I'll have some great resources for you soon. Sign up for my emails so you'll know when it's ready!

In this interview with Eric Nevins, founder of the Christian Podcasters Association, we discuss the potential waiting to be unlocked through podcasting.

Eric hosts the Halfway There Podcast.

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Mission Writers is a library of resources to help missionaries and nonprofits raise funds through storytelling. I've been re-organizing the content in response to some of your comments and suggestions, and I'll have some great resources for you soon. Sign up for my emails so you'll know when it's ready!

This week on Life and Mission: End-of-year fundraising may be over, but that only sets up some key messaging for January.  In this episode, I'll give you three key messages to send donors in January (plus a bonus).

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Mission Writers is a library of resources to help missionaries and nonprofits raise funds through storytelling. I've been re-organizing the content in response to some of your comments and suggestions, and I'll have some great resources for you soon. Sign up for my emails so you'll know when it's ready!

In this episode, Kent Sanders shares his process for ghostwriting and collaborating on book projects. Plus, thoughts on structure and creativity, and his latest project - a book about Elvis.

Kent is the author of 18 Words to Live By: A Father's Wisdom on What Matters Most,   and The Artist's Suitcase: 26 Essentials for the Creative Journey, and co-author of Performance-Driven Giving: The Roadmap to Unleashing the Power of Generosity in Your Life.  He recently collaborated with Billy Stanley for The Faith of Elvis. 

• What is ghostwriting?
• The process of writing a book
• Building a business on your own terms
• Collaborating on a book
• Different book structures
• Mentor books
• One thing we can do today to improve our writing

Kent is a wonderful teacher, and you can learn more from him through the Daily Writer Podcast or join us in the Daily Writer Club.

Links are affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive compensation (at no extra cost to you). Thank you.

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Mission Writers is a library of resources to help missionaries and nonprofits raise funds through storytelling. I've been re-organizing the content in response to some of your comments and suggestions, and I'll have some great resources for you soon. Sign up for my emails so you'll know when it's ready!

When things don't turn out as planned, a well-told setback story can give donors another reason to support you. 

Here are some of the stories you can tell around a setback:

• Explain the process of change your beneficiaries go through.
• Focus on one aspect of the change process and help supporters understand why it's such a hurdle.
• Share a story about the setting that causes difficulties in the change process.
• Feature something in your work that deals specifically with one of those hurdles.

When you tell stories like this, you show that you're the expert. You're giving donors one more reason to trust you to tackle this problem.

Send me your questions

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Mission Writers is a library of resources to help missionaries and nonprofits raise funds through storytelling. I've been re-organizing the content in response to some of your comments and suggestions, and I'll have some great resources for you soon. Sign up for my emails so you'll know when it's ready!

I have a love-hate relationship with conferences and networking events. While I love to meet new people and to learn new things, large or busy events can get overwhelming. I'm an introvert. I like my alone time. After a lot of activity,  conversations, and noise, I need to go somewhere quiet and recharge. 

Last week's Daily Writer Retreat got me thinking about the advantage of smaller events (at least for me). This was a two-day event, with dinner together at a local restaurant the night before. It was a small event, really much like a mastermind, with only a dozen people. That's one of the things that made this an easy ‘yes’ for me. 

Here are some things that made this event a success  for me:

• Community & collaboration are powerful.  The hotseat approach (like a mastermind) gave everyone a chance to benefit from the experience and insight of others. The structured approach and focus gave everyone a chance to share their ideas.
• Simplicity sparks creativity.  In contrast to over-programmed conferences, 
  the slow, simple approach meant we could have deeper conversations and process them in real time, giving new ideas the room they need to develop.
• Introverts are amazing. In the right environment, introverts are generally superstar listeners. This meant advice from fellow attendees was more likely to be useful and relevant. I think we all left with realistic next steps.

The format of this retreat allowed us, as introverts, to contribute (and receive) consistently through the two days we had together.  Conference planners, if you're not allowing time and space for introverts to shine, you're missing out!

Introverts, understanding how you react to different environments, and structuring your time at events so that you get the breaks you need can make the difference between exhausting and exhilarating!

For more information about the Daily Writer Club - click here (affiliate link)

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Mission Writers is a library of resources to help missionaries and nonprofits raise funds through storytelling. I've been re-organizing the content in response to some of your comments and suggestions, and I'll have some great resources for you soon. Sign up for my emails so you'll know when it's ready!

The tables are turned as fundraising expert Mary Valloni interviews Kay about using stories to connect with donors.

We talked about:
Using stories to connect
Where we go wrong with storytelling
Stories for people in admin roles
Telling your own origin story
The key story we forget

Missionary fundraising training with Mary Valloni
fullyfundedacademy.com

Level up your storytelling skills with Kay
missionwriters.org
kayhelm.com

Send me your questions

Support the show

Mission Writers is a library of resources to help missionaries and nonprofits raise funds through storytelling. I've been re-organizing the content in response to some of your comments and suggestions, and I'll have some great resources for you soon. Sign up for my emails so you'll know when it's ready!