Episode10

Send a newsletter

Article10

A well-crafted newsletter is important

Your ministry partners are an essential part of your team! “Of course,” you say. But have you taken the opportunity to send a quality update so they can see what their investment is growing?

“And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house.” –Luke 10:7 [ESV]

It is more effective to keep your existing partners than to continually replace them. Review the sections of your SRS Bootcamp workbook outlining the elements of a solid newsletter. This is an invaluable tool for your partners to keep apprised of the ministry you have together. Remember, a short monthly newsletter is typically far more valuable than occasional long-winded updates. Plus, it’s more likely to remind people to keep praying! (Caveat: During your support raising season, it may be appropriate to scale down to a newsletter every two months.)

If you haven’t sent one in awhile, go ahead and get that assembled and sent this week. Make it a priority! But don’t stop there. When do you plan to send your next newsletter? And what about the one after that? Are those on your calendar yet? Creating self-ascribed due dates and work habits will help ensure this necessary vision-driven communication doesn’t fail to happen, despite your best intentions.

In the midst of a busy season of support raising, newsletters are key because you can’t get fully funded or stay that way for long without them. Remember, communication is vital to relationships and ongoing partnership!

Here are some tips for newsletter content while support raising:

• If you’re struggling to find vision-casting content, use stories from the ministry or team you are joining to let them know what God is doing in the ministry. Tie yourself into the story by saying you can’t wait to be a part of that effort when you finish support raising.
• Write about the needs and prayer requests of the people you will be ministering to when you get to your ministry assignment.
• Share progress of your support raising efforts, but don’t let it turn into a direct or subtle financial appeal. Mass communication is for information sharing, not for fundraising.
• Personal updates about your family should not be more than 33% of your newsletter, and we recommend just 20%. Also, show discretion in what you share, because if you’re too often talking about vacations, attending the theater, personal hobbies or sports, people may question your diligence in getting to full support as quickly as possible.

 

May God bless you in building your team of ministry partners,

The SRS Team

 

This Week’s Self-Improvement Challenge

If you haven’t yet incorporated supporter maintenance into your weekly schedule, now is the time to do so. Begin to intentionally pray for your partners, taking into account what you have noted from your appointments or have asked them about in a text or quick conversation–this is a great way to keep them up to date on your prayer needs as well. Here is an excellent article that can give you a jumpstart.