For as far back as I can recall, asking for funds or raising support has not been on the top of my “fun activities to do” list. My formative and earliest memories of this task was visiting various North American churches on our family’s home assignments from South America. Even whilst being a young ‘un in the shadow of my parents it seemed like a bizarre request. My brother and I would stand side by side in front of our missionary display table and highlight the various ministries we were involved in and how the churches in North America could join in by prayer and support. (Okay, maybe those were the conversations our parents were having while we ate the sample candies we had brought to share from Venezuela and Colombia and tried to sneak around the rest of the church to explore hidden passageways and what not) but I experienced fundraising then, and didn’t find it overly appealing.
Last fall when I was applying for the World Race the one challenge that had me worried was the amount of funds I would need to raise. What was even worse was looking into the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Canadian, and I was appalled that I needed to raise a fair amount more in Canadian. I liked to ignore that fact for the first several months of fundraising. As months progressed and the Canadian dollar weakened, I began to check the exchange rate on a daily basis (sort of how I regularly check my Facebook newsfeed) and I began reading articles on the strength of the dollar and the forecast to know when was the best time to put money into my World Race account. Where the dollar stands right now – I actually need to raise over $21,000 Canadian dollars to raise the $16,267 U.S. dollars I need. Things hadn’t been looking so fun on the fundraising front.
So I needed to make it fun again, which led me to write this blog you are currently feasting your eyes upon.
It was a simple two-step process, to kick-start the fun (:
The 1st way I began to put the ‘FUN’ back into Fundraising was by realizing that I am not the first person to face this sort of challenge. There are hundreds of World Racers before me that have likely been slumped in the same shoes as I am, and somehow they made it! Therefore there is a good chance that I’ll make it through too.
Many moons ago earlier this year, I took a course on Paul’s letter to the Romans and it turns out even way back, when the earliest missionaries embarked on their ministries, they had to raise funds too! Paul, in Romans, tells the believers of Rome that he was on his way to Jerusalem as other churches had made a contribution for the poor in that city. Fundraising works, and can be traced back to Paul and his ministry, that’s pretty fun! Not only am I joining in with hundreds of other racers raising support around the world, but in a way I’m partaking in what Paul was doing back before you and I were born, and several more generations before that!
The 2nd way I’ve been putting ‘FUN’ back into Fundraising is by choosing to put the ‘FUN’ back into fundraising, and trusting God to work through the process.
It’s a daily choice. It’s a choice when I’m uncomfortable about approaching individuals asking for support. Choosing the fun is intentional and genuine care for the process. Choosing fun in fundraising for me was sibling bonding with my brother over creating a fundraising video, (which if you haven’t already checked it out – you should, it’d be fun … Click here!)
I’ll only get out of fundraising what I choose to get out of it. Throughout this whole process I have experienced the generous hearts of many, the prayerful support of others, and a network of close friends and family standing alongside and behind me.
Although I am still facing many frustrations and uncertainties, I can still see the faithfulness of God in my life to date especially in regards to my World Race fundraising. Without him in the mix I wouldn’t be over 63% of the way fundraised with only 6,000 USD to go!
This two-step process isn’t rocket science (I don’t have the credentials for that) but it works in my life in more areas than just fundraising. It works when I’m facing stress or am flusterated(a combination of being flustered and frustrated), and it may apply to you in a whole different way or area of life.
One final reason I needed to put the ‘fun’ back into a Fundraising, is because ‘draising’ is not a word without the ‘fun’ prefix (:
Finally, a huge shout out is in order to all of you who have supported me along this journey and have helped to make 63% possible!
If you feel led to support me financially – follow the prompts on the above video or donate online by clicking on the support me tab to the left of this site. All donations are processed in U.S. dollars.
