The Future World Racers Field Guide to: Support Raising (Part 1)

1.       Publicity is KEY! The more people know about your trip the more support you can raise, don’t underestimate the power of the anonymous donors or the acquaintance you didn’t ever expect to donate. I promise I am a walking testimony when it comes to the God of perfect timing in support raising … every deadline God showed up, just in time! So back to publicity, tell everyone. The mail man. Your neighbors. Your church. Your neighbor’s church. The waitress at Applebee’s. The doctor who gives you your vaccines. The lady at CVS who takes your passport photos. You get where I am going with this… But let’s be real, if someone told you about this and you didn’t know them … would you remember exactly who they are? No. So always have something you can hand them that tells them your name, your blog, your e-mail, etc … Actually these days there are these popular things called business cards, they are easy, compact, and perfect to pass out in your day to day life. I know. I know. You don’t want to shell out money for all this publicity material, but you’re going to have to dish a little money up front (i.e. stamps, envelopes, printing, etc …) in order to increase your chances of getting money back. It’s called an investment. So if you want to spend the least money possible on publicity but you want a lot for your little bit of shipping money, I urge you to check out (www.vistaprint.com). They have everything from Business Cards to Bumper Stickers to Magnets to Window Decals to Return Labels (which work very well for pre-addressed envelopes with the address to AIM for your support letters). All that to say you can get so much stuff for FREE to very little cost through this website. They have quality products and deliver in a timely manner.

1a. T-Shirts! I did not sell t-shirts, but I wish I had. Things to consider with t-shirts … The more you order the cheaper they cost to make and the more profit you receive. With that being said, AIM has a company (http://www.fundthenations.com/) that they recommend where you can sell shirts through a pre-order process … then after you get all your orders in you can send off for them so you don’t end up with a bunch of unsold shirts and lost money if you accidentally overshoot the number you think will sell. The problem with this, sometimes you won’t have exactly a “bulkâ€� number but if you sell your shirts for $20 – $25 each you can still get about $10-$15 profit per shirt, I would guess … give or take. One squad actually ended up designing a shirt together and everyone sold that shirt so they all did their pre-orders and then combined all their orders at one time to increase profits. You may also want to shop around and see if you can find a local place where you are at with a better deal for the cost to make each shirt. You will need to think about who you are selling to and how much you think you could sell them for to sell the most while still making the most profit. T-shirts are also walking publicity so make sure to slap your website on there (the only downside to a squad shirt), though our squad did make our own Y Squad shirts for Squad Wars … not to sell, but just for ourselves. (Sorry that’s a side note.)

2.       Support Letters. These are a requirement. This is your opportunity to share with your friends and family what you will be doing going to 11 countries in 11 months. This is your opportunity to share your heart for missions and your desire for a partnership with those back home. Though you are going out on the field, they will be the backbone to the ministry, helping to enable you to go and serve. I’m sure you can find many a template online for writing a support letter if you need help, but whatever you do make sure you can fit it on ONE PAGE! Include your blog address on there and make sure you give your supporters a deadline. Not to say you will only accept money until June 28, 2012 … but I would encourage you to pick a date a couple weeks before your deadline and tell your supporters that you will be able to have a better vision of where you stand financially when it comes to the deadline if they are able to send money or pledge money by that set date.

2a. Quick little add in for those of you who are just at the start of this whole process: You have a support account that shows the money that has shown up at AIM. That money is there and self-explanatory. However, AIM allows you to have pledges by each deadline that count just like having the money in your account. For example, if your great aunt Sue is going to give you $50/month for 6 months … you say $50 x 6 months = $300 towards your goal, even though the money isn’t physically in your account at that moment. Same for that friend who is waiting for their tax return so they can give you $500 … that counts as a one-time pledge. You’ll have a Monthly Pledge Sheet to help you keep track of everything, it’s easy, just keep up with it each month.

2b. If at all possible when you send your support letters — send some of your publicity stuff. I sent postcards with my picture and blog site and other pertinent information for my trip. It’s a good thing for people to hang up on their fridge … a lot more eye catching than just a letter. Throw in a business card; you should be able to order plenty of them for free to dirt cheap. Also, include that little paper thing that I don’t remember the name of but you can find it in your mobilization info that has your ID stuff and check boxes for prayer, newsletter, monthly donation, etc … and send a PRE-ADDRESSED envelope to AIM, if you can swing it … have the envelopes pre-stamped too.