The Fundraising Campaign: Follow Paul’s Model 

Award-winning writer Kathy Widenhouse has helped hundreds of nonprofits and writers produce successful content and has gained 600K+ views for her writing tutorials. She is the author of 9 books. See more of Kathy’s content here.

An online devotional for writers

A Word From The Word

I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. (Philippians 4:10, NLT) 

A Word For Writers

Scott Morton, international funding coach for The Navigators, knows a thing or two about writing a fundraising campaign. 

He has guided hundreds of ministry workers through the process of raising support for ministry by following a simple principle from the Apostle Paul: people support God’s work when you elevate their concern and give them an opportunity.

Scott uses a neat little equation – directly from Paul’s letter to the Philippians – to explain how to write a successful fundraising campaign:

Concern + Opportunity = Support.

• That is, when you tell people about your work – the problem you help to solve and stories of those who have been impacted by your efforts – you raise their concern.
• When you tell people what you need and how they can help, you give them an opportunity.

Combined concern and opportunity move people to offer support.

But when all you do is tell people about what you’re doing but never give them a chance to give, they may not see the need. On the other hand, if all you do is give people chances to give without telling them about the good things that are happening, then people think you’ll only ever come to them to ask for money.

“I know you have always been concerned for me,” Paul wrote to the Christians who lived in Philippi. “But you didn’t have the chance to help me” (Philippians 4:10, NLT).

Concern + Opportunity = Support

A Wise Word

Use Paul’s fundraising campaign formula: Concern + Opportunity = Support

A Word To Pray

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for Paul’s example and the Philippian church’s response. You’ve given me a useful model to follow. As I write my next fundraising campaign, help me to elevate my readers’ concern by showing Your work and then give them an opportunity to give. 

In Jesus’s name, Amen.

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