Fundraising for Missionaries: Overcoming the "Support Letter" Stigma

How to build sustainable support without guilt, gimmicks, or burnout

Let me tell you about the letter that almost made me quit missions.

I'd written what I thought was a decent support letter. Sent it to 75 people. Got three responses. Two were polite declines. One was from my grandmother for $25.

I felt like a beggar. Like I was asking people to fund my "vacation" or "hobby." Like I was bothering everyone with my need for money while they had real jobs and real bills.

The shame was suffocating.

But here's what I didn't understand then: I was doing fundraising wrong because I was thinking about it wrong.

I thought fundraising was about my need. It's not.

I thought I was asking people to support me. I wasn't.

I thought monthly support letters were just necessary evil. They're actually opportunities.