Fundraising Letters

							Fundraising Suggestions

Fundraising Letters
At WHC we desire all of our short term missionaries                       Tell people WHERE you're going, and
to be sent out, both by having other people covenant                       WHAT you'll be doing on this outreach.
to pray for them while they are preparing to go, while                    Tell them WHEN you need the money sent
they are in another country, and when they return,                         back to you; remember the due date for the
and by raising financial support from others.                              airline tickets.

The preferred way for you to raise funds for your                Have all your support checks made out to Woodland
WHC mission trip is through personal letters sent to             Hills Church, in the memo they can write "Honduras
people that would like to help you go on this outreach           Team." Your name CANNOT be anywhere on the
trip. I would encourage you to first ask the Lord "who           check. However, the checks should be mailed back to
should I send letters to?" and let His leading guide             you so you can keep track of how much support
you. It is much better to send out 20-30 letters to the          you've raised. The funds can then be turned in to your
right people than to send out 200 letters to everyone            Team Leader for deposit so your donors will receive
that you, and your family, might know. The chances               a tax-deductible receipt for their gift.
are that you'll get the same response either way.
                                                                 Ask people to pray for you. They should start NOW,
If you are new to writing letters like this here's a few         for your fundraising, pray while you are in another
tips:                                                            country, and continue to pray after you've returned
                                                                 while you're adjusted to "life in the USA" again. We
        Be real, don't try to make this sound too               want each of our team members to have a minimum
         spiritual, or theological, just be WHO you              of 3-5 people that have covenanted together to pray
         are, and tell the WHY you want to go on this            for them.
         outreach.


Fundraising Alternatives:
Besides sending letters you could also try to sells your skills, services and gifts with others in exchange for financial
help for the trip. Some fun ideas are:

        Cookie or other goodies sale
        Babysitting / house-sitting / pet-sitting
        Promote a fun night for children at your home
        Search for matching gifts from corporate entities or individuals
        Lemonade/soda stand
        Garage Sale
        House Cleaning
        Etc.

Thanks and God Bless!




                                                            1                                            2002 Revision
Fundraising Suggestions

Sample Letter:
To my friends and family:

No, this isn’t an early Holiday Newsletter—but I do want to tell you about a very special trip I’m taking
                    this December. On December 11th, I will be headed to San Pedro Sula, Honduras with
                    nine other Americans as missionaries from Woodland Hills Church in Maplewood,
                    MN.

                   We will be working with children from the Moses Project, which is a program
                   sponsored by the Restoration Church in San Pedro Sula. This program serves children
                   from San Pedro Sula and neighboring communities in Honduras, and not only
                   provides physical, emotional and spiritual care, but also positive role models that can
                   help prepare them for adulthood.

The theme of this mission trip is ―friendship.‖ Using the biblical story of Jonathan and David’s friendship
as a basis, our goal is to show these children that friendships have no country or continental borderlines.
We are taking 65 (yes, 65!) Honduran children, aged 6 – 14, camping in the beautiful Honduran
countryside for 3 days, followed by 3 days of vacation bible school. We will be overseeing games and arts
and craft projects throughout the week.

While I am very excited for this trip, I will not be able to do it without the support of friends and family
like you. Here is how you can help:

     Financial support. It will cost each missionary from Woodland Hills $1,535 for this trip. Financial
      contributions are tax-deductible, as long as checks are made out to
      Woodland Hills Church. PLEASE NOTE: My name cannot appear
      on the check. I have enclosed a self-addressed, stamped envelope
      with my name on the outside so it will be appropriately applied to
      my needed funds. The deadline for financial contributions is
      November 25, 2003.
     Donations of supplies. I will have a list within the next couple weeks
      of specific items needed for games and craft projects for the kids,
      along with items we can leave with them (i.e., toothbrushes,
      crayons, coloring books, etc.).
     Prayer support. We believe strongly in the goals and mission of this
      trip and prayer support from our family and friends will be
      invaluable!

Please feel free to contact me if you would like more information—I would love to talk to you about it!
You can reach me by phone (xxx-xxx-xxxx), or by e-mail (xxxxxx@xxxx.com).

Blessings!

Jane Doe



                                                     2                                       2002 Revision