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By
Mike Kim
Copyright
Copyright 2014-2015 by Mike Kim and Mike Kim Enterprises LLC. All rights reserved. No portion
of this publication may be reproduced except for brief quotations in published reviews without the
prior written permission of the author.
Please do not illegally file share or duplicate this document. (To do so is stealing.) If you or
someone you know is unable to ethically pay for this resource, contact support@mikekim.com and
we will find a way to help.
Table of Contents
THE IMPORTANCE OF SUPPORT LETTERS
WHAT MAKES SUPPORT LETTERS COMPELLING
A WINNING SUPPORT LETTER EXAMPLE
WRITING YOUR SUPPORT LETTER
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. M IKE, ISNT THIS LETTER TOO LONG?
2. WHAT ABOUT PICTURES? EVERYONE TELLS ME TO USE PICTURES.
3. SHOULD I TELL A STORY INSTEAD?
4. SHOULD I START A BLOG TO SHOWCASE MY MISSIONS WORK?
5. WHERE CAN I GET MORE HELP?
GETTING YOUR LETTER READ
CONCLUSION
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Individual missionaries or missionary families are not going to hire a professional copywriter to pen
their letters. Its just not cost-effective.
The problem is these folks arent writing compelling letters. Its not their fault; theyve never been
trained to do so.
This resource is an attempt to bridge the gap. You may not have a website. You may not even have an
email list. But you will and always will write support letters.
Simply put, a well-written support letter is the most affordable way for you to raise money. You dont
have to travel anywhere, launch a website, or print a full-color newsletter. (I cant wait to share a
few case studies with you later.)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Promise
Picture
Proof
Unique Selling Proposition
Offer
A support letter that contains these elements will accomplish two things:
1. It will help your donors understand that you are worth investing in because of your clarity,
confidence, and vision.
2. It will reduce the resistance your donor will have to contributing to your cause by gently
guiding them to a desired outcome (to help you).
Though all good support letters contain these elements, each bears its
own distinct flavor.
To infuse your support letter with your own distinct flavor, weave in some extra information specific
to you. Also, make sure to incorporate these additional factors:
1. Answer WIIFM, which stands for Whats in it for me? (This is the question your donor is
asking as they read your letter. Is this worth reading? Whats in this for me?)
2. Answer the uncomfortable, unspoken questions a donor may have.
3. Make your subheads progress logically, so that if one were to read only the subheads, the gist
of your letter would still be communicated.
4. Invite the donor to give before the bottom of the first page.
5. Use specific details such as cities, dates, numbers, and names. This will help your donor
create a mental picture of what you do, and where you serve.
6. Create tension and a sense of adventure and urgency. This will allow your donors to feel like
they are part of something big, daring, or bold.
7. Use interesting facts that make your donors feel as if theyve learned something from reading
your letter.
These are the hidden elements that really make a letter stand out and persuade people to action. Ive
given you the professional insider secrets. So
If you want more training on how to use marketing principles to increase the effectiveness of your
fundraising, refer to my full training course, Marketing For Missionaries*
My client was a church plant in Cambridge, MA right near Harvard University and MIT. While this
area isnt exactly an unreached people group, its pretty close!
The goal was to raise $30,000 to fund a larger scale church launch event, and included a city-wide
advertising campaign, website and branding overhaul, and several community outreach events that
would help get the word out about this new church for their launch.
For the best results, I urge you to read this letter out loud three times
(yes, I mean it!) before you proceed through the rest of this guide.
If you take shortcuts now, you will self-sabotage the learning process and your fundraising
development in the long run.
My goal is not to simply give you a template for your next support letter. My goal is to equip you to
write better letters. Reading professional sales letters out loud (and actually copying them longhand)
is something I do to this day to keep my writing skills sharp.
Read the entire letter out loud, three times.
(If you really want to get good at this, copy the letter by hand 3 times as well.)
February 19, 2014
Dear Mike,
In over 14 years of ministry, my wife Gina and I have given our lives to minister to those that God has sent us to. For the past four years,
the Lord planted us near Boston, MA, specifically Cambridge. We have big news: on September 28, 2014: we are formally
launching Journey Church!
We know Cambridge. Weve lived here, worked here, and raised our children here.
Our past college ministry experience has been vital in helping us understand student life and building relationships with people
from diverse backgrounds.
Our team is talented, diverse, and has caught the vision to reach this city.
Ive personally called on top church planters to advise and mentor us every step of the way.
We have the support of other local pastors. Our heart is to reach Cambridgetogether.
1 person at $5000
2 people at $2500
4 people at $1000
6 people at $500
8 people at $250
10 people at $100
If you prefer to give online or give towards specific needs, visit: www.jcboston.org/welcomehome.
Your gift will be handled with complete integrity through the 501C3 organization of Journey Church under the accountability of our
external ministry overseers, including Pastor Chris Wood from Zion Fellowship in Canandaigua, NY and Pastor Mike Rondeau from Full
Gospel Center in Southbridge, MA.
Now that you've read the letter three times, let's take a look at all the elements within it:
Now that youve seen how this template can work for you, lets walk step by step through the process
of gathering the right information.
1. Explain what you need to raise support for. Be as specific as possible. Refrain from blanket
statements like, We are on the frontlines of evangelism to bring glory to God and expand the
kingdom in Mozambique.
Remember the call to action used in the letter: the purpose of the letter was to raise money to
help launch Journey Church. Simple, direct, and clear.
2. Gather interesting facts (just use Google) about the locale you are serving in. When you
share details, be specific. To say We need $5,000 is much better than we need several
thousand dollars.
Dont say, We are going to the Philippines rather, say We will be stationed in Los Banos, a
strategic location several hours north of the capital of Manila which allows us to establish a
foothold into the more rural areas while staying tethered to the capital city to access goods and
transportation.
3. Use the support letter template, and incorporate your information into it.
4. Proofread, format the letter, and send!
Whenever possible, make the subheadings of your letter cohesive enough that the reader would
understand the gist of the message, even without reading the body copy.
Here is a list of the subheadings from this letter.
As you can see, they get the point across quickly:
One church was so moved by his story that they put him on regular monthly financial support, gave
him a $10,000 one-time gift, and took a free-will offering from the congregation that totaled over
$9,000. Thats about $20,000 from just one church!
Ahmad reported another church he contacted donated $5,000. From these responses alone, he raised
roughly $25,000 and it all started with a carefully crafted support letter.
I cant guarantee these kinds of results for you. What I can guarantee is that a high-quality support
letter can position you for these kinds of breakthroughs.
This takes work. Ahmad still had to write the letter, target a number of churches, and mail them. Once
he got the invitations, he had to travel to these churches and communicate his vision in a compelling
way. He obviously did a great job, but his support letter is what opened the door for him.
Your letter may very well work this way for you, too.
Expert fundraiser Harvey McKinnon once said,
Donor loyalty is not about the donor being loyal to you, it is you being
loyal to the donor.
A compelling, informative support letter serves your potential donors. It engages them with the impact
and outcomes of their investments of time, wisdom, expertise, connections, and money.
I encourage you to utilize pride, not apology, when asking for support. I dont mean pride in the
puffed up sense of the word. By pride I mean dignity.
Friend, what you are doing is important. It is meaningful. It is necessary. It is worthy.
People will give to you because you meet others needs not because you have needs. Show your
donors how youre changing lives. Add value to your donors, and let them experience the joy of
participating in a great work.
Your fundraising is really a gentle lesson to others in teaching the joy of giving.
Conclusion
Preparing a well-crafted support letter like the one outlined here will require a considerable
investment of time and thought on your part. However, you get free templates here: mikekim.com/winning
(you are free to copy and paste it into your word processing program). This will save you hours of
writing a letter from scratch.
Further, this kind of investment will pay dividends later when you are given opportunities to share the
vision of your ministry, either in churches, conferences, or one-on-one settings. It will go a long way
toward actually increasing your financial support.
Mike Kim is a business strategist, marketing consultant, copywriter and blogger, and has been
featured on Entrepreneur.com, The Huffington Post, and the Church Marketing Podcast. He has been
involved in marketing at a C-suite level as chief marketing officer of a multi-million dollar brand
based in the competitive NYC media market, and is quickly become a rising voice in new media. He
has also served in a variety of ministry roles as a speaker, worship pastor, songwriter, producer, and
event promoter.
Mikes love for missions is rooted in his ministry journeys, which have taken him all over the United
States and abroad, including numerous countries within South and Central America, as well as Spain,
Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, and of course South Korea.
Mike and his wife Iris live in the suburbs of New Jersey, just outside the Big Apple.
Contact
You can connect with Mike here:
Blog: mikekim.com
Twitter: twitter.com/mikekimtv
Facebook: facebook.com/mikekimtv
Speaking: mikekim.com/speaking
Email: mike@mikekim.com