Engaging Younger Donors in Missions Giving
I've been giving some thought to how we can help the younger people in our church engage more passionately in global missions. Here are a few of my observations:
- Younger Donors give to Specific Issues rather than Programs or Fields.
- Issues close to the hearts of younger donors: Clean drinking water for a village
b. Hunger
c. Human Trafficking
d. Aids Orphans
e. Missional Church Planting
f. Justice issues – persecuted church
g. Tragedy – such as Haiti
h. Micro-loans - Younger Donors are more likely to give BY project – for issues.
a. i.e. Benefit concert
b. 30 Hour Famine
c. Ski for a cause - Young Donors give relationally. How can we build relationships between the missionaries – our mission faith promise – and the young donors?
- Images speak louder than words to Young Donors.
- Young Donors give when they know their gift will really make a difference for a specific person.
a. i.e. youth group “adopts” an orphan
b. when they really know the missionary - Young Donors give electronically. Web site, facebook – Pay Pal. – not by check.
Thank you for some great insights, Mark! I intend to share them with my co-workers here in Albania. The younger generation's passion for service and justice reminds us that our witness is most effective when the words of life we share are accompanied by works of love we do.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of the saying...
ReplyDeleteWalk the Walk
not just
Talk the Talk
I have great faith in the young people of today.
ReplyDeletePerhaps they are giving wiser than us 'old folks' who would just hand money over to a program or organization not knowing how that group was using the money.
Maybe kids are just more focused on taking care of immediate needs with immediate results, rather than seeing a bigger picture which may involve a lot of obstacles and slower results...
ReplyDelete