YoungLives Thank You Cards

Did you know that you can order YoungLives Thank You cards from the service center? It's true! As you think of thanking volunteers, or as a way to keep in touch with donors, make sure to order some for your area! This would also be a great way of thanking donors who are sponsoring girls at camp; just have the teen mom write a note inside and you're all set. 

Have another way you've said "THANK YOU!!" that you want to share? We love spreading the word on creative ideas. Email amy (greatergryounglives@gmail.com) with photos and a brief description.

Young Life Grants and Foundation Relations

Grants are a great way to fundraise larger amounts of money, especially for unique programs like YoungLives. The process, however, can be daunting and overwhelming!

Did you know that the Young Life Service Center has an entire team dedicated to helping you fundraise through grants & foundations? Your YL area can receive assistance in identifying local foundations, writing proposals, grants, as well as providing you with the right tools. Log on to the staff site and search "Grants and Foundation Relations" to get started.  

Personalized Tote Bags

Looking for a great year-end mentor gift? Something for your donors? The perfect camp accessory? Or something for all of the above? Check out the personalized tote bags from the Wedding Chicks. At just $10 a bag (or less if you order more than 20), you can personalize them for your region or area. Pick the colors and design that you like best. These bags make a great gift & an awesome way to represent YoungLives in your community!

Interview with Teen Moms and Mentors

Pittsburgh East Hills recently produced this 5-minute video interview with four pairs of teen moms and their mentors. Use it as a tool in recruiting and training new mentors, at your banquet, or send the link to donors and volunteers as an encouragement!

Sample Case Statement

A case statement provides donors or potential donors with a picture of the annual plans for your area and shows them how they can support YoungLives. Follow this link to see a great example of a YoungLives case statement created Anneke Brown, coordinator in Noralk, CT. 

Love Does.

I used to think you had to be special for God to use you, 

but now I know you simply need to say yes. - Bob Goff, Love Does

Does this resonate with you? I know it does with me. When I heard about YoungLives I sensed a stirring but struggled to believe that God could use me. As a young, white, single girl in grad school who was not a teen parent -- or any parent for that matter -- it didn't make sense on paper. I said yes and it's been a crazy journey since!

Bob Goff's stories of authentic faith, love and adventure are contagious. With roots in Young Life, his book drew me closer to the heart of God and illuminated just what this mission is about -- being Christ with skin on and loving others in crazy ways that the world doesn't understand. One of my favorite things about this book is that in each chapter he brings it back to Jesus and the greatest love story of all time. I highly recommend this book as a gift for mentors, committee, donors & yourself (after all, you deserve it!).

A summary of Love Does in two words? Must Read.  

Have you already read Love Does? What did you think? Leave a comment!

Where to Buy

Making Online giving even easier!

Did you know that you can pre-populate the info for your area in the online giving and add a link to all your correspondences and to your msite? What a great way to help your donors be reminded of giving and have an easy link to make that happen. Follow this link to the Staff Web site Designate Online Donations for Specific Funds   Once you get it set up with your area info your donors will have an easy way to link into the online giving.

Giving Letter

Here is the letter I sent to current and potential donors at the beginning of December for year-end gifts. December is the strongest giving month to areas! Remember that whenever you send letters out, following up with a phone call is key! 


How I did it:
I used a girl's story, picture and then had a note along with the pledge card at the bottom that they could tear off. I personalized each letter with the person's name. Feel free to use this letter to create your own for support, camp scholarships, year-end giving, etc... A letter like this can be made in Word -- you don't need expensive graphic design software. If this isn't your skill set find someone to help you (a mentor, committee person, computer savvy friend!). A full-size version of the file can be viewed here. 

Christmas Thank-You

Check out this incredible Christmas video created by a teen mom in YoungLives North Hills, Pennsylvania! Perfect for sharing with volunteers and donors.

Christmas Thank You

This is a video that we put together last Christmas for donors. We burned the video to DVDs and mailed them in Christmas cards. Feel free to use it and do the same or take the idea and make it your own!


Quick how to:

• Make signs with paper and markers with what you want to say 
• Hand them to girls and get short shots (about 5-10 seconds each) at your YoungLives events
• Use a simple video camera or digital camera that does video
• If you have a Mac with iMovie or a PC with Windows Movie Maker you can upload your videos and compile all of these shots into a short video. 
• Save the file and burn to a blank DVD.

If you like the idea of this, but it seems overwhelming... cry out to a friend who is "techy" and gets this stuff and ask them to help you!

A fresh perspective on Fundraising

We're always looking for new ideas and ways to fund our ministries and send our girls to camp. The book Revolution in Generosity promotes God-oriented stewardship, not just fundraising techniques. This book is Kingdom oriented and reminds us that fundraising is stewardship and an invitation to invest in what God is doing.

The book's website also offers some resources on fundraising. 

Whenever you want to purchase books be sure to check the publisher discounts on the Young Life staff site.

Happy Reading!
and Happy Fundraising!

Teenage Pregnancy Epidemic

We all hear the statistics on teenage pregnancy...but here you can see them.

This graphics file gives you the statistics on teenage pregnancy to share with donors and potential volunteers in a visually compelling way.

Finances Seminar - Support Week

In many ways, finances can make or break our ministries. Deficit or the threat of deficit can become all-consuming, taking our time and energy away from the rest of ministry and even causing people to have to leave staff. On the other hand, a healthy financial situation frees us to focus on recruiting and training our mentors, loving on girls, and thanking donors without having to beg for help. If you missed Greg Lehman's finances seminar at Support Week - or if you just need a refresher - below are links to the PowerPoint and handouts from his presentation:

YLVS TDS PowerPoint Presentation

Ask Slide

Effective Asking Strategy

TDS for women

Friendraising...Fundraising is about relationships

As you know we cannot do what we do without money. Fundraising can be seen as a daunting part of the job unless we shift our perspective. Larry Acosta is the President and Founder of the Urban Youth Workers Institute and is known for being a great fundraiser. Earlier this year all of the urban ministries in our region were encouraged to listen to this online interview with him and the Fuller Youth Institute. In this interview he talks about his best practices for fundraising and how it's basically about relationships [true to what we believe in YL!].

Listen to it here. Click on the "Larry Acosta Interview" link under "Related Content" and it should play right in that window. The interview is about 25 minutes long -- definitely worth a listen!

Post any feedback or comments here on the blog. Would love to hear your thoughts!

The Spirituality of Fundraising - Henri Nouwen

These seven principles of fundraising pulled from the transcript of a talk given by Henri Nouwen have been invaluable to me in my view of fundraising and my relationships with donors. I hope you find them just as helpful as I have!

The Spirituality of Fundraising - Henri Nouwen
Many of us regard fundraising as a “necessary but unpleasant activity to support spiritual things.”

1. Fundraising is first and foremost a form of ministry, but it is a subject we seldom think about from a spiritual perspective.

• Fundraising is a spiritual as giving a sermon, entering into a time of prayer, visiting the sick, or feeding the hungry!It is a life-giving and hope-filled expression of ministry.
• Are we willing to be converted from our fear of asking or anxiety of being rejected or feeling humiliated if someone says “no” in order to engage in this spiritual activity?
• Fundraising is a very concrete way to help the Kingdom of God come about.

2. Fundraising is proclaiming what we believe in such a way that we offer other people an opportunity to participate with us in our vision and mission.

• It is a call to conversation
• It requires a shift of attention in which we set our mind on divine things
• It is asking for what you believe in without apology

3. Fundraising is collaboration between asker and giver that is good for both of their spiritual lives.

• Asker and giver are drawn together by God who is about to do a new thing through our collaboration
• The giver is enriched; it is good for their spiritual health

4. Fundraising is about our relationship with money.

• Asking for money may feel taboo, but that feeling comes from an intimate place in our heart where we need security
• Our need to secure our own future and to control our lives does not come from the Bible
• What is our security base, God or Mammon? Our security needs to be totally from God

5. Fundraising may require that we overcome a prejudice against the rich.

• We equate helping the poor with serving Jesus. Our concern for the poor may carry with it a prejudice against the rich
• The rich have a spiritual poverty, just like us
• If we ask for money from the rich we have to love them deeply
• No matter how polished our approach, if asking comes for anger or jealousy we are not giving the person the means to become a brother or sister

6. Fundraising has to be community-building. It needs to hold the real possibility of friendship and community.

• If we ask for money, it means we offer a new fellowship, a new way of belonging
• Fundraising must always aim to create new, lasting relationships
• We invite people into a vision of fruitfulness and into a vision that is fruitful

7. Fundraising is grounded in prayer and undertaken in gratitude.

• Prayer is the radical starting point of fundraising
• Prayer releases a spirit of gratitude
• God is pleased with us; we can approach all people in freedom and love

-Shared by Rebecca Asper

Taking. Donors. Seriously.

What would happen if we devoted more time to building relationships with donors, making asks in person rather than through the mail or e-mail, and making a strategic financial plan for an entire year at a time? These are just some of the ideas that come up in Taking Donors Seriously (TDS) - Young Life's ultimate plan for fund-raising. Many of us have heard the term TDS, but we may not realize how powerful it can be when it is actually put into place in an area. It's all about doing fund-raising the way we do ministry - making our focus on people, not on events.

For instance, TDS proposes that the best use of our time and the best way to build our financial health is not to plan more fund-raising events, but to build our base of monthly donors. Think about it - a hoagie sale, car wash, or luncheon would be doing great if it brought in $1k-$2k. But if you could find just 20 people (committee, family members, friends, etc) to commit to giving $20 a month, you've just raised nearly $5,000 per year. Nice! Plus, instead of pouring your committee's time into a day-long event that they will have to plan again next year - or next month - you've gained both a consistent "income" and also gained a group of people who are invested in and praying for your ministry. It's a win-win!

Another TDS idea is to come up with a yearly financial calendar. How many of us have great intentions for sending out a newsletter or donor thank-you cards, or for sitting down for coffee with that donor who has been consistently giving for years... but we just never seem to get around to it? Check out this sample financial calendar for ideas on how to plan all of your donor interactions and fund-raisers in advance.

One other helpful resource... the Service Center offers convenient - and customizable - contribution envelopes for donors to send in their donations (see picture above). The envelopes even have a place for them to fill out their credit card or bank information for automatic recurring monthly donations. Customize the front with your area address so that you can keep track of donations and pledges, and then send it in to the Service Center for processing!

These are just a couple of tips on implementing TDS. For a much more thorough and very easy-to-follow power-point presentation about Taking Donors Seriously (for yourself and/or your committee), check out the TDS e-Learning course. (Just type TDS in the search box in the top left of the Staff Resources site, click on the TDS link, and then click on TDS e-Learning Course). I HIGHLY recommend it for anyone who is looking for ways to become financially stable and healthy.

Let's stop worrying about not having the funds we need and start to do something about it - seriously!

-Posted by Rebecca Asper

Year-End Appeals

Did you know that around 30% of giving to Young Life comes in December? Check out this helpful guide from Field Development for tips on year-end appeals, and don't miss this great season of giving!

• In October/early November secure a Matching Gift that can be used at Year End.
• Look to current top 20% donors.
• Look for a donor that might give a larger gift if they knew they were seeding a match.
• Look to Committee/TDS Team to consider going in together to set up the match. One idea is to have each person write the amount they would give or raise towards a match on a piece of paper and secretly give it to you. Add up the total and make that the match.
• Develop PPL/List of who will be approached at year end and how they will be approached.
• Who has the capacity to give a large year end gift? These people should be met with Face-to-Face for a year end update and ask. A letter informing them of the year end opportunity may come before the meeting but the letter should not make the ask but let them know that you would like to meet and will be calling them.
• For the rest of the PPL/list decide on a strategy:
• Letter to everyone with no follow up (Good but not Great).
• Letter to everyone and followed up with a phone call (Much Better).
• Blended strategy – those with moderate potential get a letter and a phone call and those with limited capacity/lower likeliness to give just receive the letter for efficiency.
• In October/November write/revise letters and prep all necessary materials.
• Letters should be received the Monday after Thanksgiving.
• Don’t wait until mid or late December – you will miss it and it is hard to ask a donor to give attention to your appeal at Christmas! They may have already given somewhere else.
• This is a good time to include a gift (i.e. Young Life Calendar) as a Thank You.
• Do a special thank you and update to donors at Year End. Share the story. Give them inspiration to make a year end gift! Make Young Life stand out.
• Involve the Committee in writing year end Thank You’s to donors and visiting donors at year end.
• Make sure at year end that all potential donors that have not given in the current calendar year get contacted and have a chance to give a gift. For those who have just forgotten or gotten missed this can make a big difference.
  
• A year end appeal should be a part of a larger yearlong fundraising plan (TDS Financial Master Plan). If you are just organizing your plan, go after the year end appeal hard and then sit down in January and lay out the year long plan.

Thank you, Thank you!

As a Thank You to mentors, donors, and anyone that helps out with Young Lives... we create a Thank You DVD! Sometimes the folks helping us (especially donors) don't always get to see the impact that they're having on these young moms, so we show them! On a weekend day I schedule "dates" with the girls and their babies and interview them about why they are thankful for Young Lives, their mentors, those that watch their kids, etc. We edit the video and make copies for all those that we'd love to Thank for their faithful service!

We have had such an overwhelming response to these videos! Donors feel like their money is being well spent because we aren't spending it on calendars or t-shirts! Plus, they get to see their girls and kids on tape sharing about how glad they are that Young Lives is a part of their life!

Teen Moms Give a Personal Thank-You to Donors!

If you are looking for a fun way to thank donors after camp, take a picture of your girls and their babies with THANK YOU signs. Just pack some poster board and markers for camp. Enlist your girls to help make the posters at camp. Don't forget to print the pictures and send them to your donors with a personal note! You can also do this at any other time through the year - Christmas cards, newsletters, at banquet...great idea that is very versatile. - Lisa Brown

Ministry Updates in Photo Cards

One of the ways I've found to update donors in a quick, personal way is through photo cards. I do mine on my mac (iphoto), but there are many websites & software that do them well. 

(i.e. snapfish, shutterfly, digi-labs)

The idea is to include recent ministry pictures and content that keeps donors updated on what is happening in the ministry. I leave a blank space at the bottom of the text to write a quick personal note to each. This is a great way to quickly update between newsletters. 

Most services will print and ship directly to you within a week.