Missions based organizations work all over the world each and every day to impact the world that we live in. They are called "missions" organizations as they have a directive for a singular mission; to go and spread the good news gospel. However, that singular mission requires a financial means (and behind the scenes, complex accounting) to do their missions work. Missionaries are often "sponsored" by 501c3 organizations that handle the back office business side of fundraising and accounting while the missionary is responsible for donor communications. This parent-child organizational structure has been used for decades fairly effectively, but with an ever-changing need for missionaries to creatively fundraise and with the logistical challenges that have come as a result of the global pandemic it is more challenging than ever for missionaries to fundraise. Overall, fundraising while being in the mission field can be extremely challenging without the right software that allows an organization to scale.
The first challenge is that missionaries are sent into their mission field and often have to fend for themselves in terms of donor communications. Traditionally, those communications are all done manually through email communications or social posts that are used by missionaries to update their donors on missionary projects. However, missionaries today that want to really reach their donor audience cannot share their whole story by sending an email or posting a social message. They need a platform (that's not wrought with cluttered emails or donor distractions like social media) to share their story daily. A website platform that allows missionaries to create dynamic webpages that they can easily add and modify can help scale missionary fundraising and drive engagement.
Another challenge to missions fundraising is presented when it comes to converting would-be donors to faithful donors; the missions giving experience must be simple for the donor to quickly support the missionary without having to re-enter payment information each time they donate. Donor friction can result in donor abandonment so only requiring the donor to enter their payment details once will free the donor up to securely give again anytime in 1-click through tools such as a donor portal. Additionally, faithful donors will want to see their giving history and track past donations; with a donor portal, all of the past giving data is accessible to the donor at anytime and also gives the donor the ability to modify a recurring donation on file.
Above all, perhaps the greatest challenge for missions based giving is the inherent reporting challenges being faced when you have a large network of missionaries. Missions organizations must be able to pull detailed top-down reporting, but also be able to isolate donation details to disseminate funds reports to the missionary in the field quickly (so that the missionary can stay apprised to their fundraising totals). Many giving software companies can capture donations, but they tend to bog down with multiplicity. Having a robust, multi-dimensional back office reporting system is critical to effective missions fundraising.
When it comes to scaling missions giving, there is no giving software and processor like Paperless Transactions. Whether you're a localized, growing missions organization (such as Great Plains Chi Alpha) or you have a worldwide network of missionaries (such as Mission to North America), you can chat with our team and we can design missions giving software that will help you scale.