OK, so I am going to let you into a secret about raising support. The hardest task is ringing up a potential supporter and asking if they'd be interested in knowing more about how they could support you financially. The aim is not to convince them to support you over the phone but to find out if they might consider this. If so, you arrange a time to meet up and talk about it. The very sensible and indeed ethical idea behind this system is that when you do meet up with such people, they know you are raising financial support and are happy to talk about this. There are no nasty surprises, no ulterior motives. So the theory is great and I totally agree with it. It's just the putting it into practice I struggle with.
Although I have been back in the UK over a month and I am looking to add a few new supporters, I have a confession to make: I hadn't made one of these calls until today. Of the potential supporters I had in mind so far, one offered to support me before I got around to calling, and with the others we ended up speaking face to face. Having someone offer to support you before you ask is wonderful and I have people who have done this. However, these people are the exception rather than the rule - a lovely exception and very encouraging but nevertheless they are the exception. Your total support will not be covered by these people. And often God wants to have people support you who you didn't know that well before or who might not have thought about this if you hadn't asked to have the conversation.
The idea of making such a call freaks us out because money is such a taboo subject. And in my home culture I'm acutely aware of how many marketing calls people get on a daily basis. What if the person I'm calling feels like I'm trying to sell them something? I don't want to sound like a telesalesperson. Well, the person I am calling is not a random person on a call-sheet, it is someone I have some kind of relationship with (even though we might not be best friends) and who already knows something about my organisation and my work. But still, I come up with 101 reasons why I shouldn't call them and when I get to the end of that list, I can still cross my arms, scowl and say, "I just don't want to!"
... Except, I would like to know if this person might be interested in joining my financial support team. They already support me in other ways and this could be an encouragement to us both. It's not about whether they actually do join my team. It's about giving them the opportunity to consider this and say 'yes' or 'no' at the end.
To cut a long story from today short, after praying, protesting, praying, getting stressed, praying again, calling and discovering the line was busy, then repeating some the aforementioned process, I got through! And because I know the person, it felt very natural to chat with them about what we're both up to. Yes, there came the point where I had to take a deep breath and introduce the reason for my call. But it was not half as difficult as I imagined. And we've arranged to get in touch again soon about this. So that is the success of it all.
I write this because I'm thankful for God's patience with me and for how the call went. But also because I'll need to be reminded of this next time!
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