"Dear John" and Donor Attrition

A few months back I received a note from a pastor in the US. Their church has been supporting us for over 30 years and this guy was their new pastor. When he wrote, in my mind I concluded that (1) he was young (turned out it is his first church) and (2) he was looking for a way to drop our support. Last week I received a note from him saying that his board had made the decision that they would discontinue their financial support, though they would continue to pray for us!?

When you depend on the monthly contributions of churches and individuals you never enjoy receiving a “Dear John Letter” (a reference to when a girl dumps you, which happened to me when I was single guy in the Army). But, like I’ve said before, donor attrition is a way of life for faith missionary support and you have to learn not to take things personally.

When the pastor wrote and asked about our ministry I dutifully answered all his questions and even said I would be happy to visit the church on my next trip home to give a report. All the way to the church in early January I fought the internal discontent in my soul, as I was sure it was a waste of time and money to report to a church that had already made up their mind about our ministry. I’m glad I made the trip in respect to the fact that they had supported us, off and on, for $50 a month for many years. The least I could do was say thanks. It actually was a good evening and I tried to educate the congregation on missions today, not missions of 1975. The world has changed, missions has changed, my role in missions, which I believe is more strategic and important than anything I’ve done in my career, has changed, but, sadly, they have not changed. Though the people were kind, I knew in my heart our partnership was about to end. And so it is.

I’ve said it before so I will say it again -- if a missionary is not actively trying to raise additional funds he is passively going in the hole. Donor attrition is a way of life and so I, like my colleagues, must continue to seek new support to keep the ministry alive. I know it’s wearisome for churches and individuals to constantly receive requests from missionaries and, believe me, it’s tiresome for us to continue to ask for funding. Whether the ministry budget is $50K or one million dollars everyone must continue to spend a certain amount of time raising money. It’s a horrible system, but it has to be done as one thing is certain – occasionally we will receive the dreaded Dear John letter.