Ep. 109 | 3 Ministry Messaging Mistakes That Are Hurting Your Fundraising

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You’ve worked hard on your ministry message.

You’ve poured over the words on your website. You’ve thought about how to explain your ministry when someone asks what you do. Maybe you’ve even practiced your presentation and outlined exactly what you want to say.

But then you share it with potential donors and…it still doesn’t seem to click.

People may listen politely. They might even tell you your ministry sounds great. But you’re not getting the engagement you expected.

So what’s going wrong?

Recently, I’ve been looking through ministry websites, newsletters, and other fundraising materials, and I keep seeing some of the same messaging mistakes. They’re so common that you may not even realize they’re hurting your message.

And sometimes that’s part of the problem. We look at how other ministries communicate and use them as a template. Then the same messaging habits get repeated everywhere.

Here are three mistakes I see again and again—and what I would do instead.

Mistake #1: Your Ministry Message Is Too Vague

This one drives me up the wall.

Strengthening families.

Empowering communities.

Bringing hope.

Transforming lives.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with those phrases. Your ministry may genuinely be bringing hope or transforming lives.

The problem is that I still don’t know what you actually do.

What does “strengthening families” mean? Marriage counseling? Feeding children? Helping parents find jobs? Teaching moms how to manage their finances?

There could be a hundred answers.

Your potential donor shouldn’t have to figure out which one you mean.

Clarity needs to be one of your highest priorities when communicating with donors. Every sentence should help them better understand the problem you address, the people you serve, or what your ministry actually does.

So get concrete.

Instead of:

We strengthen families in poverty.

Maybe your ministry actually:

Teaches single moms financial literacy so they can break out of the cycle of poverty.

Now I can picture something.

I know who you serve. I understand the problem. I have some idea of what your ministry does about it.

“Strengthening families” may describe the eventual outcome, but it doesn’t do enough work as your primary message.

Go through your current messaging and look for phrases that could describe hundreds of other ministries. Then ask yourself: What do we actually mean when we say this?

Say that instead.

Mistake #2: You’re Trying Too Hard to Sound Professional

The second mistake happens when ministry messaging becomes too formal.

Sometimes I land on a ministry website and start reading sentences packed with advanced vocabulary, ministry jargon, and long explanations. I can tell the organization has put thought into sounding credible and professional.

But the donor has to work to understand it.

That’s a problem.

You want someone to understand what you do as quickly as possible. Every complicated phrase creates another hurdle they have to get over before your message clicks.

Think about a fifth-grade reading level.

Could a fifth grader understand the basic message of your ministry?

Simple language doesn’t make your ministry less credible. Clear communication makes your message easier for someone to understand and repeat.

And that second part matters.

Imagine someone asks what your ministry does. You explain it in one sentence. Then that person walks across the room and tries to explain your ministry to someone else.

Could they do it?

If they’re struggling to remember the terminology you used or can’t quite explain what you meant, simplify the message again.

One practical way to do this is to write more like you talk.

We often become strangely formal as soon as we start typing something for a website or newsletter. Read your message out loud and ask yourself, Would I actually say this to someone sitting across the table from me?

If the answer is no, rewrite it the way you’d actually explain it.

Mistake #3: Your Ministry Sounds Like Every Other Ministry

Here’s another message I see:

We help families in poverty.

Okay.

Thousands of ministries help families in poverty.

The same problem happens with ministries fighting human trafficking, sharing the Gospel, helping people experiencing homelessness, discipling young people, or serving vulnerable children.

Your potential donor may care deeply about the cause and still wonder:

Why this ministry?

Go back to why your ministry exists in the first place.

At some point, you or the founder saw a need that wasn’t being met. Something caused you to start another ministry even though other organizations were already working in the same general space.

What was it?

Maybe your location changes the need. Maybe you serve a particular group other organizations weren’t reaching. Your approach may address part of the problem other organizations tend to miss.

For example, there are countless organizations working against human trafficking, but their approaches can look completely different.

One may use films and media to influence policy. Another may operate safe homes and work directly with survivors through long-term restoration. Another may focus heavily on awareness.

They’re all addressing human trafficking, but they’re doing very different work.

Your ministry has those distinctions too.

The problem comes when none of them make it into your fundraising message.

Ask yourself:

What caused this ministry to need to exist?

Then make sure your donors can see the answer.

Your Donor Shouldn’t Have to Decode Your Ministry

You know what you mean when you talk about your ministry.

Your donor doesn’t have years of context in their head. They’re encountering your words from the outside, sometimes for the first time.

Make understanding you easy.

Look at your website, fundraising presentation, or next newsletter and choose one of these areas to work on first.

Find the vague phrases and make them concrete. Simplify language that takes too much effort to understand. Dig into what makes your ministry distinctly worth supporting.

You don’t have to fix your entire message today.

Start with one.

Because the clearer your message becomes, the easier it is for the right donor to understand what God is doing through your ministry and see where they can become part of it.

Need Help Clarifying Your Ministry Message?

Sometimes you’ve been inside your ministry for so long that seeing these problems yourself is incredibly difficult.

That’s exactly what I help ministry leaders work through in one-on-one coaching.

We’ll dig into what your ministry actually needs to communicate, find the words that are getting in the way, and build a clear fundraising message that makes sense to someone outside your organization.

You can learn more about working with me at irisstorytelling.com/coaching.

And if you’re a woman ministry leader who wants a place to ask questions and connect with other women doing this work, I’d love to have you inside our free community at irisstorytelling.com/community.

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