Over the years, many of us have developed deep relationships with missionaries and have supported numerous Advance mission projects. Some of us have visited mission projects and have seen the impact
that they make on communities. These projects include persons in ministry who share the whole gospel by building wells, supporting children’s ministries, providing medical care, or planting new churches.
Peer-to-Peer Fundraising, a subset of crowdfunding, has become one of the ways which we raise funds for particular causes that mean a lot to us. Now, the General Board of Global Ministries, the mission arm of the UM Church, has created a peer-to-peer program to support missionaries, UMCOR projects, and Advance mission projects. Unlike most crowdfunding programs, there is no administrative fee—meaning that every penny that is raised from our friends and family will go to support the missionary or mission project which we are encouraging persons to support.
To set up your own peer-to-peer fundraising program, go first to advance.umcmission.org or umcmission.org/umcor. Establish an account with GBGM for yourself with a user name and password. Once you have signed in, use the search button in the upper right-hand corner to find the name of the missionary or the Advance project. The website will take you to a page which is dedicated to that person or project. Near the bottom of that page, you will find a “Create Cause” button. At that point, you will create a title for your fundraising project, set a financial goal for your campaign, write a summary and a full description of your campaign, and add pictures if you wish. When finished with this information, you press “Create My Cause” and click on “I Agree” to the disclosure agreement.
From this point, you have a peer-to-peer fundraising account which you can link to on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social networks. This campaign would be a wonderful way to finish out the year and help our Church be in mission throughout the world.
For more information, contact the Rev Bill Haddock at 910.262.3831 or revbillh@nccumc.org