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So what in the world is mission trip software?!  Great question.  Essentially mission trip software are tools that help you run the logistics of your short term missions trips.  But all things are not created equal.  It all starts with understanding your overall goals and then evaluating the tools that make the most sense for you.  Let’s navigate a few key tips to set you up for success on selecting the mission trip software that’s best for you.  

Tip #1 - Know Your Goals

Everyone has a different set of goals but we believe there are a few that we all agree on and ones that we see quite often.  Most everyone is looking for ways to do the following:

• Reduce Stress - there are so many logistical items for managing a short term trip - the software should help relieve some of that stress.

• Save Time - the average short term trip takes around 150 hours to manage - the software should greatly reduce that amount of time.

• Expandabilty to Grow - the reduction in both stress and time should allow for the expansion of your missions program.

• Keeping People Engaged - short term trips should always have a way to keep people engaged with your organization and in a life of missional living.  

Tip #2 - Determine the Features that Matter

You have an idea in your head about what features matter most to you.  Take a moment to write those down and talk those over with your team.  And if you need some ideas for features that you should be considering, take a look at our free Guide to Choosing the Best Technology to Grow Your Missions Program.  The best thing you can do is map out your desired features and then start evaluating which tool works best for you. 

Tip #3 - Ask the Right Questions

There may be a ton of questions you want to ask about any technology, as you should.  Many of these questions you can answer on your own as you look through their sales site and explore features.  But there are other questions you’ll have that might be specific to your needs or processes.  Be sure to contact the tools you’re exploring to help answer those questions.  Here are a few questions we recommend considering when looking at any new software:

• Does it manage online fundraising?

• Is it simple for our staff to use?

• Is it simple for our participants to use?

• Can it scale to our ultimate vision in missions engagement?

• Does it help mature our participants toward greater life engagement?

• Do applicants need to fill out application data from scratch each time?

• Can you control what each trip admin can and cannot do?

• Do trip members have dedicated fundraising pages?

• Are your trip participants notified of financial progress?

• Does it help you tell your organization’s missional story?

Tip #4 - Engage Others on Your Team

Don’t make this decision on your own… certainly don’t feel the weight of the decision needs to be completely on your shoulders.  Consider engaging your boss, your finance department, your IT department, your communications department, your team leaders, and whoever else helps make the whole world of short term missions a reality at your organization. You will be thankful for their wisdom and insights.  

Tip #5 - Build a Comparison Chart

You know what you’re looking for in a mission trip software solution.  As you look through various options and solutions, create a simple comparison chart of your own that helps you see things side by side.  You know what’s important to you so, in some ways, you’re the only one who can build that chart.  Feel free to take a look at our comparison page to get an idea of how to start building your comparison chart.  

Most of all… have fun!  I know, how is selecting a technology fun?  But it can be… this season of exploring is short-lived and it really is one that can help you dream of what you could be doing.  Enjoy this exploration as you investigate all the possibilities and narrow in your selection. 

I've heard it said, "If you have a clear vision, you know you will find the right strategy...Without a clear vision, no amount of effort will fix the vision." We're confident your mission and vision is clear and your leadership is excellent, which means if your teams are struggling in this area, then we need look at how equipped they are to carry your vision forward.

Are people excited about mission trips? 

There are some great vision and mission statements out there. Here are a few statements from organizations and churches we work with: 

• North Point Community Church: Life is complicated. You want to get it right. We want to help!
• Samaritan's Purse: Helping in Jesus' Name
• InterVarsity: a vibrant campus ministry that establishes and advances witnessing communities of students and faculty.

Who can't get excited about these missions right? 

Whether it be medical mission trips or short-term missions at church, so often us leaders feel the burden to push our vision and mission forward yet we forget our members are catalysts of our vision for the next mission trip.

How can we get (and keep) our teams and are people excited and sharing mission trips? 

My guess is, you're probably already doing some of these. And, this list isn't exhaustive by any means. I hope the ideas here will make you think of other ideas you can do to get your people on fire for missions. Note: if you're already doing some of these things on the list, great, make sure you're doing them well! 

Here are nine (9) practical ways to get people excited about mission trips:

1. Place on website: Make sure your vision is front and center on your website but also make sure it’s presented in a way that invites people into that vision. Cherry Hills Community Church in Colorado knows a thing or two about communicating the missional vision using their website.
   
   Protip: make sure your mission and vision are on your homepage. We see so many churches and organizations "hide their light under a bushel" by placing their vision for missions on the "about us" page or some other secondary or later page on their website. Put it from and center! 

2. Begin meetings with your vision: Don’t assume everyone has the vision memorized or that it’s top of their minds. It’s good to come back to this over and over again so that the “main things remains the main thing." When possible, highlight actions on your team from the last week that capture the spirit of your vision.

3. T-Shirts: Print shirts for your team members that capture the tag line of your vision so people are literally walking around with your vision or next mission trip by name. Shirts are a great bonding gift for your team and a great keepsake after the trip. Double win. 

4. Start your short-term trips with the vision: Train your team leaders to bring the vision to light for each meeting, each morning, each debrief and to keep this in front of the team. Imagine before every meeting about a short-term missions trip, the leader starting with reciting the very reason you're gathering in the first place. Powerful. 

5. Refine your vision to a one-sentence summary: Do a spot test and see how many on your immediate team know your vision. Probably not many. Make sure your vision has been simplified to its simplest version so it is easier to recall.

6. Practice: Personally and with your team, practice reciting your vision. Do spot checks to see how well people are remembering this. Provide small rewards to those that get it right.

7. Place your vision on your business cards: That’s right, once you have it down to one line, get those nice business cards double-sided and print your vision right on the back of the card.

8. Place your vision in your email signature line: Now that you have it simplified then make sure to add it to your email signature.

9. The story of your social media: Make sure every social media post is capturing your vision in its heart. 

You’ve probably noticed we have a broad definition for teams. Teams might be your staff, trip leaders, general participants, but also donors, advocates, and colleagues. Whoever you place into this category, you have a responsibility to equip them to carry your vision and promote it and any trips and stories.

Stop thinking it’s your role to tell everyone about your vision and start equipping your team to carry this vision forward. Remember, a shared vision is always more powerful than the perfect vision. 

For those of you with plenty of people to serve; great, you'll have that many more energized people on your team. For those who tell us they need more people on board for missions, do these things to generate some buzz and excitement for missions. 

Action: Select at least one idea from above and see if you can implement in the next 30 days. Need help? You know where to find us!

This is just one strategy of five (5) we have for doubling your impact. Download all five (5) strategies you can implement immediately that will double your missions impact.

This post is written by Will Rogers. Will is the Co-Founder and CEO of ServiceReef.

One of the key elements that will drive questions from participants, leaders, and parents is “what happens to the funds I've raised for this trip?”

Some key elements to prepare yourself and your teams for this include the following, which may include things you are already doing, but perhaps can do better/different to make this easier each time that you go through this process. 

You already understand your role as a leader when it comes to short-term mission trips. Here are a few ideas for how to improve fundraising communication with participants, leaders, and parents

Involve your Accounting Team and Financial Leaders

This one is pretty obvious, but there are some critical questions that they will need to help walk you through, including:

✓  Tax implications and verbiage you can use when people ask for a refund (because they will, even if you’ve told them many times what the process is)

✓  What should we do with the funds that were already provided?

✓  Are there any restrictions and/or considerations we should make when deciding to cancel or postpone a trip?

✓  Identify which funds or trips that already have expenses and determine what do to in order to recover or eat that cost (e.g. travel costs, etc.)

Involve your Leadership Team

Depending on the involvement of your leaders, some may already be well aware of what is going on, but here are some thoughts to consider:

✓  Be prepared to summarize for them (or provide them a summary that they can provide their own leadership/board).

✓  Provide options with benefits/drawbacks to each approach. For example, reschedule versus cancel.

✓  If you decide to reschedule, have a general timeframe for communication... or at least determine what information you will need to decide on a timeframe.

✓  If not involved in the financial communication with your accounting team, provide your leaders a roadmap/summary of the financial impact and approach that is suggested (as they will likely be asked this by their leadership)

Communicate Clearly to Participants and Leaders

✓  Create a communication plan, even if a very simple one. For example, write up a communication to the teams and create some common questions people will ask.

✓  Clearly communicate what will happen with any funds that have been raised (based on your conversations with accounting and leadership).

✓  Have others review your communication. This can be a review for typos, tone, etc., but it is important to make sure that you get buy-in from others.

✓  Copy and Paste...once you answer a question once, either copy it to a word doc so you can use it later or add it to your common FAQ area/web page.

✓  Provide some education or guidance to the process. For example, participants are not aware of the tax situation for non-profit donation. Provide some simple guidance that helps them understand enough, while keeping communication focused.

✓  Provide assurance that their concerns are addressed. While you may have gone through this process many times, this might be the participant’s first time a trip was cancelled. Try to put yourself in their shoes and address uncertainty. Assure them that you have done this before and will guide them through the process.

We hope this helps you improve fundraising communication when speaking with participants, leaders, and parents. 

This is one post of many we're doing related to the current crisis. Download Cancelled: A Guide to Maintaining Missions Engagement When Your Short-Term Trip is Cancelled.

Who ever wants to be quarantined?! Maybe a few people out there but it’s not likely.

Thankfully there are tons of creative things you can do (and should do) to engage your participants even now as people are home.

We've mentioned how vital communication during a crisis can be. Don’t miss this opportunity to guide your people into a greater missional journey. Point to God with these ways to serve during quarantine.

• Prayer - create a prayer guide around missions (partners, projects, people, regions, needs) to send out to your participants to be praying each day for something missional.

• Learn - encourage them to keep learning in their missional journey either through a missions book or programs like Perspectives on the World Gospel Movement.

• Books - send out books about missions that people could read - biographies of missionaries, missions philosophy, stories, etc.

• Support Local Healthcare Workers - remember the work that local healthcare professionals are doing to combat the COVID-19 virus and reach out to provide a meal or help them in some way.

• Elderly in Area - reach out to local nursing homes or other facilities to see if could use assistance with supplies, errands, or other needs.

• Encouragement - write encouragement notes to missionaries, partners, donors, or others who are part of your missional community.

• Assessments - encourage your participants to take an online assessment (Enneagram, Meyers- Briggs, Strengths, etc.) to learn more about themselves and how their unique design could be used for missional purposes.

• Donate to a Cause - there are tons of causes out there now helping people in need around the current virus or financial circumstance, donate to one of those causes.

• Missional.Life - create a Missional.Life account to learn more about who God has made you to be, what story He has written, and where He might be calling you.

• Research - learn more about the specific field you were planning to visit to learn more about their culture, the religious makeup, their history, and their needs.

• Zoom Meetings - host a team Zoom meeting to keep everyone connected and engaged. Zoom meetings can be great to keep everyone’s mind in the game.

• Share Stories - have everyone share stories (online if possible) about what they are learning through this season about their short term trip hopes.

Have you or are you planning on using any of these ideas? Let us know on our facebook page. 

This is one post of many we're doing related to the current crisis. Download Cancelled: A Guide to Maintaining Missions Engagement When Your Short-Term Trip is Cancelled.

For many going on a mission trip is a monumental step. I went on my first trip my freshman year of high school and it changed the trajectory of my life. Maybe they come from a family of missionaries, or a friend/mentor has gone on one and they want to go on one as well. Maybe they are simply following the way of Jesus and going.

Regardless of the reason, mission trips can hold a lot of emotion with them whether expressed or not. For this reason, it is imperative that we do everything we can as not just leaders, but as guides to walk with those entrusted to us through the ups and downs of a cancelled trip. You need, especially during this time, to care for your team. 

Specifically, in light of current events there are even more questions and fears that come up with mission trips. Many participants may be thinking, will I ever get to go again. There is so much planning for those outside of vocational ministry that goes into going on short-term mission trips.

From babysitters, to boarding pets, personal time off at work, school schedules, sport schedules, maybe even family holidays. For many, the stars have to align just to be able to follow what they believe God is calling them too. It is so important to keep this in mind when communicating the cancellation of a trip and subsequently walking with those through this because with the cancelling comes almost a gut punch after so much prep work. Caring for their heart in the midst of this is crucial.

People are looking to you for answers and the first way I would say you would care for their heart: care for your own.

I know I know, we all know this, but seriously, are you? If not that’s ok and you’re probably not alone, but go ahead and start somewhere—anywhere.

If you are not taking time to pray and be in God’s word before you start your day or even making each phone call may I just encourage you, start, now.

We all know that the bible is not going to give you a necessarily clean-cut answer for questions concerning travel or refunds, but is that what all of this is about?

In the midst of the chaos it can be hard to find a time to do things that bring you joy. Can I encourage you real quick? Fight for space to breathe, to take joy in God’s creation. Take a walk through the park. Call the friend you’ve been meaning to call. If we cannot stop and realize that this too shall pass, then we will only grow short and impatient with those we serve.

As you have cared for your own heart, you can now welcome the ability and space to care for your leaders and participants.

The most important piece in this: listen. Right, of course, we all listen, but are we really listening? Are we hearing their heart? The frustration, panic, worry, disappointment. The plans that have to be cancelled, the work they will have to go through to change all those plans. Let’s be honest, we all just want to be heard. So be patient, listen to the questions and hear the heart of your people.

So we have cared for our hearts, listened to the heart of those we are entrusted with, now what? Encourage.

Specifically, in light of the pandemic today. Look at Colossians 1:16-17:

“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

The phrase that has been on my mind and I have shared with a few people: there is great peace in knowing Jesus. Encourage your team and remind them who is in control and that none of this surprises Him.

This is one post of many we're doing related to the current crisis. Download Cancelled: A Guide to Maintaining Missions Engagement When Your Short-Term Trip is Cancelled.