Globe International is a mission-sending agency with over 50 years of history. Although traditional in its purpose of training, serving, and sending missionaries, it is non-traditional in allowing missionaries great autonomy to pursue specific individual callings, such as orphanages, action sports, education, or business missions.
While Globe had always valued and championed the individual callings of its nearly 200 missionaries, leadership sensed it was time to expand its organizational capacity to provide seamless infrastructure and world-class care for these frontline missionaries. This required significant funding, but they had never launched a capital campaign before, nor did they have any formal development structure, such as a development team or director of development. Moreover, their many faithful donors were accustomed to giving only to their individual missionaries, not to Globe, the parent organization.
The FOCUS Group (TFG) was engaged to help Globe conduct its first-ever capital campaign. This began with launching a feasibility study to hone their vision for growth and initiate meaningful conversations with key ministry and funding partners. This first phase also included crafting their case for support to present a coherent, united narrative to an organization that had historically supported hundreds of individual callings and projects.
Following the successful capital campaign (details below), Globe continued to engage TFG to bring its Taking Donors SeriouslyⓇ (TDS) Training to all levels of the organization, requiring all new missionaries and development staff to complete this fundraising training. Through cohorts and personal coaching, each new missionary is equipped with practical ways to implement the principles of relational fundraising to not only fund their ministries but also deepen relationships with their donors for long-term partnerships.
“It changed the whole culture of Globe in its perspective of what it was to be in relationship with our partners. Since doing this campaign, our overall budget has doubled. It was transformative for our organization.”
The Reaching Beyond Campaign launched with a goal of $2.2M. By the end of the campaign, the organization had raised over $2,210,000, exceeding their highest expectations. Over several years, Globe has been able to implement its ambitious plans for higher levels of missionary care and support—knowing that this kind of home-office support is what keeps missionaries healthier and serving longer. Not only that, but Globe has successfully cultivated new relationships with partners who had previously supported only individual missionaries.
Collaborating with The FOCUS Group has also fostered a growing culture of fundraising among staff, the leadership team, and the board.
Throughout the project, Globe’s key leaders were quick to embrace The FOCUS Group’s guidance, a factor that enabled Globe to successfully transform its internal culture and cultivate many new donor relationships across the organization. As Scott Brown, Director of Development for Globe, explained, “Globe’s success and what we’ve been able to achieve is because we simply took your advice. We did the work. We followed the path that you put before us, and because of that, we achieved our goal sooner than anticipated and came in over and above what we thought we would.”
One of the most exciting outcomes is to see transformation in the individual lives of missionaries. One such story is that of Angie, a missionary in Mozambique, who struggled with underfunding for over 21 years. Shortly after completing the online TDSⓇ fundraising training, she successfully transitioned from being historically underfunded to overfunded and deeply engaged with her donors. Not long after, she applied the methodology learned from TDSⓇ to her social media presence. She needed funding, relatively quickly, for the boys’ ministry school she serves, so she posted a video presentation. Within 12 hours, she received a check for $27,000. The donation came from a high school friend who had previously only given infrequently and in small amounts. The friend explained that she gave the significant gift because Angie’s presentation made her feel “a part of what was going on,” helping her understand her role in helping the boys.
“By working with The FOCUS Group, we achieved more than just the goal amount of the campaign. We achieved something even bigger—for the first time, we truly brought our partner base into a meaningful relationship with the organization of Globe.”
