Navigating this Page
Here on the partnership page of the portal, you’ll find important information, as well as all kinds of useful tips, tricks, and resources to help you be more effective in your partnership efforts! The following are the different sections you’ll find below:
> God, Partnership, and You
> Important Policies
> Doing Face to Face Meetings
> Doing Parish Appeals
> Sending in Money
> Resources
God, Partnership, and You
Raising money for mission work is a profoundly spiritual experience.
It’s important for you to stay close to God during the time you’re working on your partnership, otherwise, you will almost certainly experience some discouragement or despair when things are hard, or pride of self when things are going well. Be Not Afraid, however, God so desires to be close to you in this process, and all you have to do it invite him into it.
Raising partnership money requires trust. You will need to choose to trust God when you’re feeling discouraged or afraid, and sometimes that can be hard! Trust that God will provide. He knows our needs as his children, and when he calls us to something, he will never leave that need unfulfilled.
So, practically this means…
Pray!
Ask God to provide, who He wants you to ask to support the mission, and for the courage to be bold. God wants to do so much in your heart through this, make sure you’re giving Him the space to do so. Gather prayer intentions from your co-missionaries and ask them to keep you in their prayers as well!
Go to Mass
Go a couple times a week if possible! Go to daily mass more often than you normally would, and ask God to strengthen you through that. Daily mass can also be a good opportunity to meet some people who might be interested in becoming one of your co-missionaries!
Fast
Fast! Do a fast and offer it for your partnership efforts and your mission partners. Maybe you feel called to fast from food once a week, or maybe God wants you to give up something (coffee, the snooze button, etc.) while you’re working on your partnership.
Pray a Novena
Think about praying a 9-day novena for the intention of your partnership efforts. If you’ve never prayed a novena before, try the Novena to Our Lady of Good Remedy!
Important Policies
These are very important! Click on each policy for more detail.
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1) DO NOT book flights to Ottawa until you confirm with Graeme that you have met the minimum partnership requirements.
If you are attending Music Training or are international, then you must have raised $6,500 towards your goal prior to coming to training.
Otherwise, you must have raised $5,500 towards your goal prior to coming.
This policy will be enforced! If you are concerned about this, please talk to Graeme and he will help you make a plan to ensure you meet the minimum. Exceptions of this policy can be made for missionaries who were accepted during the month of August. Missionaries who have monthly donations will have the total amount of the pledge considered in reaching the fundraising minimum.
Missionaries who arrive at Training who have met the minimum but are not fully-funded are required to participate in partnership sessions under Graeme’s direction.
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2) Recurring monthly donations will continue until the donor contacts the NET office.
After your mission year has finished, monthly donations will be transferred over to NET’s general fund unless the donor contacts and asks that this not happen. Please know this so you are able to convey it to those who partner with you if they ask!
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3) Any excess partnership raised cannot be used towards flight reimbursement or kept for yourself.
There are two important reasons why this is the case.
Firstly, it is important to honour the intentions of the person donating the money. If the money was given in support of the mission of NET, then it’s important to honour that, even if you have met your goal already.
The amount that you fundraise is not earmarked for you/your team’s expenses for the year specifically; this would otherwise favour individuals who have more time to fundraise or come from larger communities. It’s important to communicate to your donors that they are giving to NET’s mission and you are helping to take on a portion (total partnership is about 1/3) of what it costs to keep NET running. Therefore, be careful of using language like “support me” or “I’m fundraising for my year on NET,” since the money, in fact, goes into a general pool of funds to support all of NET. Rather, say things like “support this mission” or “I’m becoming a missionary with NET, and am fundraising for the ministry.” It’s a subtle, but important, difference.
Secondly, NET takes on the other 2/3 of the cost to keep the ministry running through retreat/parish fees and other development efforts. If any area of fundraising (missionary Partnership/fees/development) is having difficulty, the other areas have to compensate. So when you exceed your goal, you are helping the Gospel message reach more youth in Canada.
If you are concerned about your ability to pay for flights, please see “What if I can’t afford to fly home for Christmas” on the FAQs page
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4) Donations are non-refundable.
Canadian tax law restricts the returning of donations to non-profit organizations when the purpose of the gift can still be fulfilled. As described above in 3), it’s important to make sure your co-missionaries know that they are supporting the mission of NET and not you personally. Even if something were to happen or you were to decide not to serve with NET, we would not be able to return any donations that had come in towards your partnership goal since the purpose of the gift (in this case, youth ministry in Canada) would still be able to be fulfilled.
Doing Face to Face Meetings
When meeting someone face to face:
Look presentable
You are the face of NET to this person, please take this responsibility seriously!
Dress appropriately (ie. no ripped jeans or ragged T-shirts). You don’t need to wear a suit or gown, but you do need to look like this is something you are taking seriously.
Make sure you are prepared
Practice telling your story (what inspired you to do NET, how God brought you to this point) in the mirror a few times until you are comfortable with it and if feels natural!
Have your materials ready (the monthly and one-time gift breakdowns and a donation form, or directions to your page on the website) that they can take home with them
Making “the ask” face to face is by far the best way to go about meeting your fundraising goal.
By meeting with someone face to face, it shows that what you have to say is important, and also shows that you respect the person you’re meeting with. It shows character, personal responsibility, and ambition! People give to people who are passionately inspired by their cause.
For more formal meetings, or for more direction in making your face-to-face ask, consider using the following outline. You can have these slides open on a laptop to show during your ask, or print them off with the breakdowns and bring them with you.
Doing Parish Appeals
A parish appeal (aka speaking at Mass) is a great way to get your parish community informed and on board with your upcoming mission. You reach many people in one shot, and having the support of your parish priest and church community is a massive blessing! Watch the video below as a sample of what to say in your appeal.
Download this video (see above) to show at your parish when making your Parish Appeal!
This video can be shown on-screen at your parish, on a laptop, or over video calls to help aid you in explaining the mission of NET and what you will be doing as a Missionary!
When doing a parish appeal:
Look presentable
In the same way as in a face to face meeting, you are the face of NET to this entire parish, please take this responsibility seriously!
Dress appropriately (ie. No ripped jeans or T-shirts). You don’t need to wear a suit or gown, but you do need to look like this is something you are taking seriously.
Be Prepared
Talk to Graeme or someone else at the NET office if you want to have supplies available (newsletters or pre-paid envelopes can be sent to you).
Prepare what you are going to say beforehand. See the Parish Appeal Script for a rough script you can follow if you like.
Sending in Money
Please ask all donors for a mailing address and email address, and a telephone number if they are willing to give it. This kind of information can be incredibly helpful if there’s a problem processing their donation, as it allows us to contact them and sort out the issue. No contact information is necessary if they don’t wish to receive a tax receipt.
Keep a record of how much you’ve received and from whom, then double-check amounts before you send any partnership in the mail.
If you are not Canadian or American, likely most of your partnership funds will be entered in online. Please talk to Graeme for more instruction on this.