About

Awakening Followers is a website about how to raise funds without it being about the funds.

Counter-intuitive? Maybe.

But I’m convinced that finding people who are already bent in your direction and inspiring them to change the world with you is a much better way to do fundraising than trying to bend people in your direction through guilt trips, trinkets-for-donations, or begging.

I believe that the way to awaken followers is though storytelling. Every culture is based on the stories it tells. Something awakens in us humans when we hear stories.

Jesus knew it – nearly every lesson He taught was in the form of a story, a parable. At it’s essence, the Bible is the story of God’s pursuit of man.

Everyone’s life is a story. And everybody has the ability to become a storyteller.

If you are in ministry – a missionary, church planter, or working for a non-profit – your success is dependent upon becoming a great storyteller. (Well, it’s dependent upon a number of other things, too – like prayer, listening to God, and actually loving people. Natch.)

Fortunately, telling stories is a skill, not just a talent. And skills can be learned.

This Is Way Too Religious

Yup. Comes with the territory. However, there is no reason why the idea of awakening followers can’t be applied to any non-profit or business.

Take Apple, for instance. Or Charity:Water. Or Love 146. Just take what fits into your situation and run with it.

How This Works

My writing is based on my experience as a missionary with Youth With a Mission and what I know now that I wish I knew then. I struggled with the whole process of communicating my story.

The things I wrestled with then are probably the things you are wrestling with now:

1. How do I make time to tell my story? (Margins)
2. What story do I tell? (Message)
3. How do I tell my story? (Method)

I’ve found that you need to work through these three questions in this order on a regular basis. So, I’ll be doing the same thing here. If you want to skip ahead to the mechanics of telling a story, you should download the free Art of Storytelling ebook.

Does This Stuff Actually Work?

It does. Really well. You can see it in the wild at Red Fridge Media, the company where Rob Wilson and I actually do the stuff I’m talking about on this blog. And the three companies above (Apple, Charity:Water, and Love146) are doing the same stuff on a much larger scale.

Remember that all of this is supposed to be fun. Telling your story should be riminding you of why it is you do what you do. Get creative. I can’t wait to help you do it.