Free MPD Downloads for 2024
For those who’ve followed eQuipping for eMinistry for a while, you know I do a lot of planning every January.
Today, I’m focusing on MPD. Next, I’ll post a new version of my reimbursement spreadsheet. Pick out what you want to do this month to prepare for the year ahead.
Table of Contents
MPD Correspondence Plan
I have a basic plan for prayer letters and greeting cards in a spreadsheet. The dates are roughly the same from year to year. Our prayer letters are six weeks apart. We do blog posts, emails, greeting cards, and thank-you note inserts between prayer letters.
I used to put the dates from this planning spreadsheet into my calendar. However, something will likely come up during the year that disrupts the month-to-month plan, so now I only mark my calendar with the following prayer letter in mind.
From the spreadsheet date, I make a calendar appointment for when we will “Mail Prayer Letter.” Three to seven days before that, I make an entry for “Stuff Prayer Letter.” Two weeks before the scheduled mailing date, I enter “Write Prayer Letter.” I’ve given myself two weeks to go from concept to mailbox.
After mailing our newsletter, I write those three steps in my calendar for next month’s prayer letter based on the date from the spreadsheet.
My spreadsheet plan means I’ve thought through the whole year. My calendar reminders keep me on track for the following prayer letter.
You’ll want to change the dates in your copy of this spreadsheet.
- Go to the correspondence plan spreadsheet.
- Click “File / Make a copy” to make this your own.
Various Thank-You Notes
I rotate our annual thank you note wording so I don’t keep writing the same thing. The wording differs over a five-year cycle.
My thank you note wording for an increase differs for odd and even years.
Other thank-you note wording in this document includes:
- new monthly donors
- very large donations
- fund appeals
- for when a donor has to quit
- for a donor going into hospice
- in Memorium
Click on over for thank you note ideas.
Thank-You Note Enclosures
I’m glad to share the inserts I’ve made for our ministry partners. I started enclosing a ministry story in our thank-you notes in 2016.
We work at HQ, so this practice ensures that every ministry partner receives a broader view of Cru’s impact beyond what we do. (The majority of our prayer letters actually are broader-view stories.)
I don’t use Storylines as a source for these stories in case our friends receive and read these emails from Cru.
These stories are for Cru staff only. Go to this directory list of stories to find your free download.
NOTES:
- Part Two will be about free downloads for tracking reimbursements.
- MPD stands for Ministry Partner Development
- Birds over surf photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash
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