Financial support FAQ

1. What do you mean, financial support?
2. Are you after a share in my church’s budget?
3. How much does it cost to keep you guys in Tanzania?
4. At what standard will you be living?
5. Why does it cost so much for you to live in Tanzania?
6. Wouldn’t it be cheaper for you to live here?
7. Wouldn’t it be cheaper to have a Tanzanian do that work?
8. How much should I give?
9. How should I give?
10. Can I give anonymously?
11. If I give generally to CMS, does that money go to you?
12. OK, I want to be a sponsor! What do I do?

1. What do you mean, financial support?

Financial support is just one aspect of partnership. Rather than funding a project, partnership is about joining in with God’s people and God’s plans in the world — in fact, there’s no difference between you and us apart from the slightly different ways in which we participate! For a few more helpful pointers on this, check out Five Things They Never Told Me About Christian Fundraising.

2. Are you after a share in my church’s budget?

Nope! Partnership grows at the personal level, so anything we do ‘up the front’ of church is primarily an avenue into personal relationships. Small groups are the key to this, and those are the connections we’re really focusing on.

3. How much does it cost to keep you guys in Tanzania?

Currently, it costs about $80,000 a year for CMS Australia to keep us in Tanzania.

4. At what standard will you be living?

We’ll be living at a similar standard to those we’re working amongst — university students. They’re among the wealthier people in Tanzania but we’ll be living a pretty modest lifestyle — especially by Australian standards!

5. Why does it cost so much for you to live in Tanzania?

This figure includes a living allowance of about $17,000, but the bulk of it is for other provisions:

a. ‘Up-front’ costs. There’s capital outlay like air fares and language school — the expenses to get us there and set us up for ministry.

b. ‘Hidden’ costs. We call these ‘hidden’ because they’re costs that don’t necessarily spring to mind: things like health care backup because there’s no Medicare, or superannuation, which the Australian government now requires CMS to put aside for us.

c. Pastoral care. CMS is interested in keeping us in Tanzania long-term, without burnout, and they’ve got an outstanding record of doing so. Pastoral care expenses include a sinking fund in case of medical evacuation and money for someone from CMS to visit us each year in order to have honest, face-to-face conversations about how we’re going.

d. Home base. Through CMS we have access to its longstanding networks, expertise and support — far better than going it alone! CMS operations in Australia also take care of a whole stack of things that we’re not so good at: administration, finances, visas, and so on. Perhaps we could do those things ourselves, but it’s not our area of expertise and it’d take us twice as long. Plus, it would distract us from student ministry.

In summary: the $80,000 helps CMS to back us, without whom we couldn’t work in Tanzania long-term. We’re with CMS because of their outstanding emphasis on long-term training, equipping and care of intercultural workers — so every bit of that money benefits the ministry we’re pursuing.

6. Wouldn’t it be cheaper for you to live here?

Yes. Things like Medicare and Centrelink, and less travel, mean it would cost a lot less for us to live in Australia. We recognise the investment that it is for God’s people to fund us to work in Tanzania. We believe it’s worth it, because of what God’s called us to there, but the expense is also a great responsibility for us — it’s one reason why we want to do a good job, and hopefully do ourselves out of a job!

7. Wouldn’t it be cheaper to have a Tanzanian do that work?

Yes, definitely! You could employ heaps more Tanzanians for the amount it takes to send us. Currently, however, there aren’t Tanzanians in a position to do the work we’ve been invited to do. That’s why one of our key objectives is to come up with a sustainable ministry model and to train Tanzanians to take over from us. We’re aiming to do ourselves out of a job!

8. How much should I give?

For us to work in Tanzania, the approximate costs are:

• $220 per day
• $1540 per week
• $6670 per month

We invite you to sponsor us for a day, a week, or a month — or some combination of those! This gives both you and us a concrete way to think about what financial support goes towards. If you work full-time, would you consider sponsoring a week? Another suggestion is to team up with your small group to sponsor a month.

And we invite you to pick a date — like your birthday or something else meaningful — and we’ll put your date in our calendar with your name attached! This helps us to think about financial support in relational terms. So, on ‘Jo Bloggs Day’, we’ll be in contact with you in order to thank you for your partnership with us in the gospel.

9. How should I give?

Because this is a long-term thing, we’ll be in Tanzania for a series of three-year tours, and we invite you to sponsor us for at least three years. Also, it’s most helpful for us and for CMS if you give on a regular, monthly basis rather than a lump sum.

Based on the suggestions above, here’s how sponsorship might look in your monthly budget:

• Sponsoring a day per year = $18 per month (2 days = $36, etc.)
• Sponsoring a week per year = $128 per month
• Sponsoring a month per year = $556 per month

10. Can I give anonymously?

Sure, if you like — just let CMS know. Please be aware that if you give anonymously, we won’t be able to contact you personally, although we can certainly still thank God for ‘Anonymous’ on a particular date if you wish to choose one!

11. If I give generally to CMS, does that money go to you?

Unspecified money received by CMS is used according to need, so it may go towards us or other CMS workers. If you want to guarantee that your money reaches us, you need to let CMS know so that they can earmark your donations (see below).

12. OK, I want to be a sponsor! What do I do?

You can set up sponsorship with whatever method suits you, and it’s easy to donate online. Otherwise, just get in touch with Kate at sa@cms.org.au or 08 8212 4838.

• Sponsor Arthur and Tamie