The economy is tanking. Costs are rising. It’s very tempting to cut costs in your mission trip planning. Here are a few corners to think twice about before snipping…
1. Booking fee for a travel agent. These poor folks used to get a portion of your fare when you purchased a ticket. That doesn’t happen much anymore, so they usually charge an extra $25-$75 on top of the ticket. Yes, you often can find the fares online and sometimes cheaper than what an agent is quoting you; but what you don’t buy with that Internet ticket is personalized customer service in a pinch. When you’re stuck in Timbuktu with 25 teenagers, you really want more than the 800-number that routes you to a call center in Mumbai. If you have a relationship with a travel agent and future business is likely for them, they will often go the extra mile to help you out of a difficult situation.
2. Top notch medical evacuation and translation service. You can find a million deals online for insurance coverage of your mission trip; but as weith car insurance, the proof comes when the service needs to be rendered. Some companies do better than others at helping you out in your hour of need. Just having the policy is not sufficient when one of your students is on the operating table in a dingy hospital. Before you snap up a cheap policy — or pass on coverage altogether — consider the benefit of having true experts on your side. Talk to other organizations. Find out who actually has used a provider and what his or her experience was. For a fuller explanation of the types of insurance policies that would be wise to obtain, see the article, “What Types of Insurance Coverage Do Mission Teams Need?”
3. Fees for advice from an attorney. No one wants to a pay a lawyer, particularly when nothing bad has happened; but a small investment now can assure that you aren’t out a lot more down the road. Are your release of liability forms up to code? Are there any questions on your mission trip application which might be considered discriminatory? Do you have policies and procedures in place? Ask the hard questions and make sure a professional eye has reviewed your process so you avoid any unnecessary mistakes which might create liability for your organization.
4. Managed Missions software subscription. If you are a youth worker, you have a lot more important things to do than figure out how much support a student has raised toward his or her trip and when the balance is due. Managed Missions software is designed with your situation in mind, making the church-side management of a mission trip professional and less time consuming. A small add-on fee to your trip is the equivalent of hiring a good administrative assistant.
Frugality is good. Stupidity is bad. Make sure your decisions are in the first category rather than the second when trying to figure out what to cut.
David Bosworth is the Executive Director of STM Toolbox, an organization devoted to equipping, connecting and serving coordinators of short-term mission by reviewing published resources and collecting/distributing unpublished resources in short-term mission.
