Mission Trip Overview
=====================

TouchPoint provides a complete Mission Trip registration and fundraising system built on top of online registration. It allows participants (called **Goers**) to register and pay online, email supporters for donations, and track their fundraising progress — while giving staff tools to manage the entire process.

Key Terms
------------

Goers (Participants)
    People who are going on the trip. They register online, pay their deposit and subsequent payments, and can email supporters to request donations.

Senders (Supporters)
    People who make tax-deductible donations to support a Goer's trip. They can give online through a link sent by the Goer or provided by staff.


Training Video
--------------

`Mission Trips: Setting Up, Registering, Enlisting Support, Reports <https://training.touchpointsoftware.com/media-resource/Mission%20Trips>`__

Benefits
--------

For Goers
    - Register online and pay deposits via credit card or bank account
    - Payments are automatically recorded as tax-deductible donations on the Goer's giving record
    - A user account is created automatically so the Goer can log in to track their balance, make payments, and email supporters
    - Goers are notified by email when a Supporter makes a donation
    - Supporters are remembered and their donation amounts are listed on the Email Supporters page

For Senders
    - Give online using a credit card or bank account instead of mailing a check
    - If the Sender is not in the database, a profile is created during the donation process
    - The donation is automatically added to the Sender's giving record

For Staff
    - No need to track checks, cash, and balances in spreadsheets — most donations are made online
    - Multiple staff members can monitor mission trip progress
    - Online donations are automatically assigned to the correct fund and giving records
    - You can associate general ledger accounting codes with each trip
    - Registration questions can capture what you need from Goers, reducing paper forms
    - Special reports: Mission Trip Funding Report, Mission Trip Funding Export, and Sender Export
    - Simple process for recording cash/check donations after the fact

Setting Up a Mission Trip
-------------------------

Each step has a separate article to walk you through the process.

Step 1
    Set up the Mission Trip Involvement with the correct settings and configure the emails and other messages.

    .. seealso::
        |   :doc:`MissionTripInvolvementSetup`
        |   :doc:`MissionTripMessages`

Step 2
    Email a **RegisterLink** to those interested in the trip so they can register online.

    .. seealso::
        :doc:`ComposeRegisterLinks`

Step 3
    Share the Goer experience guide with participants so they know how to use the system.

    .. seealso::
        :doc:`MissionTripGoerExperience`

Once the trip is running, use these resources as needed:

.. seealso::
    | :doc:`MissionTripDonationsPayments` — Recording cash/check donations, fee adjustments, and coupons
    | :doc:`MissionTripFundingPages` — Optional public fundraising pages for Goers
    | :doc:`MissionTripReportsTracking` — Funding reports, sender exports, and transaction tracking


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+--------------------+------------------+
| **Latest Update**  |  **5/29/2026**   |
+--------------------+------------------+

New consolidated overview article.