Whether you’re planning a mission trip, repairing the church roof, or creating a new outreach campaign, every church needs funding to support their efforts. These church fundraising ideas will help you continue to provide for your congregation and community.
Getting Organized
First, let’s review some tips to help make your church fundraiser successful.
You shouldn’t start a new church fundraising campaign without making sure you’re getting the most out of the donations you’ve already collected. Ensure your groups are working as efficiently as possible. If you’ve seen recent church growth, and people have been asking for new programs — you may be spread too thin.
Setting up a church management system can help you stay organized, and a church website makes it easier for patrons to donate.
Making a Plan
The more concrete your plans and reasons for the church fundraiser are, the easier it will be to ask for volunteers and donations. Gather church members and leadership to discuss:
- How much money you need to raise
- The timeline for planning and holding the event
- How many volunteers are needed
- What your budget is
- Advertising efforts (Depending on the event, advertising could include social media posts as well as hanging up signs around the neighborhood)
Prioritizing Your Efforts
Figure out which fundraising ideas will provide the most while taking up the least time and effort. Maybe certain types of activities are interesting to your community. Remember that you won’t be able to please everyone. But you can poll the congregation before you start event planning.
Ideas for Church Fundraising Events
1. Church Yard Sale
Yard sales are fairly easy to organize, especially if you have portable folding tables and a parking lot to set up in. Plus, the church will get nearly all the profits — it won’t cost much to set up and advertise the event.
Everyone has unused belongings at home they’d be willing to donate. It might be old clothes, books, toys, sports gear, or furniture. As you collect donations from your congregation, start pricing items along the way. You don’t want to end up in a last-minute scramble to get everything priced properly.
2. Bake Sale Fundraiser
All you need are volunteers to bake some tasty treats and more volunteers to sell them.
Create a sign-up sheet for different baked goods to ensure there aren’t any duplicates. And if the bake sale becomes a regular event, repeat customers may come back looking for certain treats. Delivering what your audience wants will pay off.
If you don’t want to hassle with advertising your bake sale, attach it to another event. Maybe there’s a fair or sports event in your local community. Ask if you can set up a stand to sell your baked goods. Or, host a bake sale after your church service or other well-attended church event, like a church picnic or anniversary celebration.
3. Bake-Off Challenge
A bake-off challenge is a fun way to raise funds for your church while bringing out the inner baker in your congregation. Invite members of all ages to enter their best desserts. Contestants can pay a small entry fee to join, and you can also sell tickets to the event.
To add to the fun, you can create categories, such as “Best Presentation,” “Most Creative,” or “Crowd Favorite,” and award small prizes to the winners.
4. Trivia Events
This is another affordable idea that can really start to grow each time you do it. You just need to plan the event well and make sure you have everything you need, like:
- Prizes
- A PA system
- A great host
- Score sheets
- Clear rules
- Questions
Trivia can be held after Sunday services in the church hall, or you could schedule it at night in a local venue. Ask people to RSVP ahead of time to ensure you have enough room.
Vary the difficulty levels and themes for trivia to increase attendance and keep participants engaged.
5. Auction
Before you start planning your church auction, check your local and state regulations to make sure there isn’t any documentation, registration, or insurance that you need.
There are a few different options, including online and hybrid silent auctions or an in-person event with a live auctioneer. If you don’t have the venue and volunteers for an in-person auction, it can be done completely online, with the right tools. There are different software options that make it easy to set up your auction, collect donations, and distribute receipts, but you’ll have to pay for one of them.
Recruit volunteers to solicit donations from friends, family members, and local businesses. Try to include items your specific audience will like. You can also include non-physical items, like babysitting services, a closet cleanout, or cooking or dance classes.
6. Basket Raffle
A basket raffle is a classic and effective church fundraising idea that brings together creativity, generosity, and community spirit. Members of the congregation, local businesses, and ministry groups can donate themed baskets filled with fun and useful items.
Display the baskets at the church or event venue, and sell raffle tickets to attendees who can then choose which baskets they’d like to win by placing their tickets in the corresponding containers.
7. Church Movie Night
To set up a church movie night, you’ll need to:
- Secure a public performance license
- Set up a screen, projector, and folding chairs
- Sell some snacks
If you don’t have enough volunteers to make your own snacks, bring in vendors or food trucks. And if you don’t have all the necessary equipment, work with a local theater to host the event.
Pick a popular movie franchise (like Harry Potter, Star Wars, or the Marvel Cinematic Universe) or genre (like adventures or comedies) and hold a movie marathon. You could even add a costume party to the event. You can also set up a childcare service to help attract more parents and make additional profits.
Offer pre-sale tickets at an early-bird rate, so you have an estimated headcount prior to the event. You’ll especially want to do this if you use outside food vendors, as they’ll likely ask how many people will be at your event.
8. Church Cookbook
Creating a successful church cookbook fundraiser involves engaging the congregation, designing an attractive and well-organized cookbook, and promoting it effectively. Utilize church events, social media, and local businesses to spread the word. You can even host a launch event, where people can taste some of the recipes.
Encourage congregation members to contribute their favorite recipes along with personal stories, and organize the cookbook into themed sections for variety.
Try out some of these church fundraising ideas, whether or not you’re launching new efforts in the new year. These tips will help your church reach its financial goals.
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