Fundraisers, the Necessary Evil of Youth Ministry

I am just now starting summer, otherwise known as fundraising season in youth ministry.  It seems like youth ministry is always underfunded.  Lots of activities that require lots of money from families that are already cash strapped.  Enter fundraisers.  I am a terrible salesman and I hate fundraising for that reason.  Some past fundraisers have done great while others have been total flops.

In my former and first youth ministry I had heard of people doing really well selling Krispy Kreme donuts on Saturday mornings.  At that time you had to pre-purchase all the donuts you wanted to sell, so you were on the hook to sell what you bought.  Otherwise you were out the money you spent on the donuts, defeating the purpose of a fundraiser.  Call it a fundloser.  I got everything ready.  I made signs which I had to get approval from our local government to post on county right of ways by purchasing a sticker to adhere to the back of them.  I put in my order for something like 1200 donuts.  My parents were visiting at the time, so my dad helped me go pick up the 100 boxes.  It took two cars to transport them all back to the church.  The next morning we set up our selling stand and we hardly sold any.  On Sunday, we had so many left over.  We were eating them as a church for awhile.  We froze some.  Many good-hearted people took them to work that next week to sell.  I think we made $130 and some change or something like that and I think I am still the butt of people's jokes there when it comes to fundraising.

Today I am starting the ninth year of selling fireworks for TNT.  The first and second years we didn't do so well.  But now, for the last several years we have been able to completely pay for 30 students to go to camp and still have some leftover to pay for activities in the Fall and Winter.  TNT gives us 20% of what we make for them.  Unlike Krispy Kreme we do not need to pay for the product up front.  But we're still selling for someone else.

A few of my favorite fundraisers have been:  yard sales, dessert auctions, and the envelope system.  All are 100% profit and we aren't selling for a major coporation to make pennies on the dollar.  What is the envelope system, you ask?  I heard about this fundraiser a few years ago.  You number envelopes 1 to whatever number you feel like.  People take the envelope with the number on it that they would like to match with money (They take the #6 envelope, they return it with $6).  I like this fundraiser also because those that don't have a lot don't have to give a lot and those who do have a lot of money to donate can do so.  If you number your envelopes 1 to 100, if all the envelopes get taken, that equals a fundraiser of $5050!  What could your ministry do with $5050?

Of course you have to think about not going to the same well all the time.  What I mean by that is you can't always fund-raise to your congregation.  You have to do some fundraising out in the community.  That's where yard sales come in.  Your people are eager to get rid of some stuff to declutter.  And people in the community (and in the church) are eager to buy some new to them used stuff for a fraction of the price of buying new.  It's a win-win for everyone.  Although it usually does take an entire week ahead of time pricing and organizing.  So it's a lot of work but, again, another great fundraiser.  We have even donated our leftover stuff after the yard sale to groups that would like it.  One lady gets children's toys and donates them to a worthwhile organization.  Fundraisers, the necessary evil of youth ministry, really are time well spent with others in your ministry and others in your community that benefit you, the people you minister to and the people you meet in the community.  What has been a good fundraiser for your ministry?  I'd love to hear about it!