Posted by Aaron Jeschke on August 7, 2009
I was involved in youth ministry for a number of years and during that time one of the youth group fundraisers we used most often were car washes. We would go out early on a Saturday morning, set up shop at a local gas station and commence the beckoning to passing cars. After a long, wet afternoon we would gather the days earnings. We had earned less than $400. Ten kids washing cars for four hours means approximately ten dollars per hour per child. Not the best youth group fundraiser when you need $300 dollars per person to send them to youth camp later that summer.
In today’s world of youth group fundraisers we really need something faster, easier, and that would genuinely benefit our donors which is why I love the Samaritan Card. It can be sold in minutes rather than facing the $10 per hour grind of the car wash. It helps to raise money quickly and easily while providing donors with the savings they need in tough economic times. I don’t believe there to be an easier Christian fundraiser than selling the Samaritan Card. For me, car washes are a thing of the past.
Posted by Fundraising Pro on June 19, 2009
Here are some additional ideas for Christian fundraising:
Christian raffle
Ask local businesses for donated goods and services in exchange for free publicity. Put together a spreadsheet with dollar values of all prizes and assign them a position in the prize hierarchy.
Select your financial goal and price raffle tickets accordingly. Bear in mind that lower-priced tickets appeal to a lot more people, but you have to sell a lot more of them to raise the same amount of money.
Sell raffle tickets not only to friends and neighbors, but also to the general public. Get permission to set up sales tables outside popular retail locations. Use big signs explaining why your Christian group is raising funds.
Use a raffle flyer that describes the top prizes, recaps the funding need the raffle ticket sales will help meet, and asks for their support.
Bingo Night
This is a fun family night that, due to Bingo’s popularity, can draw several hundred people. You can find bingo game forms online or buy them from party supply stores. You can charge a small admission fee plus a dollar or two per game.
Keep things moving by using an experienced caller and a PA system that can be easily heard above the crowd noise. Consider making extra money through food and beverage sales, silent auction items, or with raffle tickets.
With a large enough crowd, you could also sell other fundraising products like Christmas ornaments or bracelets with phrases like “Got Faith?” or “What Would Jesus Do?”
In some areas, you may need a license for this event, so be sure to check local regulations.
Christian Event Summary
A fun, family-oriented Christian event that’s properly promoted will always raise substantial funds. And anytime you can get a big crowd together, you can include several more fundraising activities into the mix.
Divide the work so that the same people aren’t doing all the preparations and then working the event as well. That means recruiting twice as many volunteers as you think you’ll need.
And keep in mind how easy fundraising can be if your Christian group sells the Samaritan Card, a wallet-sized discount card good at over 100,000 retailers.
Once you’ve found a successful niche, make your Christian fundraising event an annual tradition.
Posted by Fundraising Pro on June 15, 2009
Christian-based fundraisers are not always limited to churches; in fact, there’s a whole world of Christian organizations out there, from mission groups to elementary schools. Often, these groups are not-for-profit and privately funded, so like daycares, they often need extra funding to keep going. Many church-based organizations, like youth groups or universities, ask for donations on a regular basis from their members to cover the activities and ongoing costs.
However, when items such as rent, employee salaries (if the group is a school or other business-based organization), and travel expenses come up, they need more than what they get from tuition costs and their diocese. That’s when a fundraiser happens – and it can be a challenge for organizations to drum up enough interest in the non-Christian community to actually make the money that they need.
When you host a Christian-based fundraiser and you want to attract the general public, don’t be too heavy-handed with religious platitudes. You will lose your fundraising potential before you even begin. Instead, tell people what the end result will be – you’ll have a youth group for teenagers to attend one night a week; you’ll be able to send a certain number of people overseas to help build houses; or your school will be able to fund some extra-curricular activities for its students.
If you host an attractive fundraiser, you may get people who like to travel, or who want to see a performance or sample a certain type of food food, or even those who just want to expand their intellectual horizons. Play your cards right and you may get these people coming back for future fundraisers, and may even be able to help you with your next one, if they have knowledge of the area.
Christian-based fundraisers don’t have to stay in the Christian community, or only deal with members of churches. When they appeal to everyone, like the Samaritan Card, you will find that non-religious people may actually be interested in your cause.
Posted by Thomas Freiling on June 12, 2009
The first question people ask me, when I tell them I started a new fundraising company, is “why another fundraising company?” One of the reasons I started a new fundraising company is because, as a businessman, I know how important money is to keep things going. A church or ministry needs adequate funding, just like a business. So I wanted to help raise money for these important organizations.
But, there’s another reason - a much more important reason. I am married and have 4 children. We send our children to a private Christian school, and we’re active in our church. So it goes without saying that we are constantly asked to raise money. I am asked over, and over, and over to buy wasteful (even silly) products like popcorn, candy, cookie dough, and expensive wrapping paper. Don’t get me wrong: I like to give. But I don’t like selling this stuff! Nobody needs it. My wife can buy cookie dough at the grocery store. She get wrapping paper on sale at Walmart. I feel somewhat embarrassed to ask my friends and family to buy these products from me. So I started a new fundraising company, for churches and ministries, with the purpose of developing fun, interesting, and innovative fundraising products people want to buy.
The Samaritan Card is our premier fundraising product. Imagine telling your donors they can have special access to money-saving discounts at more than 100,000 retail, restaurant, and recreation merchants nationwide, for a mere $20 donation.The Samaritan Card is a powerful, wallet-size shopping discount card you sell to raise money. When your donors buy a Samaritan Card, they tap into exclusive savings of up to 50% just by using the card!
What better way to reward your donors! Instead of buying silly products they don’t want or need, now they can start to save money. They’ll thank you every time they shop.
