Posted by Aaron Jeschke on November 3, 2009
When churches put on extracurricular activities, trips, and retreats typically some measure of Church fundraising is needed. Generally speaking, such events are lead and organized by volunteers who also happen to have full time positions elsewhere. This puts significant time constraints on those involved in leading the fundraiser. Churches need Christian Fundraising ideas that are fast, profitable, and easy to put together. I have been involved in churches for over 20 years and often an extra event means extra fundraising. Pastors and other staff have a myriad of responsibilities that require their fullest attention. Fundraising is the last thing they want to be thinking about (I am also a pastor’s kid so I know this from experience).
I think that the Samaritan Card is a great fundraising solution for churches. Volunteers and church members don’t need to spend a significant amount of time planning intricate and complex fundraisers with unpredictable results. Instead they can sell the Samaritan Card which allows their donors to save up to 50% at over 100,000 merchants nationwide. Best of all, churches can bring in profits of up to 70% per card. If you are a church that needs to raise money consider the Samaritan Card.
Posted by Aaron Jeschke on September 10, 2009
One of the most oft overlooked portions of the Christian Fundraising process is the post-fundraiser evaluation. When a ministry evaluates a fundraiser they should be asking a few important questions in order to ensure future fundraising success.
Was the fundraiser profitable? Obviously the ultimate goal of a fundraiser is to bring in funds in order to finance a ministry’s vision. If a fundraiser is not profitable than it is not useful. If you can find a fundraiser that is more profitable than the one you have then go for it.
Was the fundraiser overly time consuming? Often ministries run fundraisers that take countless hours to put together and that are inordinately complicated. Often the profit per hour is low. If this is the case find a fundraiser that is quick. Dollars per hour could be an important statistic when evaluating your fundraiser.
Was the fundraiser easy to put together? The simpler and easier your fundraiser is the less hassle you will experience while enacting your fundraiser. If you found that you got bogged down with order forms and other extraneous details than I suggest you look for something that is simpler and easier. No one wants to be spending much time with paper work and unneeded details.
Were the donors pleased with the product? Many fundraisers involve selling products to a donor that they don’t really need. Clearly many donors are pleased just to be contributing to the organization but I think it is best to reward donors with a quality product, preferably something they can use to their benefit.
Ultimately when fundraising, Christian groups need to find a fundraising idea that is fast, easy, profitable, and beneficial to donors. In the world of Church fundraising such a product is a rarity. I suggest the Samaritan Card. No fundraising product that I have seen satisfies all of the above requirements like the Samaritan Card. Selling the card takes mere minutes and after the initial order there are no further forms or return visits! Not to mention that your profits will be as high as 70% per card. Donors will walk away satisfied knowing that they will be saving us much as they gave and more! Christian fundraising has never been faster, easier, more profitable, and more beneficial to donors!
Posted by Aaron Jeschke on September 2, 2009
When churches put on extracurricular activities, trips, and retreats typically some measure of Church fundraising is needed. Generally speaking, such events are lead and organized by volunteers who also happen to have full time positions elsewhere. This puts significant time constraints on those involved in leading the fundraiser. Churches need Christian Fundraising ideas that are fast, profitable, and easy to put together. I have been involved in churches for over 20 years and often an extra event means extra fundraising. Pastors and other staff have a myriad of responsibilities that require their fullest attention. Fundraising is the last thing they want to be thinking about (I am also a pastor’s kid so I know this from experience).
I think that the Samaritan Card is a great fundraising solution for churches. Volunteers and church members don’t need to spend a significant amount of time planning intricate and complex fundraisers with unpredictable results. Instead they can sell the Samaritan Card which allows their donors to save up to 50% at over 100,000 merchants nationwide. Best of all, churches can bring in profits of up to 70% per card. If you are a church that needs to raise money consider the Samaritan Card.
Posted by Aaron Jeschke on August 25, 2009
Distributing a Christian Fundraising product can sometimes be half the battle. I know it can be very difficult to handle, store, and distribute bulky products that might need freezing or refrigeration (like cookie dough). Picture yourself ordering 50 boxes of candy as your fundraiser. First, many organizations don’t have a central building in which a large bulk of items can be stored (my church was this way until recently). Where are you going to store the items ? A group member’s garage? Now picture yourself gathering and distributing 50 boxes of candy to members of your group. To me that doesn’t sound simple or appealing. The boxes are typically more bulky than you might think. What we need is a fundraising product that is small, simple to distribute, and highly profitable.
The Samaritan Card is just that! It is a wallet-sized card that can be stored and distributed easily. Fifty Samaritan Cards take up less space then a bulky tub of cookie dough and it is fifty times the product. The Samaritan Card can be stored almost anywhere which makes it that much easier to distribute. You don’t need to worry about storing excessive amounts of product with the Samaritan Card. Distributing your product just became that much easier!
Posted by Aaron Jeschke on August 24, 2009
When I think about Christian Fundraising, profitability is not usually the first thing that comes to mind. Typically I would want a fundraiser that raises money quickly and that is fairly easy to put together. In order to raise money quickly I would want as significant a profit margin as possible.
Recently I was perusing a variety of fundraising products while paying particular attention to the profitability of each item and discovered that most fundraising products are only moderately profitable. In some cases you must order an exorbitant amount of product in order to gain a satisfactory profit per item. What does this look like numerically? One product required an order of over six hundred items before you reached a profit per item of over 50%. Six hundred items?! I examined a good number of chocolate bar fundraisers and only one of them offered profitability of over 50%. T-Shirt fundraisers offered 45%. Cookie dough was as low as 30% and only went as high as 55%. Can you imagine trying to store and distribute six hundred tubs of cookie dough? Even the discount cards only offered profits of up to 50%.
Profitability is not a concern with the Samaritan Card. Profits start at 45% which is where many other products profitability ends. Did I mention that you can make up to 70% profit per card. Fifty Samaritan Cards have as great a profit margin as 500 tubs of cookie dough. If you want to raise money quickly and easily then the Samaritan Card is right for you.
Posted by Thomas Freiling on July 25, 2009
When Nancy, a mom of 4 and VBS leader, used her Samaritan Card to buy craft supplies and t-shirts for an upcoming VBS, she used her Samaritan Card to save $28.38! “I saved more money in a single day with my Samaritan Card than I paid for it! I love saving money!” Nancy shopped at Michael’s, which is one of 100,000 merchants who accept the Samaritan Card.
It always thrills me to hear reports like this. The Samaritan Card is unlike other fundraising products because our donors get to save money. This is why selling the Samaritan Card makes fundraising fast and easy. Donors love it! The next time you need to fundraise, we hope you let us help you.
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Posted by Thomas Freiling on July 13, 2009
I’ve raised lots of money for churches, schools, and similar organizations. I’ve sold candy, cookie dough, popcorn, magazines, even washed cards for fundraising. The problem with all of these fundraisers was that it took so long. I had to fill out forms, order the product, wait for the product, then go back and find everyone who placed an order. Then I had to collect all the money and somehow keep track of everything. Or in the event of a car wash, well it took an entire Saturday and we raised a paltry $200. It was enough to make me want to pull my hair out! That’s why I’m so excited about the Samaritan Card. When you sell the Samaritan Card to raise money, it’s fast and easy. There are no forms or return visits, and my donors receive their gift immediately. Fundraising with the Samaritan Card is the easiest and fastest way to raise money. That’s why so many churches and other groups are asking for our help! We’d love to help you raise money too, so you can keep your hair!
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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 17, 2009
Church groups look for fundraising events that feel appropriate for Christian nonprofit organizations. Here are several ideas for Christian fundraising events that provide a wholesome atmosphere for family fun.
Church carnival
A family-oriented carnival on church grounds is a great way to raise funds. You can contract for carnival rides with an outside firm, rent inflatable enclosed jumping areas that small children love, offer face painting, sell handicrafts, offer prizes for children’s games, do a cakewalk, and dozens of other fun activities.
Sell inexpensive tickets from a huge roll that to use for each activity or to purchase food and drinks. Position several tables full of silent auction items donated by local businesses in a strategic place so they’ll draw lots of bids.
Charity auction
Auctions are great fundraisers. To get a good turnout, you must promote heavily with press releases, roadside signs, newsletters, emails, posters in local businesses, etc.
Approach all your supporters for donations of items or services to be auctioned. Handcrafted items, gift certificates, vacation rentals, and lawn services always draw a lot of bids. Ask your supporters also works their own list of personal contacts for more donations.
Bake sale
A well-promoted bake sale always draws a good crowd. It can be a Christmas cookie day, follow a Mothers Day or any one of dozens of seasonal themes. Ask around and compile a list of good bakers and cooks, then strategize with them on how best to put this event together with a Christian theme.
We’ll look at more ideas next time but remember, these event are fun but require a lot of work. For easy fundraising, keep in mind selling the Samaritan Card, the wallet-sized discount card that practically sells itself.
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.
