Posted by Thomas Freiling on December 10, 2009
If you are looking for a Church Fundraising product or are already familiar with the Samaritan Card than I have some exciting news for you. The Samaritan Card,a wallet-sized shopping discount card that allows donors to save up to 50% off at over 100,000 merchants nationwide, is expanding its already broad array of merchants! Our original list included dining, retail, and recreation merchants all across the country. Now Samaritan Card members will be able to tap into exclusive automotive and golf discounts! Imagine saving up to 50% off at over 1,700 golf courses nationwide and also at many golf supply shops and online stores. Is maintenance on your car costing you an arm and a leg? With the Samaritan Card you can save up to 50% on oil changes, transmission repair, new tires, muffler and other automotive repairs. Donors may also save at popular automotive supply merchants as well as on automotive warranties and financing. These latest additions could save donors hundreds of dollars a year on top of the discounts they will already receive!
In today’s economic climate church fundraising groups are in desperate need of a christian fundraising product that allows them to raise money fast and provides value to the donor. What more value could there be than allowing the donor to save more than they give! Church fundraising has never been better!
Posted by Aaron Jeschke on December 9, 2009
I remember back in High School my youth pastor would always make the claim that “persistence breaks resistance”. At the time I rejected the idea and fully believed that when a person decided something they stuck with it. A couple of my friends, however, wholeheartedly adopted this notion of “persistence” and began inviting their friends to youth camp unwaveringly. Even if they were rejected multiple times. By the time camp rolled around these same friends were responsible for bringing a number of kids on the trip. I, on the other hand, was responsible for bringing approximately zero friends. It’s not that I didn’t invite people either. I asked a couple of my friends but gave up as soon as they said no. Did my buddies end up bringing more friends because of their charisma? Or was it something else? After years of experimenting with this theory I have discovered that the squeaky wheel ultimately does get the grease.
This same concept can easily be applied to any form of church fundraising. It is usually those christian fundraisers that accent persistence and vigilance that end up being the most successful. Some of this comes out of a natural desire for the vision but some people are simply not as emotionally driven as others. That’s why accenting such principles and practicing them yourself regardless of how motivated you feel on any given day is so important. If you are not persistent donors aren’t going to believe in vision you represent or the church fundraising product you are selling. Why would they believe in something that they don’t think you genuinely believe in? You might have a sincerely passionate heart but it doesn’t matter unless the donors can see it. Being persistent is a very tangible way of showing your passion and belief. A persistent church fundraising team is much more likely to be a successful church fundraising team.
Posted by Aaron Jeschke on December 8, 2009
It is vitally important that when engaging in Church Fundraising that you get as many members of your church as possible. Too many christian fundraisers are not nearly as effective as they could be simply because a few people try to put together a fundraiser. As the person heading up the church fundraiser you can’t put the entire burden on yourself. Always remember that many hands make light work. The more people you have working on your church fundraiser the faster you will raise the money you need.
There are a few practical ways to get your church involved. First, be sure that the church is fully aware that the fundraiser is going on. Make an announcement or send out a chain of emails to church members explaining the purpose and vision of the fundraiser in order to ensure that church members are informed. Secondly, bring it up in conversation constantly. Repetition is the mother of all knowledge. The more you repeat to those around you that a fundraiser is going on the more likely they are to remember and get involved. Thirdly, generate excitement for the fundraiser by being excited yourself and exciting your team. The more “buzz” you generate the more likely people are to get involved. Lastly, use of fundraising method that you can believe in and present to your church with absolute enthusiasm. Most churches don’t want to hear about another cookie dough fundraiser.
The Samaritan Card, a shopping discount card that provides donors with up to 50% off at over 100,000 merchants nationwide, is a product that you and your church can get excited about. After the initial order there are not forms, orders, or return visits and the cards take just minutes to sell. The best part is that your donors will save potentially hundreds more than they give! Christian Fundraising couldn’t be better!
Posted by Aaron Jeschke on December 4, 2009
Are you a Christian Sports team or organization looking for a product that will help you raise money quickly and easily? Many sports teams have a difficult time raising the money they need because it is usually pretty difficult to communicate the mission and purpose of a sports team to those who are not directly involved. It’s imperative for Christian sports teams to have quality church fundraising products that donors actually want to buy otherwise you might have a pretty difficult time raising money.
The Game Saver Card is the perfect product for Christian Sports fundraising. The Game Saver Card works like the Samaritan Card, but offers sports-themed discounts to golf, automobile, dining, and recreational venues. Save up to 50% at more than 1,700 golf courses nationwide, plus savings on golf instruction, gear, apparel and more. Also save at restaurants, on automobile expenses like oil changes, plus recreation including theme parks and tickets to professional sporting events! The best part is that the Game Saver Card is designed specifically for Christian Sports groups and is amazingly simple to sell! Have any friends that play golf? Who wouldn’t want up to 50% at over 1,700 golf courses nationwide?
It you are having trouble raising money for your Christian sports group than I would highly recommend the Game Saver Card. Its the card that sports fans want to buy! Raising money for your Christian Sports team has never been easier!
Posted by Aaron Jeschke on December 3, 2009
It is not secret that many churches across the United States are in desperate need of funds. Church Fundraising has become even more important of late with the faltering economy and tough financial climate. The major difficulty here is that most churches don’t know how to engage in effective Christian fundraising. A lot of people think that by simply ordering what appear to be the most effective products their fundraiser will be successful. This is simply not the case. Sometimes churches end up indebted to some fundraising companies that sell quality products. What is the solution? How can churches put together effective fundraisers? If you and your team adheres to following principles I believe you will find your Christian fundraising efforts to be much more fruitful.
It is of the utmost importance to believe in your church fundraiser no matter what. As a leader you are the person who makes the engine go. The event or product doesn’t give itself passion, effort and energy. That is something that you must do as a leader. You will find a positive attitude and relentless energy will work wonders and your fundraiser is much more likely to be a success. Even if you find that your Church fundraising product is not what you expected a willingness and desire to believe and to succeed will help enormously.
You also need to be able to “sell” your fundraiser. Whatever your fundraiser may be you need to generate excitement of “buzz” by continuously highlighting the merits of your product to those on your team and to those around you. Ultimately persistence breaks resistance. The one who persistently espouses a product and highlights its finer points will succeed in “selling” the product. Ultimately, with christian fundraising products, you are “selling” a product or an idea in order to finance whatever needs your ministry might have.
Thirdly, never forget to pray. The Lord has all of the money in the world and he can finance whatever needs you may have and often uses things such as church fundraisers to do this. If you don’t acknowledge and seek his hand in your Church Fundraising efforts your fundraiser is much less likely to succeed. Whatever ministry you are involved in my hope would be that ultimately you are fundraising for Him.
Posted by Aaron Jeschke on December 2, 2009
The truth be told, church fundraising is not exactly the easiest job in the world. There are a million possible complications. I can’t really blame those ministers who almost continuously put off church fundraising simply because it is usually very difficult. A problem that I often see Christian groups run into is a lack of commitment to a church fundraiser over an extended period of time. Usually when a christian fundraiser first begins groups are excited about it and very willing to get involved. As time passes team members tend to lose interest and enthusiasm. Especially because the later half of any church fundraiser is more difficult than the beginning. This is true even when you are utilizing the best Christian products.
There are many ways that you can avoid losing momentum when engaged in a church fundraiser. As a leader you can never stop encouraging your team. An important rule to remember is “don’t expect what you don’t inspect”. There always needs to be some measure of accountability on any given fundraiser. If, for example, students in your youth group are selling church fundraising products and you don’t inquire about how it’s going with each individual the students may lose interest, motivation, or simply might forget about it. As the leader of the Christian fundraiser you are the heart and soul of the project. Whether you like it or not people look to you for leadership.
Another way to avoid losing momentum is to pick a church fundraising product that allows you to raise money quickly. The faster you reach your goal the less chance there is of lost commitment. The product I would recommend is the Samaritan Card, a shopping discount card that provides donors with up to 50% off at over 100,000 merchants nationwide. The Samaritan Card allows you to raise money fast which reduces the chances of your group losing momentum. No product, however, is a guaranteed success when it comes to keep your group committed but a product such as the Samaritan Card certainly can make it easier.
Posted by Aaron Jeschke on December 1, 2009
Finish up the turkey and bring out the Christmas tree, Thanksgiving is officially over and it’s that time of year again. Do you have that winter event coming up that you have avoided thinking about for the last two months? It’s not too late to start fundraising. This is a ripe time of year for Church Fundraising groups of all shapes and sizes. All that they need is the right church fundraising products. It’s during the Christmas season that people are more willing to give than any other time of year. After all, what is Christmas really about? It is important to keep in mind that most donors don’t want to simply add to their collection of useless products. Donors, especially during this time of year, are likely spending a lot on various products and ultimately they want something useful.
The Samaritan Card, a shopping discount card that provides donors with up to 50% off at over 100,000 retail, restaurant and recreation merchants nationwide, is the perfect holiday church fundraising product. The Samaritan Card provides something that donors can actually use during the holiday season. With every purchase donors make they will save even more. Ultimately a small $20 donation could result in hundreds of dollars worth of savings! Best of all selling the Samaritan Card allows church fundraising groups to raise money quickly and easily. After the initial order there are no forms, orders, or return visits. The cards are also enormously easy to sell and the wallet-sized cards are perfect for stuffing stockings! Christian Fundraising has never been better!
Posted by Aaron Jeschke on November 19, 2009
For some years I was heavily involved in youth ministry and during that time I performed a number of different tasks and helped put together my fair share of youth events. I often got so caught up on putting on a spectacular event or a producing a quality product that I lost focus as to why I was doing it. What was the purpose of my events? I think the same thing happens in Christian Fundraising all of the time. I have seen many groups get so caught up in raising a specific monetary quantity that they forget exactly what that quantity is for. There are a number of reasons to always keep in mind the purpose behind your Church fundraising efforts.
First, you as the leader of your Christian Fundraising team are responsible for motivating and encouraging your team. If you become overly focused on meeting a quantity goal and not focused on the heart of your mission motivation and purpose will suffer. If your desire is to build homes for the homeless then engage in Christian fundraising for that purpose. If your goal is to see Christ glorified let that be your purpose. The heart of a man is much more important than his hands just as the heart of a fundraiser is much more important than the money that it raises. The heart dictates the actions.
Secondly, the more in tune your team is with the vision the more motivated they are going to be to raise the funds they need. This is pretty obvious but is worth pointing out because without a properly motivated team it doesn’t matter how good your Christian Fundraising product is.
Part of the reason that we at Samaritan Fundraising desire to provide you with the best Christian Fundraising products is so that you can focus more on your mission and vision and less on the bottom line. That’s why we offer the Samaritan Card, a shopping discount card that provides donors with discounts of up to 50% off at over 100,000 merchants nationwide. A faster, easier church fundraiser means a more focused church. A more focused church or ministry is more effective.
Posted by Aaron Jeschke on November 18, 2009
A method that is used frequently in various business settings that is very effective in simplifying and understanding processes is process mapping. What does this have to do with Christian Fundraising? Keep on reading. What we are going to do is use a similar idea to process mapping and simply map out the steps involved in putting together a successful Christian Fundraiser. This idea can easily be used to evaluate the complexity of any Christian Fundraiser that you are considering. Lets take a typical cookie dough fundraiser and draw up a brief process map (of sorts) just as an example.
1. Order Cookie Dough forms from Supplier -> 2. Receive Order forms and distribute to fundraising team -> 3. Team approaches potential donors and has them fill out order forms -> 4. Team returns order forms and orders are processed -> 5. Cookie Dough is shipped to donors.
As you can see in the above example it gives you a good idea as to the complexity of organizing your church fundraiser. Obviously most of you guys are not going to take the time to map out each fundraiser that you consider but a brief mental outline could go a long way in deciding on which type of Christian Fundraiser to use. The above example literally took me one minute to write up. Each step in the process does take a significant amount of time. For example, it may take a week for the cookie dough to be shipped to donors. It is important to consider just how much time you expect each step to take. To give you an idea of how this process will help you we will compare the cookie dough map to a map of the Samaritan Card. The Samaritan Card is simply a shopping discount card that provides donors with up to 50% off at over 100,000 merchants nationwide. The following is the map of the Samaritan Card.
1. Order Cards from Samaritan Fundraising -> 2. Receive Cards and distribute to Fundraising team ->3. Approach and sell cards directly to donors
As you can see in the above example cutting out one or two steps can make a big difference as far as time spent putting together a fundraiser. In this comparison you save time for the donors because they don’t have to wait for the cookie dough in the mail and you save time for your team because they don’t have to return and compile order forms. A simple mapping exercise can reveal a lot about the complexity of a Christian Fundraising product.
Posted by Aaron Jeschke on November 17, 2009
I think an aspect of Christian fundraising that is usually overlooked when ministries put together a fundraiser is service. When we examine the wide variety of Christian Fundraising ideas available we must consider how we can best serve our donors and our Christian Fundraising team. The purpose of a Christian fundraiser is not only to raise the money you need for whatever cause you are supporting but also to meet the needs of the donors and team members themselves. It is paramount that donations are rewarded with a quality product. Many popular products are merely luxury items (popcorn, candy, cookie dough) that most donors can do without. How can we provide a product that allows us to raise money quickly and easily while still serving donors by meeting their needs?
At Samaritan Fundraising we strive to meet the needs of donors and fundraisers alike. That is why we believe firmly in the Samaritan Card, a shopping discount card that provides donors with up to 50% off at over 100,000 merchants nationwide. The cards are easy to handle and easy to sell. They also provide the fundraisers with profits of up to 70% per card. The Samaritan Card also provides for the needs of the donor by giving them savings. It pay for itself in a single purchase and can potentially save a donor hundreds! What better way is there to serve donors than by providing for their needs by offering savings! The Samaritan Card: easy for the minister; great for the donor.
