Are you trying to raise money for your youth group’s next mission trip? Do you need a new sound system for your worship team? Regardless of what you’re raising money for, church fundraising can be difficult.
We’ve found that the more creative a Church can be with their fundraising, the easier it is to raise the money they need. With that being said, here are 5 creative church fundraising ideas that we love.
1) Custom Shirts
Traditionally, making custom shirts was tough. Fortunately, Bonfire makes it easy. Here’s how it works:
A. Head over to bonfire.com & set up a campaign
B. Customize the shirt however you like
C. Set a goal (miniumum of 5 shirts—this is the number of shirts you have to sell before Bonfire will print and ship your shirts)
D. Set the price (Bonfire tells you the profit you’ll make from each shirt. This is based on the goal you set and the intricacy of the design)
E. Promote your campaign through social media and from the stage at your Church. You get to determine the length of your campaign, so make sure to give yourself enough time to promote it well.
If your goal is hit, Bonfire will charge the cards of those that purchased and ship each person their shirt. If your goal isn’t hit, nobody’s card will be charged and the shirts won’t be printed. The only cost associated with this fundraiser is the cost of promotion. Doing a targeted Facebook ad to anyone that ‘likes’ your Church’s Facebook page is a great way to promote the campaign.
2. Dodge Ball Tournament
Who doesn’t get excited about dodge ball?!Here’s how this one could work for your Church:
1. Find an open space in your Church to host the tournament
2. Charge $200 per team (up to 10 participants per team)
3. Let the madness begin
4. If a participant gets hit, they can pay $10 for a new life
K-Life, a national parachurch ministry, has seen huge success from hosting annual dodgeball tournaments at several of their locations across the country.
Click here to see how K-Life in Columbia, MO executed a recent tournament. You’ll see how they structured their sponsorship packages, and you’ll also see how they used Eventbrite to pre-sell their “Extra Life Bands.”
3. Tilt
Tilt makes raising money online easy. Here’s how it works:
1, Go to Tilt.com, describe your goal, and upload a picture
2. Set your minimum goal (“tilt”) – nobody’s card will be charged until you reach it.
3. You can also add a target to shoot for more Collect - Tilt’s built in sharing tools help you collect more money, faster
4. Raise even more - Continue collecting money past the goal until your campaign ends. The average tilt raises 192% of its goal!
4. Threads of Hope
Threads of Hope is 100% risk-free with no up-front cost. Here’s how it works:
1. Contact Threads of Hope and let them know how much money you’re trying to raise.
2. They’ll ship you their product (bracelets, anklets, necklaces, etc) at no cost to your Church.
3. They even cover the shipping cost! Sell their product (they’ll tell you several creative ways to sell it)
4. You send 50% of the sales along with the leftover product back to Threads of Hope.
5. Keep the other 50% of the sales and put it towards your fundraising goal!
Threads of Hope works with families in under developed parts of the world to make their product. By partnering with Threads of Hope, you’re not just raising money for your Church. You’re also providing economic stability for a family that desperately needs it.
5. Smart Giving + Keywords for Simple Missions Funding
More than 550 churches are using Smart Giving from Kindrid to effectively engage new people with generosity at their Church. In short, Smart Giving allows anyone to give to your church instantly from their smartphone.
Here are a few reasons churches implement Smart Giving:
1. Givers don’t need to visit a website or download an app. They can give straight from any smartphone by simply sending a text message.
2. Communicating a new technology can be difficult. Kindrid provides your Church with custom slides, videos, and printed materials that will ensure a successful rollout.
3. Smart Giving provides real-time tracking of giver information, database integration, designation tracking, campus tracking, API integration, and several other features. Each feature is focused on creating a culture of generosity at your Church.
When churches sign up with Kindrid, they get a Smart Giving number and the ability to create keywords.
Here’s a specific example of how churches are using Giving numbers and keywords to help their youth raise money for mission trips:
Churches turn their students’ names into Smart Giving keywords. So the student can simply ask their friends and family to text the amount of their gift, along with the student’s name, to the Smart Giving number.
By making the giving process so much easier, churches are empowering young people to raise the money they need. If you’d like to learn more about using Smart Giving at your church, click here. We’d love to connect with you!
If you’d like to learn more about using Smart Giving at your church, schedule a 1:1 with our team! We’d love to connect with you!
Church fundraising doesn’t have to be difficult. With a little creativity and the help of some awesome technology, you’ll be hitting your fundraising goal before you know it!
