Enterprising Fundraisers
Thrift Shop
Encourage church members to donate "yard sale" type items for a thrift shop to be held in the church's fellowship hall. Arrange a time for the sale, and then promote it through church media outlets, the local newspaper classified ads and with signs throughout the community. Assign interested members a time and place to bring their things. Secure tables for display, and masking tape and markers for pricing. Items should be priced the night before the sale - shoppers tend to arrive early. Allow members who volunteer to help set up "shop" the night before. Have two people serve as cashiers while other church members mill around to assist buyers. Donate what is not sold to area charities. If the sale attracts many people from the community, consider making it an annual event; it might attract prospects who otherwise would not go to the church. Variation: Simultaneous Yard Sales - Encourage church members to hold yard sales simultaneously on a Saturday in one of the milder months in spring or fall. Arrange a time for the yard sales, and then promote them through church media outlets, the local newspaper classified ads and with signs throughout the community. Donate what is not sold to area charities. Variation: Ongoing Thrift Shop - Organize a thrift shop by having church members bring clothes they no longer want. Recruit volunteers to help you organize clothes into sizes and types. Promote your hours of operation through posters and/or the church bulletin. This could be especially needed during August and September, the back-to-school months. Donated unsold items to a clothing closet.
Restaurant Certificates
Arrange with a local restaurant to print certificates that can be sold to the public. It could, for example, be a 2-for-1 certificate or free dessert with each meal etc. Sell the tickets in your community. It is a win-win ticket because your group makes money and the restaurant gets more business and the customer gets a better deal.
Fashion Show
Get really cool stores around your community to donate various outfits for the day's show. Select a few models from your group, get some cool lighting and music going, form a runway, and then spread the word! Sell tickets for whatever you think is reasonable. Sell refreshments & goodies or have them included in the ticket price. This is good advertising for the clothing stores plus a chance to show the community how active and fun your group really is!
BirdHouses
Have the local high school or some people in your church design and pre-cut birdhouses. Material can be half-inch roof decking that your local building supply company may donate. Birdhouses can then be bagged unassembled and sold to kids with instructions on how to assemble and paint them.
Pick your 'thon'!
Have a walk-a-thon, bike-a-thon, or trike-a-thon for church members. Let participants know that the money they raise will go toward your youth international missions project. Give each person a missionary to pray for during the weeks before the event. Have them get sponsors who will pledge money. Choose a beautiful location, and take participants on a nice walking, biking or tricycling excursion. Get plenty of adult supervision for children participants. During the event, plan to tell about a missionary who might be helped by the offering. Have someone take pictures to display at church, or create a slide show set to music for a Wednesday night.
Variation: Tour de (name of town) - Name your bike-a-thon to represent your hometown. Pledges pay for each mile ridden. Variation: Read-a-thon - Participants read books about missionaries and/or missions. They acquire sponsors for each book that they read.
Variation: Rocking-chair marathon - Participants form teams. Each team is assigned one rocking chair. The team must keep their chair rocking at all times, except when trading "rockers." Participants enlist pledges for each hour that their team rocks. Show missions videos and provide people-group information so participants can learn about missions and pray for unreached people while they rock.
Variation: Bowl-a-thon - Rent some lanes at a bowling alley for the evening or whole night. Get people to sponsor you for every frame, or strike, you bowl.
Variation: Bible-a-thon - The students will bring the New International Translation of the Bible and read out loud with the group. They will be given a 10-minute break on the hour and a 30-minute lunch break. Not only will you be helping the students raise their airfare; you will also be helping them spiritually.
Variation: Sing-a-thon - Combine a service project with financial support. Your students collect pledges for every home they visit bringing joy to a shut-in. Sing Christmas carols, hymns, choruses. Chances are that your students will discover a tremendous ministry opportunity through this project that will leave them wanting to do it again without a fundraiser attached. The student focus, at first, will be fundraising but you will quickly see it change to ministry!
Variation: Swim-a-thon - Rent a swimming pool and have teens get sponsors for every lap they swim.
Variation: Skate-a-thon - Whether you like to ice skate, roller skate or inline skate this can be a lot of fun. Find a facility where you can crank the music and have some fun. Have refreshments available for those on the go. Get people to sponsor you for every hour you skate without stopping (except for bathroom breaks and one 5 minute break every 30 minutes).
Variation: Bike-a-thon - Great event for a nice day. Choose a route for biking and measure off the distance. Get people to sponsor you for every mile/kilometer you travel in a specified time period.
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