Talent Fundraiser
'Don't Bury Your Talents' Show
Plan a talent show for children and invite parents to buy tickets to attend. Ask your children's leaders to help encourage children to participate by helping them form groups or by remembering a child's special talent and asking the child to share it. Emphasize that children will be using their talents to help missionaries tell people all over the world about Jesus. Publicize the event well, noting proceeds go to your International missions project.
Karaoke Night
Find someone in your church that has Karaoke equipment to donate its use for a special Karaoke night. Have interested performers make reservations with you and pay a fee. Promote the Karaoke night through church media outlets. Provide refreshments for which the audience may pay as well. The winner (voted by the audience) could receive a gag gift, such as black velvet Elvis painting or Slim Whitman album. Because Karaoke is popular among young people, youth or young adults might choose to begin having a Karaoke night once a month to invite their friends who otherwise might not attend church.
Variation: Stand-up Comedy - Enlist youth or young adults known for their good senses of humor to perform clean stand-up comedy. Provide snacks and soft drinks at a reasonable price. Like the Karaoke night, this could become a new youth hangout if scheduled regularly.
Music Video Debut
Find someone in your church that has a camcorder and/or other audiovisual equipment for talent to use. Have participants make music videos with contemporary Christian music. They may wish to accompany the music with their own voices or instruments. Show the videos during an evening service or at another scheduled time for a fee, and provide popcorn, soft drinks and candy. This might be especially appealing to youth, but don't exclude older members with musical talent.
Seniors' Talent Show
Coordinate a time for seniors' talent show with appropriate church staff. Promote the event through posters, bulletin announcements and flyers distributed in seniors' Sunday School classes using photos or clip art of such personalities as Elvis and Lucille Ball. Then circulate a sign-up sheet. The talent show can be in the form of a dramatic presentation from a movie, a song, guitar playing or any other talent the person cares to perform. The idea is to illicit unusual, animated talents that will surprise the church family. Pass out invitations to church members. Ask participants for addresses of friends or family they'd like to invite and send an invitation. Designate a fee for attendance and post it on the invitations. You may wish to video the performance to sell to participants or family members who do not attend your church.
Variation: Teen Idols - Invite teens to help the seniors prepare for the talent show. Pair one teen and one senior together to come up with a talent-show act that will appeal to a younger audience. Offer prizes for Most Audacious, Most Creative, Best Impersonation of a Younger Generation, Bravest Idea, etc.
Variation: Children's Talent Show - Host a talent show for children in which parents and grandparents pay to attend. Follow the same promotional procedures as above, but without the nostalgic theme. Children may choose any talent, including impersonating more modern characters.
Variation of a Movie
Have your youth group make a film about a Bible story based on a famous movie. For instance, one group did the story of Ruth and Boaz (from the Old Testament book of Ruth) using ideas from the movie "Grease." The group wrote lyrics to the tune of "Grease" songs to tell Ruth and Boaz's story. Film the movie in advance and offer it to the church as a fundraising "dinner and a movie" night. |
