Since you are looking at this guide, you probably know that churches are in a pretty tough spot right now. Churches in the United States are self-funded and they have a lot to be taking care of! First, they need to take care of basic administrative costs: property maintenance, utilities, and salaries for the various church staff. Then there are other costs such as faith-formation materials and many churches may want a small surplus for any unexpected surprises like a broken heater in January or raccoons in the attic! Also, if you are simply a faith group rather than a church, you probably don’t have a lot of funding in general and the fact of the matter is that it is hard to do anything substantial these days without some kind of money. This is where ideas like fundraising start to come into play.
Church donation money usually comes through offerings given weekly during church services. Many churches also use the concept of “tithing,” where a person or family gives 10% of their annual income to the church. This can, of course, depend on the church or organization.
This isn’t always enough. Many churches are struggling to keep their head above water, especially in the past few years with the general economic crisis having affected everybody. So sometimes a church needs to be a little more creative.
So the next thing a church can do is a fundraiser. We’ll get into what kind of fundraisers you can have later on, but right now we’ll focus on the biggest concern many people may have when fundraising within a church or faith-group setting. best church fundraisers
Many people might not believe that churches should be a part of fundraising and they should just work with what they have. Others don’t like the idea of fundraising because it can take away from local businesses. This is a reasonable concern, but this guide will address these concerns and help you plan a fundraiser that helps your church out while not taking anything away from the local community.
The Number One Must-Have of a Fundraiser
Remember, the most successful fundraisers have a specific goal or vision they are working toward. Church fundraisers aren’t any different! With a specific goal in mind, you can do anything you want! (Except, you know, breathe underwater or fly like a bird. That might take a little more than a fundraiser!)
Please, please, PLEASE make sure you have a vision! Why are you fundraising? If it is just to have some extra cash lying in the church savings account, you may want to rethink having a fundraiser at this moment. Have a specific goal in mind. Maybe you have a yearly fundraiser to raise money for your faith-formation curriculum costs, or perhaps your youth group is going on its annual mission trip? These are specifics reasons for which you can tell people why you are raising money.
The GOLDEN Rule
Don’t be afraid to ask! Do you know why people don’t donate money or purchase from a fundraiser? It isn’t because they don’t want to, but because no one actually asks them! So don’t be afraid to ask those around you; you might be surprised at the response you get. Ask for help with the fundraiser, ask people to promote your fundraiser, ask people to buy from the fundraiser, for goodness sakes, even try asking for a free-will donation if people don’t want to buy stuff. Just remember…. ask!