Hey there KidMin Friends!
I hope you are all doing well, and getting to the end of your school year. Now, we can enjoy some summer fun. :D
Summer brings all sorts of fun for KidMin, but sometimes there is a price tag along with it. Because of that, I thought I'd touch on a few somewhat "simple" ideas to raise money for your ministry needs.
First of all, what are some summer events/programs that may need some extra funds?
* VBS
* Amusement Park Trips
* Summer Camps
* Children's Revivals
* Kid's Crusades
* Youth Conventions
* BackYard Bible Clubs
*...and I'm sure you have many more!
We want to provide all these fun things for our children, but sometimes the funds just aren't there. So what do we do? Usually, we end up half-way "begging" for support...or we end up spending hours and hours planning bake sales and car washes that don't really bring in too much money. Well, I guess they can sometimes, but it really depends on where you are located.
I want to share 5 ideas that you may or may no have tried before.
FUNDRAISER #1 (drum roll please....)
THE WEIGHED OFFERING!
If you've never done this before, it is worth a try! We have done this every year at VBS, and have raised well over $400/yearly from only an average of 80 children!
Here's how it works:
Build yourself a "scale" out of wood. This does not have to be anything special, but it does need to be able to hold up to plenty of weight! Here's a picture of what I am talking about, but it of course needs to be made out of wood and much more sturdy! :D
CLICK HERE for instructions on how to make one. Of course, this is only a suggestion...you can chose to build it however you want to, as long as it can hold a good amount of weight. ;-)
2. Once you have your scale built, all you will need is a couple buckets of the exact same weight that can hold coins.
3. In our services, we tell the children that we are going to have a contest of who can bring the HEAVIEST offering! So, of course, that means coins and not dollars. You would be surprised (or maybe not), how many coins the children will scrounge up from their couches, parent's vehicles...and even making a trip to the bank for rolls of coins! LOL
4. Weigh the offering at each service, and give small prizes for that day...like a piece of candy, a bookmark, etc. Nothing big.
5. Give a time limit for how long this contest will run. During VBS, we will have nightly winners, but we then pour ALL their offerings in specific buckets to save until the end. So each team has their own large bucket. At the end of the contest, we will weigh the ENTIRE offering that each team has brought over the length of time the contest was running. Then, we will present the winning team with a larger gift of some kind - a large candy bar, a Mcds gift card, etc. Of course the size of your prize will depend on how long you run the contest.
>>> This is such a fun contest that the children look forward to every VBS! And Like I said, we usually raise well over $400 in just 5 services. Do you realize that's an average of $5 per child?! How many children do you have that brings $1 to every single night of VBS? (And that includes bus children, etc.)
I have to admit it...#1 is by far my favorite "fundraiser". But of course, we need more than one idea. So here are a few more.
FUNDRAISER #2
M&M Tubes
No creative name for this one, unless you have a specific purpose for it. So, you should come up with a neat name and make it your own.
1. Purchase a case (or more) of M&M Tubes. There are usually 2 different sizes of these tubes as shown here:
Each tube can hold (I THINK) $10 for the smaller ones and $20 for the bigger ones. Or somewhere close to that.
2. I like to label these with whatever this money is going towards. For one, it will help children remember why they are doing this. And for another, it will help adults realize that the kids aren't just collecting money! LOL
3. Give one to each child. Tell them they can first eat the candy, and then they can collect quarters. When they have one filled, they return to you, you give them another one, and they continue on.
4. Make sure to label each one returned with the child's name on it.
5. We run this as a contest as well. Once the contest is over, we award a prize to the one that returned the most filled containers. If you have some that are close, award 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places...or whatever will work best for your situation.
FUNDRAISER #3
COMMUNITY WORK DAYS
Depending on your community, there may be some things that your children can do to improve your city.
For some examples:
Clean up the city park
Repaint fire hydrants
Pick up trash along the side streets
Weed city flowerbeds
We have used this for fundraising by printing up sponsor sheets for our children. Then we have parents, friends, and church members sponsor them by time frames...1/2 hour, 1 hour, etc. We really encourage our children to get sponsors outside of the church body for a number of reasons. One being that our church members already support this ministry (usually anyway!). And secondly, it helps our community know that we want to be involved with them, and gives them opportunity to see how our children work and take ownership of their city.
This is a fundraiser that helps the entire community benefit, as well as the child benefiting from the funds for the ministry they are blessed with, or for camp money, etc.
FUNDRAISER #4
ICE CREAM SUNDAE BAR
This can be made as simple or as extravagant as you'd like. Here are some ideas
Decorate like a 50's soda shop
Decorate like an outdoor picnic
Have parents donate all the fixings, and the department supplies the ice cream
Have parents donate everything
Build an enormous Sundae in a huge "rain gutter" type metal trough (see below).
6. Remember to put different toppings in different areas to please all your guests!
7. Have a Sundae bar where guests build their own sundae (see below).
8. Lastly, you can charge a specific price per sundae, charge person for all-you-can- eat, or simply as for donations. If you ask for donations, make sure that you have a nicely decorated bucket/jar that is visible and easy to get to.
FUNDRAISER #5
BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS
Everyone loves to play basketball...well, almost everyone anyway. LOL
You can use that to your advantage and host a fun tournament day or weekend. This is definitely my son's area of expertise...LOL...but what we have participated in before and plan to do this year is to host a 5 on 5 tournament.
Here are some specs:
All churches no matter what denomination are invited
Entrance fee per team
Entrance fee per guest (usually around $1-3 per person). If it's a couple day event, charge a set fee for both days, stamp their hands, or sign them in.
Do a 5 on 5 or a 3 on 3, depending on your number of participants and your time frame.
Offer concessions, which will raise more money, as well.
If you have a specific need you are raising money for, make sure that is posted and visible. You may find that you get even more donations!
Have a donations bucket/jar decorated and visible, but make sure that it is in a well protected/guarded area, since you don't know who all will be attending.
Hire refs, so there are no discrepancies between teams.
If you don't have your own gym, check with the local schools. They will usually let you rent their facility for a minimal fee, since you are part of the community.
Those are my Top 5, off the top of my head, Fundraising ideas. :D I hope at least one of them was new to you! I'd love to hear from you, and which one you would like to try out this summer. Let me know in the comments below.
Until next time...God Bless!
Sara Vojtasek & Joel's Vision Ministries