Non-traditional fund-raising ideas

Group, Jul/Aug 1999 by Peterson, John William, Lemmon, Kathyrn, Mullins, Don

14 slightly off-center ways to make for your ministry

An empty budget coffer should never block a great ministry idea-but it happens all the time. Creative fund-raising is the answer. You can raise the money you need for your ministry if you have a great idea or two and you refuse to give up. We've collected church-tested ideas that are a little out-ofthe-ordinary-just add your determination.

pizza sale

Sell take-and-bake pizzas twice a year for Super Bowl Sunday and during baseball's World Series. Purchase pizzamaking ingredients from a wholesale grocery outlet. Create order forms detailing the types of pizzas you'll offer. Keep a record of your sales by designing the forms in two halves: you keep the top half of the form and the customer keeps the bottom half. On the customer's half of the form, include the date and time the person should come by the church to pick up the pizza. Then pre-sell your pizzas by asking group members to each brainstorm 10 people they'd feel comfortable asking to buy pizzasteachers, coaches, friends, relatives, neighbors, and so on.

Once you've developed a customer database, plan for a one-night telephone blitz. Divide the evening into halfhour segments and recruit your kids to make the calls in 30-minute shifts. You can pre-sell hundreds of pizzas in just a couple of hours. On the morning of your sale, convert a church room into a pizza assembly line. Make each pizza to customer specifications. Then lay out your orders alphabetically so you can find them quickly when customers arrive to pick them up.

lifesize monopoly

A Maryland youth group and its leader invented Giant Monopoly, a great indoor, winter fund-raiser. The group created a "board" by laying out a 35x35-foot square from a roll of butcher paper, then painting it with the property names. A layer of heavy plastic protected the paper so kids could walk on it. They made title deed cards from poster board, giant foam-rubber dice, and a jail out of a nearby storage closet. Paper bags filled halfway with wadded newspaper, folded over, and stapled became houses and hotels-one bag (painted green) lor a house and two taped together (painted red) for a hotel.

The game is played in three-person teams with people as the tokens-one person throws the dice, one keeps track of the money and deeds, and one moves around the board. Group members collect pledges for the time they intend to play in a 24-hour Giant Monopoly marathon. In addition, outsiders are invited to drop in and play for $5 a half-hour. You can e-mail Don Mullins at donmullinsjr@prodigy.net for more information.

variations on lunch

Plan and publicize a special "Inch Luncheon" at your church-and don't explain the name. When people arrive, tell them the price of lunch is tied to their height. Have a simple height chart at the door and ask each person to pay 10 per inch. Give the tallest and shortest person each a special door prize.

Or raffle off lunch with your town's mayor or some other local celebrity at a swank restaurant. Be sure to get your celebrity on board a few months in advance. Sell raffle tickets for $1 apiece, and tell people they can buy as many tickets as they want.

pet bake sale/ dog wash

It's easy to find recipes for homemade dog biscuits and cat treats (look for recipe books in the pet section of any bookstore). These treats are easy and inexpensive to make. You'll need tables to display your pet treats, and pet shampoo, old towels, i buckets, and several garden hoses for the dog wash.

community rummage sale

An annual spring rummage sale can be a big moneymaker. It's a lot of work, but it's all profit. Solicit rummage sale donations from church members; then place a big ad in your local newspaper touting your sale's size and selection. Use the church parking lot to display your wares.

singing christmas cards

Similar to a singing telegram, this fund raiser is easy because everyone can sing Christmas carols. Form singing teams of three or more, and assign each team a particular night to deliver singing cards. For each team, designate a captain who'll be the spokesperson when the team arrives to sing for customers. Have them dress in unique costumes and take along Christmas cookies to hand out. Advertise your service to your community and your church.

handyman team

These days it's not easy to find safe, reliable people to do odd jobs around the home. So form a handyman team from your group and charge less than the going rate. Advertise in your church and community the dates the team is available to work.

restaurant auction

Ask restaurants to donate gift certificates for meals. Explain that the certificates will be auctioned to the highest bidder, and tell them how you'll use the proceeds. Then advertise your auction to the community as well as to your church. Guarantee your success by selling tickets to the auction-$1 buys access to the auction and an unlimited dessert bar.

parable of the talents

Give each group member $10 to $25 and challenge them to find ways to double or triple the money in three months. For example, they could buy seedlings, grow the plants, then sell them. Or they could invest in a snow shovel and clear driveways and sidewalks for a fee.