Share your best fundraising ideas with us in the comments section below!
Have you talked to your church’s finance committee or Board of Managers about including CY as a budget item?
The Pink Flamingo Purchase several pink lawn flamingos – the tackier the better! Send everyone in the congregation an announcement on pink paper about your Pink Flamingo fundraiser. Your announcement could read something like this…
They divided the congregation into four flamingo areas. Inside each pink flamingo was a list of the names and addresses of church members living in one of the Flamingo Areas. On the appointed day, the youth group planted each of the flamingos on the front lawn of one family from the flamingo list.
If the flamingo ended up on your front yard, you then pledge a donation to the youth group, cross your name off the flamingo list, and replant the flamingo in the yard of someone whose name has not yet been crossed off the list.
The flamingo could not remain in the same yard for more than twenty-four hours. It was not necessary to follow the order of names on the list.
Donations were placed in the pink flamingo located in the church narthex (not in the flamingo that you deliver to the next house!).
If you didn’t want to see a pink flamingo on your lawn ever, you could buy Insurance for the Prevention of Large Pink Birds for only ten dollars. Any member of the youth group was able to sell insurance.
Don’t forget to say thank you to those who make donations. Send a card, give them a phone call, provide a receipt or pay them a visit!
Host a Benefit Concert Have either a fixed at-the-door price or pay-what-you-can donation box.
Odd Job Squad Commit to working for an afternoon doing any odd jobs (fall garden clean up, small paint jobs, packing for a move, etc.). This works individually and for a group!
Gift Wrapping Coordinate with a local store or offer the service after church, to gift-wrap items for special celebrations — Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Christmas, birthdays, etc.
The Old Tried and True Car Wash Always a hit!
Silent Auction with donated talents/services/items. Run it for a month at coffee hour after the service.
Scanning Service Set up a scanning service and advertise that you will be scanning hard copies of photos or important documents for either donations or set amounts per item.
Bike-a-Thon Sponsored bike ride, people can sponsor per km (tie in to kms to get to CY perhaps?)
Host a “Kid’s Night In, Parent’s Night Out” at the church. Well-supervised movies, games, food and fun for a per-child fee.
Sundae Sunday Hold an ice cream sundae bar after church. Pay by donation, and the youth serve the ice cream, and the toppings. (The same could work for baked potatoes!!)
Workshop Offer your technical skills and host a “Learn to Facebook and/or Twitter” Workshop to members of your congregation. Charge a fee or ask for a good-will donation.
Host a Monthly “Spaghetti Western Night” Invite guests and sell tickets to an evening of an old-fashioned western movie while serving a volunteer prepared meal of pasta.
Christmas Carol Delivery As a special Advent treat, provide a small group of carolers who will, for a fee, sing traditional carols at private Christmas gatherings.
Full Serve at Self Serve Ask a local gas station to let you pump customers’ gas and wash their windshields. You can either ask for an unspecified fundraising donation or a set amount (you may do better without a set amount). Since most stations are now self service you will be offering the customers a welcome option. It’s a win-win situation. It doesn’t cost the station a cent and their customers get premium service.
Sell a Kilometre Raise money for Canada Youth by selling mileage. Divide the number of return kilometres to Brock University by the amount the trip will cost. This is the cost per kilometre. Have people fund as many kilometres of your trip as they like. You can even track your fundraising progress with a map as you raise money!
Potato Dinner A potato dinner featuring a baked potato bar is fun and profitable! Check with your local restaurant supplier in order to get the largest potatoes. Sell tickets in advance to include one potato with a toppings buffet, a drink and dessert. Have a wide array of toppings available. Youth could also provide entertainment for the evening.
Cookie Grams Pick a holiday and pre-sell cookie grams. Bake cookies, add a card to be filled out by the buyer and deliver.
Parents’ Night Out This is a good way to give the adults in your church a night out. Offer parents and other adults a night out – dinner, a movie and babysitting for a set price. Rent local movies from your local library or church offices. Use the following as an outline for your evening:
- The whole group prepares and sets up for dinner.
- Half the group serves the adults while the other half feeds and cares for the children in another room.
- The group that babysat during dinner comes out to clean up while the other group babysits.
- The whole group puts everything away.
Talent Show/Auction, Coffee House Youth host a talent night where admission is free, but is costs to leave the show! You might also want to host a talent auction, in which people donate their ‘talents’ and others bid and buy.
Thirty Pieces of Silver At Easter, have members of the congregation bring plastic sandwich bags with thirty pieces of silver in them (the amount for which Jesus was betrayed). Any denomination of coin is acceptable, so long as it is silver.
Match a Dollar Ask your congregation to match dollar for dollar the funds that you or your youth group raise for CY.
Beg an Egg Go to a home and ask them to donate one egg (you may need to convince them that you are not crazy and promise not to throw it at their home!). Go to the next house and ask them to donate any amount of money for the aforementioned egg. Repeat cycle endlessly.
Offer a Service Shovel snow, offer pet care, wash cars, baby-sit, clean houses, mow the lawn.
We hope this list sparks some ideas for you. Happy fundraising!
Need more ideas? Send us an email today.