THE ULTIMATE LIST OF FUNDRAISING IDEAS FOR YOUR CHURCH | All-in-one Church Engagement Suite | Church Base All-in-one Church Engagement Suite | Church Base

THE ULTIMATE LIST OF FUNDRAISING IDEAS FOR YOUR CHURCH

Posted on by thegrowthteam

By the Church Base Team ┃Read time: 3.5 minutes

Whether it’s a building project, a youth camp, or a mission trip—churches leaders and volunteers are always brainstorming for great fundraisers. The goal is to raise money, while also building community and teamwork. 

We’ve created this ultimate list of fundraising ideas for your church to inspire you and give you plenty of ideas:

  • Auction: You have a lot of options for an auction. You can offer a live auction, a silent auction, a cake auction, or an online auction (usually through a dedicated Facebook group). Partner with local businesses to gather goods to auction, or local artists for art to auction (tax-deductible for them!).

  • Battle of the Bands/Benefit concert: Recruit and highlight local talent for a good cause.
  • BINGO night: A little competition can put the “fun” in fundraiser.
  • Birthday pledge: Set up a way for people to donate to your cause for their birthday (on Facebook, online, or in-person).
  • Candy grams/singing grams: Spread the love around your community with a fundraiser that brings smiles to all.
  • Car wash: No ultimate list of fundraising ideas for your church would be complete without a car wash. This is a great option to get the whole family to work together.

  • Church cookbook: Gather your congregation’s best family recipes and compile them in a beautiful cookbook. You can sell these in your church foyer or online. 
  • Fill-it-up thermometer: Visuals are always helpful in fundraising.
  • Food sale: This could be baked goods, tamales, hot dogs, nachos, etc. Get creative!
  • Garage sale: Consider combining several families’ garage sales to host one large community sale.
  • Informational lunch/dinner banquet: Never underestimate the power of a catered meal, an informative PowerPoint, and a motivational speaker.
  • Lawn Gnomes and Pink Flamingos:  If you’ve got a lot of mischievous youth in your congregation (not too mischievous, of course), this unique fundraising idea can be a great way to let them get creative and have some fun. The basic idea is that people pay to have the lawns of their friends and relatives outrageously decorated with gnomes, flamingos, and other gaudy lawn ornaments. Then, have the youth come by later to remove the ornaments for reuse.

  • Movie night: Pick a family-friendly movie and advertise to the community. Set up a donation box for the viewing and charge for the concessions.
  • Partner with local businesses: Write letters to local businesses to secure donations of supplies for a mission trip (medical supplies, children’s books, etc.), financial donations (tax-deductible), or donations of a certain percentage of profits to cause (e.g. 10% of sales at a local restaurant on a given evening).
  • Service board: Set up a bulletin board (digital or at your church) where church members can post odd jobs and the price they would pay. Youth can select and sign up for the odd jobs they would like to do.
  • Something-a-thon (walk, bowl, etc.): Make it as rigorous or as easy as you want—from the pro-athlete to the family with toddlers. You could even do a Grade-a-thon for youth, where they raise funds for their report card grades.
  • Spa night: At your next Women’s Night Out or MOPS meet-up, have volunteers give manicures, pedicures, and five-minute massages for donations.
  • Talent show: Encourage people to be creative while having a fun time!
  • Whack-a-car: Get an old broken-down car and have students and adults pay to get a swing at the car with a sledgehammer or baseball bat. (Be sure to use protective gear.)
  • Wrap crew: Offer gift wrapping services around the holidays.

  • Youth auction for labor/babysitting: This is a great option for teens going to camp or mission trips (assuming the parents are on board).

 

We hope this ultimate list of fundraising ideas for your church inspires a fun and successful fundraiser. The next step: set up digital giving! Studies show that 49% of all church giving transactions are made with a card. Set up your fundraiser to succeed with a secure online option.

When it comes to collecting and organizing your fundraising dollars, make sure your system can handle the work. With Church Base, you can collect and designate funds through your website, church app, and giving kiosk. Just set up a Giving Campaign in the Contributions Module to organize your next fundraiser.

Right now, you can use the entire Church Base software suite for an entire year…for free. (This includes digital giving!) Get Started today by creating an account.