If you are considering going on a mission trip someday or you leave in a few months, its import for you to know some fundraising ideas for mission trips. What can you do or not do? There is something spectacular about going on a mission trip, using the resources made available to you to touch the life of others and bring the Kingdom of God to their doorsteps.
So, you decided to take this great step but along the line, your enthusiasm started to fade because the resources available are not enough to reach the estimated amount of people in the community you planned visiting. It is time to change your mindset from fear to faith because the good news is that you are not alone on this path. You have the Spirit of God in you, leading you and He has led you right to a solution; Fundraising.
Fundraising is the key to unlock access to thousands of individuals who may wish to support a vision such as yours. There are several ways to use this to your advantage. Some of the fundraising ideas for mission trips include:
CREATE AND SELL A PRODUCT: Creativity sells and creates profit. This is one of the best ideas of fundraising for your mission trips. You can use your skills to create marketable products that people need and convert those needs to profit for your mission trip purse. You could set up a store by your house, an online store or take the product and market it wherever you go. You could also recruit your friends to market them for you and sell them for you if possible. Some of the products that you can create includes; food, art works, hand -bands, T-Shirts, pen, notebooks, key holders etc. The point to note here is that whatever you create has to be unique and different from other similar types of the products. Use your skills to create and market what people would need. You could knit scarves, cook up fancy sea-salted caramels, design invitations and stationery, mix up, make bridal accessories and much more.
PUBLICIZE THE TRIP VIA SOCIAL MEDIA: Although people see the social media as a place to meet and mingle, times and trends has changed this concept. The social media has now become one of the largest gatherings and interactive world for people from different walks of life. You could use this to your advantage. Start by setting up a page on Facebook, twitter, Instagram or any other convenient platform and make sure that you invite your friends to like the page. Your content must also be engaging so that people will be able to read it, get emotionally riled up about your cause and donate as a means of support. In order to reach more people, you could also do Facebook campaigns which serves to boost your audience and get more people to contribute to your cause. Having a fundraising website where people can donate and people can come to see what it is really all about. It is important that you link your website or blog to this page to enable people see what they are contributing towards. Your website should contain details of your trips, pictures of past trips if you have any and other relevant information that will clear up any doubts or questions potential partners may have. Another important thing is that there are some companies that support this kind of trip. You could check out their websites and make research on how to apply for funding.
USE YOUR AVALIABLE RESOURCES: What resources do you have access to at the moment that might be profitable? If you live in a house where you have a spare room, you could consider renting the room out for the duration that you will here and collect rent monthly from your tenant. If you are one with a garden and a green thumb, you could also consider growing vegetables and other plants on your garden so that you can be able to sell the surplus of your produce. Someone with a poultry can engage in selling eggs to raise funds. Car rental services, gardening, pool cleaning, babysitting, tailoring and the like are also great profitable services that you can get involved in.
BUILDING FINANCIAL SUPPORT THROUGH THE MAIL: On the average, $2500 can be raised through well-written letters sent to about 75 people who know you: family members and friends. You can prepare this letter in an electronic format and send to as many people as possible. Do not limit the mailing list to only close friends to family. Be sure to include those in your local church, believers and non-believers alike in your office and even your neighbours at home. Be sure to always send thank you mails for every financial gift.
GETTING YOUR LOCAL CHURCH INVOLVED: Charity begins at home. Begin raising funds from your family and local church. Get your pastor in on your vision and mission so that he can be able to present it to the congregation. Speak to other believers; friends and even family and request that they contribute in whatever way they can. You can publicize it using your local church’s magazines, weekly church bulletin, monthly newsletters and even their website. Call attention to those who get involved in local ministry when they return or decide to go long-term as a result of going short-term. Your church can also support you with partial funding from their budget or organize fundraising events within the church. These events may include; T-shirt/bracelet auctions, dinner parties [selling the tickets at affordable prices], fun games/competitions and many more. Another useful way outside of finances is to support you heavily with prayers.
PARTNER WITH A RESTAURANT: There are many restaurants willing to partner with you in organizing fundraising events at their restaurant. It’s a win-win because you bring the restaurant a lot of business and they give you a portion of the food sales for your trip! Look for local restaurants around you and partner with them. Many local restaurants will offer a portion of the evening’s sales to a fundraising cause. Do online research or call some establishments near your church to see if they do charity fundraising. You could also sell restaurant meal tickets or discount cards as well.
HOST A HOUSE PARTY: They say that the way to another’s heart is through their stomach. You can use your culinary skills to your advantage by organizing tea parties, dinners, movie nights, black tie events or anything event related. Invite your friends, church group, or co-workers. Get some chips, dip, pizza, and put the popular game of the week on the TV. This kind of event is easy to pull off and something that everyone will enjoy. You could charge a cover or simply call it a fundraising party. You can also organize barbecue night, movie nights or bake sales and either request a donation as the entrance ticket or collect an offering at the end.
SEEK LOCAL BUSINESS SPONSORS: A lot of times local and regional businesses are willing to support what their community members are up to. Sometimes they even have community donations built into their budgets. If you’re brave enough, contact some of your favourite local businesses and ask if you could talk to someone about the opportunity to support your trip.
DESIGN SELL CUSTOM T-SHIRTS: Everyone wear clothes, and most people love t-shirts. You can sell t-shirts at school, church, or work. Check out FundtheNations.com. Their process is easy; Just give them your trip info, they’ll make cool t-shirts with cool graphics, and you can even pre-sell t-shirts before you get them printed so that you don’t have to buy a bunch of shirts up front.
USE A FUNDRAISING WEBSITE: A fundraising website can make donating to your trip much easier for people. Online donations are easy to keep track of and means that you don’t have keep track of a bunch of donation paperwork. It’s also a great way for people to follow your fundraising progress and see what you need to meet your goal. You want to make giving to your trip as easy as possible for people, and for most people these days online is the easiest. A couple of popular fundraising sites are GoFundMe.com and YouCaring.com.
Other fundraising ideas for mission trips include:
Organize a car wash and wear T-shirts that carry messages about your cause during the car-wash. Secure a parking lot with hoses and offer to wash cars, dogs, bikes or dirty lawn furniture for a donation.
Get people to donate used, unwanted consumer electronics and gold, silver or platinum jewellery and the organize a yard sale or a silent auction. You can also hold this sale on social media by creating a group for the sale.
You can organize a street dance or walk with banners and music playing. People could come out to dance, sing, play instruments etc. It would be like a talent display. All those who come around to view this display can be sold a ticket, t-shirt or whatever. Just be creative with this. You could also make it fun for those watching by engaging them through competitions such as eating competitions etc.
Whatever way you choose, do not underestimate the power of prayer. That is a sure way to be led by the Holy Spirit. He gave you this vision. He will surely see you through this and lead you to those who would provide for you.
Above all, you must have a foundational thought that God is the owner of the assignment and He promised to supply all you need.
And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Phil 4:19
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