Well, this is something that is probably a good information topic for a lot of folks.
I recently (as in on Sunday) got elected to my church’s vestry. For those of you not Episcopalian, the vestry is the administrative ruling body of the church. It is also a word for a storage room in the church, which has some weird connotations if you think about it. . . . .
Anyway, as with many churches in smaller more rural northeastern communities, money is an issue. We have a projected budget shortfall for this year. Those of you in the south probably find this shocking, but in the NE in general church attendance and giving is down.
Add to that the fact that it seems like you are constantly being hit up by someone to buy popcorn, wrapping paper, Gertrude Hawke chocolates, have your car washed, attend a BBQ etc etc etc-well, sometimes you just feel fund raised out.
Our town has 8 churches, which all seem to be very active, but as usual it is the same core of about 10 folks in each church who do 90% of the work on any given project. My church is no different.
Given all that, what suggestions do you all have for fundraisers that have worked for your organizations in the past? Or just ideas that you have had? Obviously I am looking for something that is low overhead (dare I say frugal) to start with. I’m very interested to see what ideas are put forth, and tomorrow I’ll give a few of the ideas that I’ve come up with myself.
Here are a few ideas:
Silent auction/auction. If you have a school, preshcool, or religous ed. for kids, this is a great idea. Parents bid crazy $$ for items their child help to decorate.
Pancake b’fast. You could do a bunches of variations depending on the season.
Community yard sale or even better, a consignment sale for kids/youth clothes. Those are HUGE here in NC. There is a 60% is kept for the organization and 40% is given to the person donating.
Our church’s very best fund-raiser, to benefit the youth going on a mission, is a pie auction. Held every other year, on a Sunday evening, it’s huge! Some creations sell for as much as $1000!
Oh, and then we sit around and eat them together. 🙂
In Brewer Maine, the women’s group had a Christmas craft sale every year. We would meet monthly and make crafts, and then sell them in November. We consistently raised several thousand dollars.
We were also know for our yearly summer rummage sale. Again, usually 1 or 2 thousand.
Evelyn