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Read the short version of these mission trip fundraising ideas.
Christ Community Church in Ruston, Louisiana, says that it sends endorsement and support-request letters on behalf of approved short-term participants. The participants also personally contact friends and relatives in other towns and churches.
Another church says:
Our missions committee has helped dozens of short-termers over the years. Some of them can raise the money almost overnight. Others take a long time.
Here are some of the ways we help them:
- The missions committee provides $500 from our budget for each individual. We always have reserve funds in our budget for this purpose.
- We invite them to speak to the congregation about what they are doing.
- We need special permission from our church board if we want to make a plea for donations during the worship service. We do not do this very often.
- We let them hold an informational meeting at the church.
- We let them put information in our monthly newsletter.
- We help them draft a support letter to send to the congregation and to friends and family.
- We encourage them. We pray for them, and we celebrate with them.
- We have never had anyone unable to go because of a lack of financial support; God always provides the resources.
Dennis Miller, Minister of Outreach at Mt. Scott Church of God in Portland, Oregon, says:
We have taken teams to India, Kenya, and Mexico. Our strategy calls for every short-term team member to complete about 20 hours of training, including instruction in raising support.
We require each team member to contribute one-third of the cost from personal funds, extra work, or savings. Another third comes from group fundraising or subsidies from our church’s missions budget. The final third comes from individual support raising. Each team member selects 10 people to be prayer partners who pray for the funds to come in. The team member then sends prayer and support letters to friends, family, co-workers, and fellow students.
We restrict letters from going to the entire church body. Instead, we invite members of the congregation to complete forms in the bulletin and place them in the offering plates to request a letter from a particular team member or indicate that they will give a general gift to the whole team. We receive gifts ranging from $20 to $3,000 this way.
We are sending a team to Mexico this June and another team to Kitale, Kenya, next January. So far, these strategies are working. We do all we can to keep the team trips before the church. We also report to all interested parties after the teams return. I encourage those who become involved in local ministry when they return, as well as those who decide to pursue long-term service because of a short-term trip.
Jeff Relth, Global Outreach Pastor at First Christian Church in Phoenix, Arizona, writes:
I lead four to five groups a year on short-term mission trips. We take 5–15 people each time. Costs range from $1,800 to $2,800.
We have found that funding is not a problem. God has been very faithful. We give team members several versions of a fundraising letter and encourage them to personalize one. I give them a flash drive containing sample fundraising letters so they can easily personalize them.
Rarely do I have to assist people. In our experience, raising about $2,500 takes 75 letters sent to family and friends. We do not want people to blanket the congregation. Instead, we want them to send appeals to people they know. We stress the importance of not limiting the letters to Christian friends and family. We have discovered that non-Christians will also give to support them.
Some people will say they do not know 75 people. They do. They just need to be coached.
We make copies of all the checks we receive. We also keep a spreadsheet of the amounts raised. We give that information to participants regularly so they know how they are doing and can send thank-you letters promptly.
Gail of Eagle River, Alaska, suggested several practical fundraisers:
Sell car wash coupons ahead of time. Some people will buy them simply to offer support and will not show up. Others will come along with people drawn in by advertising. This approach raised more money for us than simply holding a car wash in the church parking lot.
Host an Easter or Mother’s Day brunch. Our local university let us use its culinary-training café for a more formal effect. The culinary students gained experience preparing an elegant meal. Our kids handled the setup, serving, and cleanup after a half-hour lesson from the “chefs.” We had two seatings. A teen barbershop group provided entertainment toward the end of the meal. Although the tickets may have been a bit pricey, we had a good response. Diners chose from three entrées when making their reservations.
Sell molded chocolate roses on stems for Mother’s Day.
Sell two for $10. Ours cost about 50 cents each to make. The purchaser keeps one bracelet, along with an explanation of the beads, and “gives” the other one back for you to take overseas and use on the mission trip.
We find these salvation bracelets very useful on mission trips. We wear two of them. When someone asks about them, we explain that if the person can remember and repeat the explanation, we will give them one of the bracelets. Some people accept Christ. Others simply carry the message with them. [Learn more about salvation bracelets.]
Jennifer Lichty, Director of Special Teams for International Teams in Elmira, Ontario, Canada, wrote:
As the director of short-term ministries with International Teams, I have seen just about everything done to raise money for teams: dinners (donations work best), chicken catching, auctions, penny drives (one team raised $4,000), dinner theaters, and government contracts.
People give to vision. Give people something to be a part of. Allow them to take some ownership.
The most successful teams in raising funds—no matter how much they have had to raise—have been those that remembered that simple principle.
I had to ask what “chicken catching” and government contracts were. She responded:
People who raise chickens or turkeys often hire people to catch the birds for shipping. It is good money, but you need to be ready for scratches and hard work. You will not need to go to the gym to exercise your biceps for a few days after catching birds.
I have heard of numerous teams that contacted local governments or community offices and asked about available tenders. The work has included planting trees, stuffing envelopes, conducting election enumeration, and delivering new phone books.
Southway Church reported:
We held a two-day garage and rummage sale on the church property. Various people in the church and community donated the items. For the most part, we let customers set their own prices, explaining that the sale operated on a donation basis and that we were raising money for our mission trip to Kenya. A few people took advantage of the arrangement, but most were generous. The Lord gave us $4,000 in two days. About $1,000 of that came from selling barbecue sandwiches and brisket prepared by one of the men of the church.
We also auctioned six hours of each trip participant’s time for work that was neither illegal nor immoral. We served dinner and then conducted the auction as people finished their meals. If the auctioneer has a sense of humor, it can be a lot of fun. We have usually raised about $1,500 per trip this way.
A woman who went to Spain on one of our trips offered an internet course for beginners to people in the church. She charged tuition and applied the money to the cost of her trip.
Rick Knox, Adviser for Europe for International Teams, suggests the following books, which the organization uses with short-term participants:
Knox says:
The methods concentrate on personal rather than impersonal appeals. The approach aims to minister to prospective donors instead of merely trying to get money from them.
The keys are:
- Trust the Lord to provide.
- Seek to be a blessing to possible partners.
- Invite people to consider joining a team that will:
- surround this ministry with prayer; and
- give to support it.
Donors need to feel that they are genuine partners—not just partners on paper—in the venture, with real ownership of the vision. That is more likely to happen when donors receive timely, enthusiastic reports about the missionary activity in which they have invested.
The key is to send a thank-you letter for every gift, followed by reports on how the contribution was used. This follow-up will convert some short-term donors into long-term donors.
Regarding books on support raising, “Ask A Missionary” recommends two:
To request a free monthly subscription to Ask-A-Missionary, send a blank email to subscribe-askamissionary@xc.org.
Elaine of Oklahoma wrote:
The best fundraiser for the youth has been a church dinner and bake auction. They charge for the dinner, and people from the church bake delicious desserts. These are auctioned after dinner. The really good cooks receive high bids for their cakes and pies. This is the third time we have done this. They usually raise $2,000–$5,000. Of course, many people in our church are generous. One man bids very high on his wife’s cakes because she is the best cook in the church! He wins and then cuts up the cake and has people bid on each slice.
This year—and this is very radical for us—people bid high on a couple of pies with the understanding that they could throw them in someone’s face, with that person’s permission, of course.
The youth are also having a garage sale in the gym. They have been serving Wednesday-night suppers featuring hamburgers, taco salad, or submarine sandwiches. This has not been a great moneymaker, but it is good for fellowship and keeps people thinking about the mission trip.
One woman says:
We just received a postcard from our youth informing us of two fundraisers. One restaurant will donate a portion of each customer’s bill to the church on a particular day if the customer mentions the name of our church or project when ordering. On an upcoming Saturday, our youth will be carhops at a new Sonic Drive-In. They will keep the tips. That is probably a good arrangement for the restaurant, too, because I do not imagine that it will be paying them wages!
I recently learned of a Long John Silver’s restaurant in Houston that provides free meal tickets for church groups to sell as a fundraiser.
Southway Church has decided not to charge people directly to participate in a trip because it does not want cost to be a barrier to participation. However, it expects serious work and preparation from participants in discipleship and fundraising. Most participants also make personal donations.
Christian Muntean shares his experience:
I am not an exceptional fundraiser, but I have done my share of it and advised others. It is good for people to work for their trip and make some sacrifices. I have been on numerous trips and observed many others. People who never have to work for their place or sacrifice something to go are sometimes difficult team members. If they have not had to give anything to get somewhere, they may not be willing to give much once they arrive. Encourage them to work, save, cut costs, or sell things. This activity alone may not raise all the money needed, but it is an important part of preparing to go.
F – Faithfully stepping out to serve others
U – Uniting hearts through shared purpose
N – Nurturing relationships across cultures
D – Dependence on God for provision
R – Reaching the world with love and hope
A – Actively involving others in the mission
I – Investing time, talent, and treasure
S – Sharing the gospel through service
I – Inspiring change—both abroad and at home
N – Needs met through generous giving
G – Going where God leads, together
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