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Ultimate Guide To Church Fundraisers

 

Ultimate Guide To Church Fundraisers

In terms of having a successful fundraiser for your church, there is no question that you have a lot of options. The challenge is to consider the pros and cons of each possibility. This can include things like t-shirts, but fundraisers can also cover events/items like a bake sale, vinyl decals, a yard sale, candle sales, or even a chili cook-off.

Fundraisers can combine some of these ideas, but you probably won’t want to try and mount an event that will encompass all of these suggestions. At least for now, and this holds particularly true for anyone who is running a fundraiser for their church for the first time, learn more about the different options that are available to you. From there, it can be helpful to get an idea of what the church community as a whole might enjoy. Building your fundraising efforts around something you know they are going to respond to can naturally ensure the event is a success that’s enjoyed by everyone.

But which fundraising event is ideal for your church? T-shirts? A bake sale? Can something like vinyl decals really stand on their own as the perfect item for your event? The more you learn about these ideas, the easier it will be to find something your church is certain to love.

 

Fundraising With T-Shirts
First, let’s consider the t-shirt. In terms of tangible fundraising possibilities, a t-shirt might be the most popular choice of them all. It isn’t hard to understand why. In terms of design inspiration, and in terms of overall costs, t-shirts are a fantastic, proven centerpiece to a successful fundraiser for a church. You could even combine them with the vinyl decals that we mentioned before. But again, if you want to start off simply, a t-shirt is perfect.

One of the best things about a t-shirt for your fundraising event is the space of the blank canvas itself. By this, we’re talking about how much room you’re going to have to put the text and graphics on your shirt that suits your message and your interests. Do you want the shirts to reflect something humorous? Do you want these shirts to pay tribute to a recently departed member of your congregation? These are just a couple of your options. There are tons of different things you can do in this arena.

You can even come up with three or more designs, and then put the final choice to a vote before the congregation. This would be a wonderful to bring people together, making them feel as though they are truly part of your church community.

Will your fundraiser focus on congregation members exclusively? Do you want to sell these shirts to a larger group of people? Do you want these shirts to appeal to the secular? These are good questions to ask, as you come up with something that will be ideal for a fundraiser that involves t-shirts. Furthermore, remember that you can have shirts printed in just about any color you can imagine. You can certainly print off more than one design for your fundraising event, as well.

One of the nice things about using shirts to power your event is the low initial cost. Having t-shirts printed can be fairly inexpensive, even with a combination of text and graphic. Make sure you research your options carefully, in order to ensure you are working with a company that produces attractive, durable results. You should also keep in mind that the costs of printing shirts can rise rather quickly, depending on the quality/type of visuals and text you choose. Thankfully, most of the best websites that print t-shirts of your creation will allow you to design everything online. You can even preview a shirt design before making your purchase.

Fundraising With Bake Sales
A bake sale can work for just about anyone or anything, as far as fundraisers are concerned. This is another excellent way to bring everyone in your community together for a common event that virtually anyone can get excited about. Imagine all the members of a congregation coming together with baked treats and other goodies. A successful bake sale is always going to be a huge generator of income. Best of all, if you get enough people involved, the costs of a bake sale fundraiser for your church are practically nil.Furthermore, bake sales do not simply have to be bake sales. What we mean by this is that if you are so inclined, you can incorporate other events into your sale, as well. A cake walk might strike you as a little old-fashioned, but people do still enjoy them. Who doesn’t like to win free cake?

Also, when it comes to the concept of the bake sale, remember that you can stretch that term a little. If someone doesn’t want to bring baked goods, but they have a different, appropriate dish they are willing to make, don’t be afraid to consider it. In the same way you can combine t-shirts with vinyl decals, a bake sale can utilize a lot of different things. However, if your resources are a little on the limited side of things, don’t stress out too much. At the end of the day, people will be happy with a selection of unique, homemade baked goods from your community.

Coordinating a bake sale can be challenging, so make sure to give the task to someone who knows what they are doing. A bake sale isn’t usually something you can throw together at the last second, so make sure to give everyone plenty of time to contribute, make time for the event, and so on. If you aren’t going to have the bake sale at your church, then make sure you choose a good location with high visibility, lots of space, and easy access points.

While you don’t have to come up with anything too fancy, remember that people do respond to unique packaging and treats. Mention this to anyone who is interested in helping out. Create a list beforehand of everyone who is contributing, and what they are planning to make. You will also want to make sure you have pricing and payment options established beforehand. Not everyone brings cash, and it’s easier than ever to let people pay for even a cupcake with their credit or debit card.

Fundraising With Yard Sales
The appeal of things like t-shirts or a bake sale for any type of fundraiser is near-universal. The same can be said for a yard sale. However, depending on the size of your church community, this can be a more complex endeavor than some of the other possibilities we’ve mentioned so far.By no means are we trying to discourage you from having a yard sale for your fundraising event. At the same time, there are several elements to a successful yard sale that even small churches should try to keep in mind.

This is another fundraising idea in which you want to get all of the details ironed out ahead of time. This includes where the yard sale will be held, who is going to participate, how many tables and chairs you’re going to need, and whether or not you want to also sell food/baked goods (some churches/groups sell soft drinks, but this is entirely up to you). Remember that a large, successful church yard sale can generate as much as a thousand, or even two thousand dollars. Some make even more. A good way to ensure your yard/garage sale is successful is to divvy up the planning responsibilities early on. Generally speaking, it’s not a good idea, or even a very reasonable one, to ask a single person to plan everything. You will also want to give everyone plenty of time to gather and bring in their donations. A good rule of thumb is to announce the yard sale to everyone a full six weeks before the actual date. This sounds like a huge stretch of time, but trust us, you’re going to be glad you have such a diverse group of people such a generous window. Six weeks pretty much guarantees that everyone is going to have enough time to go through their personals, and come back with things that will promise a successful fundraiser for all involved.

Obviously, you’re going to want to have your yard sale on a weekend. Decide early on if this will be a 1 or 2-day event. You should also make it a point to avoid having your yard sale on a holiday weekend. It can even be useful to check out what’s going on with the community at large on whichever weekend you choose to host your yard sale. If something else is happening that might hurt your sales, you can move things to a different date with minimal fuss.

 

Fundraising With Candle Sales
Candles for a fundraiser at your church? Why not? In addition things like t-shirts or vinyl decals, there is something of a universal appeal to candles. This may not be your first choice for fundraising, but it’s a suggestion that is worth considering nonetheless. Implementing one of these sales is easier than you might think, and it’s another good way to get everyone in the congregation involved in something that can prove to be a lot of fun.One of the nice things about fundraising with candle sales is that you’re working with a fundraising endeavor that hasn’t been done to death. This one is still pretty unique, and there are two major options for generating the candles you will need to be successful. You can purchase your candles from a wholesaler, or you can have members of the congregation create their own candles to sell. You can also certainly combine these things.

Candles can come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors. Scented candles can be featured with numerous appealing scents. If you have your fundraising event during the holidays, you could certainly think about purchasing candles suitable to the season. You can offer a range of candles at a variety of different prices, ensuring there is something for just about anyone who loves candles.

Regardless of how you go about securing your candles, this is another example of a fundraiser in which careful planning beforehand is absolutely essential. For example, when it comes to actually selling the candles, there are a couple of different options that you can explore. You can ask members of the church to take orders from friends and family. They can also take orders by going door-to-door. On the other hand, some candle fundraisers choose to sell everything on a special date from a single location. You can host an event in which your congregation sells drinks and snacks, as a precursor to a presentation designed to show off everything you have to offer. Ultimately, when it comes to having a successful candle fundraising event, the choices are yours to make.

You can also simply take orders from friends, family, and others, and then make your purchases from a retailer that suits your needs. Many people prefer Amazon.com for something like this, and it isn’t hard to understand why. When it comes to price and selection, they’re just about the best option out there.

 

Fundraising With Chili Cook Off
Just about everyone likes a good chili cook off! There are literally hundreds of recipes out there, encompassing those who love meat, those who are vegetarians, or even those who are vegan. A chili cook is a great way to get everyone from your church involved. And as a fundraiser, it can generate a great deal of revenue for whatever you have in mind.Like the rest of our ideas for church fundraisers, the key here is to start planning early on, giving yourself plenty of time to put together a successful event. Most of our fundraising ideas involve the need to create a committee to make sure everything goes off without a hitch. As we mentioned before, you really don’t want to leave all of the planning to just one person. Assemble members of your community who are eager to help put things together, and who can bring unique talents to the endeavor. Planning can involve how you’re going to get the word out, where the event is going to be held, the rules for the cook-off itself, who is going to be suitable to the task of judging the entries, and other factors.

To be sure, this is definitely an example of fundraising that is massively dependent on a huge turnout for a specific day. Start planning this event as early as six weeks in advance. Some people even start to plan things two months in advance, depending on how much they advertise, and how many people they are expecting to attend as competitors or attendees. You will also need to think about prizes you will want to give away to the winners. Some fundraisers even include entertainment or additional snacks/items that might be made available. You will also want to decide how much you’re going to charge entrants, in addition to how much you will charge spectators. As a general rule, it’s best to charge entrants a little more than the spectators. However, anything more than 20.00 for an entry fee might be pushing it a little.

Make sure entrants can learn more about your fundraiser with ease. They should be able to complete the application process in either a physical form or by going online. They should have a complete understanding of the rules, the entry fee, and more. They should also be able to reach you with ease, if they have any questions about the rules and/or guidelines.

 

Fundraising With Vinyl Decals
You might be tempted to think vinyl decals are the same as vinyl stickers. They share some similarities, kind of in the way you might compare t-shirts to sweaters. However, there are a number of key differences between decals and stickers. In the end, we think decals are the better choice for the upcoming fundraiser at your church. There are several reasons as to why this is the case.One of the nice things about decals is that they’re similar to shirts, in terms of the creative potential of the product. You can offer people a wide variety of colors and finishes. You can express a number of different messages on them, from something humorous, to something that is meant to bring awareness to a serious cause of event. Best of all, these decals can be utilized on a wide variety of surfaces. You can find one on the back of a car, but it’s not also not unreasonable to see them stuck to the front of someone’s laptop. The versatility of vinyl decals is one of the reasons why they are such strong sellers. It just happens to be that people rarely appreciate this possibility. Combine some decals with t-shirts, and you have two proven, popular products that can be applied to just about any type of fundraiser imaginable. This is something that can appeal to members of your church, members of other churches, or even those of the secular persuasion.

Ultimately, the difference between decals and stickers comes down to the printing process. There are also many who believe that decals are the superior product overall, owing to their durability and flexibility. At the end of the day, you can decide for yourself which of these options will give you the best results imaginable.

Custom vinyl decals are also popular for the fact that they offer everyone a low-cost way to bring in revenue for a worthy cause. You can purchase decals in bulk at good rates from a number of retailers, online or brick-and-mortar. The low investment gives you a lot of flexibility, when it comes to setting a good price. Just don’t get too greedy!

You can also entrust members of your church to take orders from others. You can then place an order for exactly the number of decals that were purchased.

How To Have A Successful Church Fundraiser
Throughout the whole of this article, remember the value of social media. In particular, Facebook can be a great way to not only announce and promote your church event, but it can also be useful for keeping track of participants, while also knowing how many people you can expect. At this point, just about everyone is using Facebook.

However, don’t forget about traditional ways to promote your fundraiser. If your budget allows for such a thing, have some flyers printed off, and distributed throughout town. Ask local businesses if they would be willing to let you put up an announcement or advertisement. Some even go so far as to advertise on local radio and TV, but you obviously don’t have to take things that far. Don’t let your enthusiasm override logistics.

Anyone can have a successful fundraiser. It simply takes planning, patience, a good team, and a clear idea of the support that is available to you. Through our custom t-shirts and vinyl decals company, we can work with you to create custom, high-quality products that will ensure your church event is a resounding success in every possible way.

No7 Designs