How can churches raise money

This is especially true as at least some of the ideas must be "pandemic proof" meaning that they can be performed virtually or socially distanced. It's a big ask, even for the most seasoned church fundraiser. This guide will explore the top fundraising ideas for churches and how your church can implement them. There are many reasons that churches must fundraise, and not all of them are financial. However, as the pandemic wreaked havoc on churches across the nation, fundraising has become central to many churches' survival and continued operation.

That said, coming up with fundraising ideas is a lot easier if you have a thorough understanding of the driving forces behind church fundraising. Here's an explanation of the most important drivers of church fundraising.

Fundraising ideas aren't exactly hard to come by, as fundraising has been done pretty much since the dawn of time. However, it's important to distinguish between those fundraising ideas that are good in theory, but aren't' actually all that effective.

In this list, you'll find tried-and-tested fundraising ideas, as well as newer innovative virtual fundraising ideas. Each idea offers a viable solution to earn funds for your church and increase community outreach. However, the best fundraising idea, one that's effective, will be the one that best suits your church, community, and congregation.

Here are the top 10 fundraising ideas for churches in Basket raffles largely rely on the kindness and generosity of the small businesses in your community.

These businesses typically donate items to be arranged in a basket and raffled off by the church. The key to a successful basket raffle is to build as many baskets as possible and ensure that the baskets cater to a variety of interests. Everyone has items in their homes that are no longer in use, collecting dust, or simply have no more purpose. Those are the items you want to ask your congregation to donate to your church's yard sale. Place signs up around town and advertise on social media to draw a crowd.

Any leftover items can be stored until the next sale or donated to help the less fortunate. Whether you host a block party or create a winter wonderland, hosting a themed event for community members is a surefire way to earn. Simply charge for admission and connect with local vendors to collect donations to help you pull the event off.

This is partially a virtual fundraising idea, as it should be advertised online. You can post about the event on your church's social media pages and ask followers to spread the word. Bottle and can drives are typically low effort fundraising options, but they can yield a high reward, especially if done consistently. You may set up a can donation station on your church's premises , advertise it to your congregation ask them to spread the word around town!

Not only will you reap cash rewards, but you'll also be helping the planet. Auctions are awesome because the vast majority of items being sold can be sourced cheaply or donated by local businesses. Additionally, large ticket items often draw large crowds, so your church may even entice non-members to participate in the auction. This is another event to advertise on social media, as it's important to get as many people involved as possible.

Your church may have members who can't make it to services in person. If these members are immunocompromised they may be missing out in other areas of their lives as well. An online church service is a great way to connect with those congregation members. Setting up a virtual offering plate during your church's online church services gives those watching at home the opportunity to give.

Hosting a movie night doesn't mean that your church must have a huge projector and sound system. You can scale down to hosting a family movie night on whatever device is available. You can choose to have congregants form teams or compete one-on-one. Plan out a few competitions and have congregants place wagers on who they think will win each one. The competitions can be as daring and unique as you want. Just make sure that the events are all in good fun! Wall or desk calendars are the perfect fundraising product.

Start creating your calendars in the middle of summer. Add images from mission trips and other church events, and add quotes, statistics, or other facts about your church. Seasonal fundraisers can take many forms, but their unifying feature is that they are related to the current season or holiday.

The options are endless! Seasonal fundraisers are great because you will always have a way to raise money, regardless of the temperature, time of year, or occasion.

Additionally, you can make your seasonal fundraiser as involved or hands-off as you want. The fundraising decisions are up to you! A fun and easy way to raise a little money is to host a talent show.

This can be especially effective and enjoyable for the children in your church youth group, since entertainment of all kinds is welcomed! Charge a small admission fee and sell concessions to supplement your fundraising efforts. Bingo is a fun and easy game that even the youngest children can play. However, the majority of your proceeds will come from selling admission tickets, concessions, and products if you have them. A car wash is an easy fundraising idea for churches because it gets congregants outside.

Plus, a car wash is an incredibly simple fundraiser to pull off. All you need are the suds, water, some sponges, and signs for advertising. Rally a group of eager volunteers to stand a safe distance from the road and draw attention to your car wash with signs.

A church-wide picnic can be an excellent opportunity to get to know your congregation better and to raise money for your church. Send out invitations a few weeks in advance and promote your picnic on social media and via email. You can either supply the food or ask people to bring covered dishes.

Charge a small admission fee for the picnic and set up a general donation table or booth. Have a staff member stationed at the table to answer any questions that attendees might have and give them more information about supporting your church and getting involved. The only cost to you is a bag of balloons and some raffle tickets. Place the tickets inside the balloons and sell them to children and adults for a dollar each. Whoever has the winning ticket gets a small prize at the end of the raffle.

Depending on how many people come to your event, you could make quite a bit of money. A scavenger hunt is a fun way for kids and adults of all ages to discover your local area and work together toward a common goal. Plus, you can raise money! Have teams of kids or adults sign up and pay a registration fee.

You can set up an online registration form or place one in a centrally-located spot in your church. Then, create a course and hide items around your community. The winners can even receive a small prize! This is the perfect fundraising idea for those chilly fall or winter mornings and evenings. Help church members warm their tummies by selling hot chocolate during church events.

Plus, double your fundraising efforts by combining hot chocolate sales with another event idea, such as a hymn-a-thon or church game night! This is another great fundraiser to tack on to other events to raise even more money. A lip sync competition is a great fundraiser for your church youth group or Sunday School classes. During a lip sync fundraiser, teams of individuals come up with a minute lip sync routine that features songs that everyone knows and loves.

Charge teams a fee to enter the competition and sell tickets to audience members at the door. The audience can then vote on their favorite act by donating a dollar or two once the routine is over.

Sell concessions to bring in even more money! Everyone loves a good movie — and when it offers the opportunity to spend quality time with family and friends, a movie night becomes even more enjoyable.

Your congregation will have a great time watching a classic flick to support your church. Charge a small admission fee and sell concessions during the movie to raise more money. Depending on the movie you choose, you may need to obtain the rights to show the film. Why not bring Santa to your church and to the families that frequent it? Have a photographer on hand to capture the moment.

For an added fundraising opportunity, create a fun and festive atmosphere with hot chocolate and holiday snacks for sale. Just make sure Santa gets his milk and cookies! A potluck raffle can be a great way to raise money and introduce people to new foods. Volunteers make different dishes that attendees then vote for with pre-purchased raffle tickets. At the end of the night, each dish goes home with whomever had the winning raffle ticket for that particular item.

You can also encourage volunteers to sweeten the pot by including the recipe for their delicious dish! Your early risers are probably hankering for a hot cup of joe on Sunday mornings. Assemble your coffee and muffin stand right outside of the service to catch congregants before or after church.

You might be surprised at how willing they are to give back, too! With individualized fundraising appeals, your organization can encourage gifts from all congregants! Get up and running in five minutes and start accepting donations almost instantly! With Fundly there are no start-up costs!

We charge a small fee on donations only if you raise money. You can start raising money for your pet or animal-related cause in no time.

These elements help to establish a more personal connection between your supporters and your campaign. Sharing your crowdfunding campaign will help bring in donations more quickly. Your friends and supporters want to hear how your crowdfunding campaign is going. Make sure to say thanks and send them updates with pictures, videos, and more!

Pay absolutely nothing until you receive your first contribution. At only a few cents for every dollar you raise, Fundly is one of the most affordable ways to raise money for your church, youth group, or other religious organization. You can even share the campaign via email! You get to keep whatever funds you raise, minus any fees. Our interface is super easy to use, and our team is always here to help with any problems you might run into.

The best part of this campaign is the update that the organizer posted. She let supporters know exactly what was accomplished during their stay in Nicaragua and how the donations were put to use. Shoreline church started a crowdfunding campaign to help get their ministry off the ground.

There are photos of church members, the building itself, and their youth group. Upload multiple photos and videos of your church, youth group, or religious organization to show donors exactly where their contributions are going.

Learn more about shooting and posting great crowdfunding photos. This is a crucial component of any fundraising campaign because it helps supporters connect more closely to your cause and makes them more likely to donate! Check out these examples of great crowdfunding descriptions. Learn more about sharing your crowdfunding campaign with your network. You can share detailed updates about your campaign every few weeks or celebrate the little victories with shorter updates.

This will keep your donors in the loop and show them the concrete results of their contributions. Check out these tips for writing crowdfunding updates. We decided to start a crowdfunding campaign with Fundly to pay for an upcoming service trip to Honduras. We were able to raise so much money from our church members and people in our community! My church needed money for a new sanctuary. Our old one was in such disrepair, and the new building was going to cost a significant amount of money.

We started a crowdfunding campaign and started receiving support almost immediately! Members of my synagogue regularly volunteer at our local homeless shelter. We decided that we could be doing more, so we started a general crowdfunding page. We were able to raise money and awareness for the homeless shelter. Click below to learn more about the top seven crowdfunding tips that can be used for all types of fundraising efforts and campaigns!

The answer? More frequently than you might think! In fact, individuals and organizations often meet and exceed their goals when they use Fundly to set up a fundraiser and share it with their friends and family members.

Check out these ten crowdfunding campaigns that all exceeded their fundraising goals by sizable margins in just a matter of weeks! Crowdfunding has been used to raise money for everything from creative projects to medical costs and more!

Why is it so popular? Well, it might have something to do with the fact that a crowdfunding campaign is insanely easy to set up and share with your friends, family members, coworkers, and other peers. See for yourself! Take a look at our Ultimate Guide to Crowdfunding and learn how you can make the most of this fundraising craze!

Fundly is dedicated to providing you with the tools you need to raise money for whatever your cause may be. Your Name required. Your Email required. Your Message. Start Your Free Church Fundraiser. Start a Free Church Fundraiser. Download Now. Online Giving for Churches. Text-to-Give Campaign. T-Shirt Fundraising. Ticket sales to your event can be used to raise money for your congregation.

Plan an Easter egg hunt at your church for a fun event that the whole family can enjoy. Hold a contest and award whoever finds the most eggs a special prize. Your church can sell tickets to this event or seek sponsorship from a local business to raise money.

Your church can sell engraved bricks to help fund your next construction project. These bricks can then be used in your project and create lasting memories.

The winner receives half of the funds raised instead of a traditional prize. You can combine your raffle with another fundraiser to raise even more funds for a youth group field trip or community project.

You can have young congregants create holiday decorations and provide decorating services. You can have volunteers set up and take down decorations for holidays throughout the year. Congregants can pay a fee per holiday for teens to set up their decorations, and they can sell them new decorations as well!

Everyone loves cookies! Your church can capitalize on that craving by selling cookie dough to your congregants and members of your community. You can sell cookie dough directly to your congregants, or they can sell the dough to their friends, family members, and coworkers. Candles are the perfect year-round product for your church to sell. Then, you can sell the candles directly to your congregants or have them sell them to their friends and family members.

You can even set up an online storefront to sell the candles online. In an envelope fundraiser, donors will pick a numbered envelope and give whatever number is on the front.

For an appreciation gram fundraiser, you can charge your congregants a fee to send a customized letter acknowledging friends. The swap shop fundraiser is similar to a garage sale, but instead of selling items for cash, your congregants can trade items and services. A walkathon can be a larger-scale event that can take months to prepare.

But with the right tools, your church can host a dynamite walkathon and raise some extra money. An Angel Festival is similar to a carnival and usually occurs around Christmas. For the event, your artistic congregants can create angels out of any materials they want.

On the big day, you can showcase all the angels with a bowl beside each one so that congregants can place contributions. A family fun day is a great way to get your congregation involved in raising funds for your cause.

For your family fun day, you can set up games, food and drinks, and a donation table. If students in your congregation are looking for a way to pay for a mission trip, look no further than a Make the Grade fundraiser.

The students will set goals for the GPA or grades they will maintain throughout the semester, and if they meet their goals, their family or other members of the congregation will chip in for the travel costs. Holding a themed youth group party is a great way to get young people excited about your church! You can sell tickets to these events as a way to fundraise, or even auction off prizes to attendees. Visit Fundly to learn more church fundraising ideas that your congregation can try out for your next big fundraiser!

You likely need to manage data about your congregants. What better way to stay organized than with membership management software? Take a look at our list! Support Login. Our Favorite Church Fundraising Ideas. Church Fundraising Consulting. Online Giving for Churches. Crowdfunding for Churches. Text-to-Tithe Fundraising for Churches. Face Mask Fundraising for Churches. Mobile Fundraising for Larger Churches. Matching Gifts Church Fundraising.

T-Shirts for Church Fundraising. Silent Auctions for Churches. Online Giving for Church Fundraising. Shoe Drive Fundraising for Churches. Use our most popular fundraising idea to raise money right now. Start a Free Fundraiser and Raise Thousands! More Fundraising Ideas for Churches. Live Streaming. ABC Fundraising. Christian Speed Dating. Learn more about selling tickets with OneCause.

Easter Egg Hunt. Learn more about planning events like these.