FUNDRAISING: Some Online Resources

Fundraising is very community dependent.  You have to know what your community will buy.  REMEMBER that when you are soliciting funds from members of your church, depending on local laws, you may not be allowed to sell things at a specific price, but can have a suggested donation. 

There are two ways to raise money:  through the church and through the community.  When I was helping a small congregation raise funds for a trip to the LC-MS National Youth Gathering I had to be very careful about how often I went to the congregation for money because people have limited funds and I didn't want youth fundraising for this event to hurt other ministries of the church.  I had to find ways the kids could reach out to people outside the congregation as much as possible.

I also wanted to make sure we were getting the maximum profit for our output.  You don't want to have to have a lot of fundraisiers that only earn a small amount because people get tired of fundraisers.  You also don't want to sell 1 pizza to a family for a suggested donation that brings a profit of $5 if they'll buy 5 sandwiches with a suggested donation that would bring a profit of $3 each or $15.  Be sure you DO THE MATH!!

That being said, there are a number of online resources you might find helpful.  Here are a few:

This site has ideas of fundraising events you can host at your church:  http://www.grantsfundraising.com/results/34/Fundraising-Events.html

This site has many items or categories of items to sell for fundraising:
http://www.grantsfundraising.com/cats/36/Fundraising-Products.html

This site has a lot of Do-It-Yourself ideas you might be able to adapt to your group:
http://www.fundraising-ideas.org/DIY/

Our best fundraiser was selling bedding plants in the spring because EVERYBODY buys plants, the kids earn individual money for individual sales, and they can sell to people outside the congregation.  Make sure the local nursery you use has good quality plants.  We used Gerten's because they had great quality and many choices:  http://www.gertens.com/fundraising/

Selling fireworks may not be legal in every state but I've heard some groups make a nice profit in a short time.
http://www.fireworks.com/fundraising/fundraising-non-profit-organizations/
http://www.bigthunderfireworks.com/fundraising.php