Church Fundraising: Thou Shalt Not Be Lame

A power of the t-shirt! It’s a mighty power, not to be messed with. You can screen print your church logo for cheap on t-shirts, hoodies, muumuus, loincloths, whatever you like and sell them to the public and congregation. Or let your creative juices flow and put favorite quotes or funny pictures on them, anything you think might resonate with your community and represent the voice and personality of the church. Everybody loves a t-shirt! And don’t think your consumer base is limited to churchgoers – you’ll make a killing on “ironic” sales from the disenchanted, hipster population of your community (every community has one  – check your local Urban Outfitters).

Calendars

First let me say, get your mind out of the gutter. Not “CALENDAR” calendars, unless the 85-year-old organist has lived with a secret desire to be known as “Miss January” (then who are you to deny an old woman her dream?). People love calendars almost as much as they love t-shirts, and since they’re composed of pictures they offer the same freedom for creativity. If you’re catering to churchgoers who have a personal attachment to the church, then fill them with pictures of the congregation, funny photos from past events and so on. If your church fundraisingcampaign is meant for a wider audience, then the world is your oyster! Fill them with pictures of oysters if you want. (Disclaimer: do not fill them with pictures of oysters as that is weird and nobody will buy them.)

Concerts

You know there’s this whole genre of gospel music and Christian rock with a massive cult following and tons of artists? Oh you did? Yeah I was just sayin’. There’s no doubt a local group with built-in fans in your community that would love to be part of a church fundraising concert. They get a sweet venue, you get a cool band and everyone’s scratching each others’ backs until they need your hands free since they can’t really play guitar without them (you can pick it back up later). If you’re looking to go big or go home (in which case, stay! Go big!) then it’s worth it to try and reach out to bigger acts in your area. It’s for a good cause! They could be willing to help out if you ask.

Cookbooks

This is like the bake sale on steroids (not literally, please). While the bake sale route is nice and yummy and great for finally fitting into those pesky jeans that are just WAY too big for you (thanks cupcakes!) they’re pretty labor intensive and don’t generate a lot of revenue. Instead, you can whip up a cookbook with favorite recipes from churchgoers and sell them for $10 or $15 a pop instead of watching your profit go up in 50 cent increments with each disappearing cookie. There are tons of sites where you can make your own cookbooks, complete with pictures and customized designs. It takes your church fundraising bake sale to the next level – and everyone will just EAT. IT. UP. (So sorry. Couldn’t resist.)

Online Donation Drives

Speaking of taking things to the next level, every ounce of effort you put into your church fundraiser offline can be maximized by incorporating an online campaign. This is the best way to reach your audience and increase your donor base, and the most efficient source of donations. You can sign up for an online fundraising platform that allows you to reach people through email, Facebook and Twitter and lets people donate to your church with the click of a mouse. It’s an incredibly simple way of spreading the word and reaping the biggest rewards for your church fundraising efforts. Maybe we should start a list of the church fundraising commandments: 1) Thou Shalt Not Be Lame, and 2) Get Online!

There are of course tons of ways to raise money for your church fundraiser – car washes, rummage sales, and the always popular and gut-busting pancake breakfast. Just make sure to be a little creative with whatever you choose to stand out from the crowd – and at the very least, use the web! It’s the easiest way to get a lot of bang for your buck. No, wait – a lot of buck for no bang. Bang is effort. You get the drift.