Category Archives: Fundraising
Thoughts From The Past Thursday: Mission Trip Top Ten
This post will wrap up my theme week of short term missions (I kept my interest for that long…Yay!) This was originally posted on December 29th, 2011.
As I have already been pretty deep into mission trip planning for our 2012 trip, I realized this will be my 11th trip I have planned at 
this church. After going on nearly 20 short term trips as a participant or the lead I have picked up several tips and tricks along the way. I have put them in order based on when you would do it in the planning process, not in order of importance. Here are my top ten:
10. Know your purpose
This may seem obvious, but not all trips will fulfill the same purpose. If your main goal/purpose for your trip is to serve and accomplish a task (like a building project) then make sure everyone knows that. If your primary goal/purpose is fellowship and team building people who just want to get the job done will get really frustrated. It does vary between organizations, so know what you are looking for before you get started.
9. Research the organization or decide to do it all yourself
I have done it myself and gone with organizations. As you probably already know, there are plusses and minuses to both. Doing it all yourself is a lot more work but it will likely be cheaper. I prefer going with an organization. They have local contacts and knowledge of what’s needed that I can never get, and it allows me to go and serve with our group and let them manage our schedule. Most of the ones I have used have been great experiences.
8. Get your dates out in January
Once you have nailed down enough details to get a date, publish it as soon as possible. My goal is to have the dates out by new years. Some years this is easy to do, others have been a struggle. Families need to know your dates early so they can plan their own vacations or family commitments. Parents have told me they have literally had fights over going on the mission trip instead of the family reunion, help families out by publishing your dates early.
7. Require a non-refundable deposit to sign up
Everyone has good intentions, and a ton of students will show interest in your trip when you first announce it. If you make them write a check it forces them to think through everything before they sign up, not after. The words “non-refundable” are very powerful, use it to your advantage. Make it enough money that it will force a discussion within their family. Some parents will throw out $5 without thinking, but $50 definitely makes them ask questions. Apply this deposit to the total cost of the trip so the only way it will be wasted is if they drop out.
6. Do individual fundraising
I do not like “group fundraising”. I charge every student the actual cost of their trip, and it is their responsibility to raise the money. We do fundraising events as a group, but divide it among those that actually do the work and put it into their individual accounts. If the group has a large goal, 20% of the team will raise most of the money. That fact really bugs me. By making the fundraising optional and tracking individual accounts only the ones that work benefit from it. Ones that don’t want to participate don’t have to, and they pay for their trip however they decide to.
5. The worship/devotions are just as important as the projects
One advantage of going with an organization is they typically do the evening devotion. If they don’t provide one or you are doing it yourself make sure you put some time into planning these. Everyone will experience many things on your trip, and the evening devotions pull it all together and connect their service to their Spirituality. It all works together, so don’t focus too much on the projects and neglect the devotion times.
4. Plan every second possible
Literally schedule as much as possible. You don’t have to be busy the entire time, in fact rest time is a must, but schedule it in on purpose. Type up meal times, devotion times, project time, down time, travel time, lights out times, and anything else you can think of. Print it, pass it out, remind people of the schedule constantly and then actually stick to it as much as you can. If you don’t have a schedule you will be fighting the slow pokes the entire time and likely will not do devotions after the first few days…(re-read #5 if you need to).
3. Do pre-trip meetings
I have had many people comment to me how great our groups are to host, and pre-trip meetings have a lot to do with it. By doing some team building activities, talking through the details, and Spiritually preparing for the trip will jump start the effectiveness of the week. If you take advantage of this pre-trip time, your team will “come together” several days earlier once you are actually on the trip, which makes their effectiveness go up exponentially.
2. Confirm all reservations and details right before you leave
If you have done your work well this step seems a bit redundant, but there is nothing worse than standing in an airport with 35 people and no confirmation numbers. Go over directions with all your drivers so many times they roll their eyes when you mention “drivers meeting.” Make sure the rental company inputted the right code for 12 passenger van, you don’t want to end up with three compact cars. All of these have either happened to me (when I didn’t do this) or were avoided because of this step.
1. Pray through the entire process
This should be number ten and number one. Pray about your purpose and need for a trip before you start this process. Pray through the entire thing, and pray as much as possible during the trip. If God is not a major part of your trip, then you are just a recreational tour guide. The whole point is for God to work through your group wherever you go and whatever you do and to change the heart of every team member. God can’t do any of this if you don’t invite him along.
As I write these ten, I just keep thinking of more that I should have put on here…I might need to add to this list. What would you add to my list?
The dreaded “selling” fundraiser
I have written before about fundraising, if you haven’t read those posts I recommend you do.
Fundraising – A Necessary Evil
I realize I have a unique view about fundraising, and because of that I say no to a lot of fundraising options. I typically say no to EVERY fundraiser that involves selling something through an outside company. There are three main reasons why:
1. Profit margin is typically too small
2. Had bad experiences dealing with outside companies
3. Everyone else, from sports teams to elementary schools, do them
This year I received an offer in the mail from a company called Save Around to sell coupon books. What caught my attention at first was the profit margin, 40% minimum, more depending on how much you sell. Next was the quality of coupons, both the deals and the businesses included. What pushed me over the top on giving in was the face there was zero upfront cost.
I just closed out our account with Save Around this morning, and we had a great experience. Their customer service was great, they went above and beyond what they promised to do, and we made a good amount of money for our trip.
I am still not a huge fan of “selling” fundraisers, but this was by far the best experience I have had doing one.
Click Here to check out their website.
Mission Trip Top Ten
As I have already been pretty deep into mission trip planning for our 2012 trip, I realized this will be my 11th trip I have planned at this church. After going on nearly 20 short term trips as a participant or the lead I have picked up several tips and tricks along the way. I have put them in order based on when you would do it in the planning process, not in order of importance. Here are my top ten:
10. Know your purpose
This may seem obvious, but not all trips will fulfill the same purpose. If your main goal/purpose for your trip is to serve and accomplish a task (like a building project) then make sure everyone knows that. If your primary goal/purpose is fellowship and team building people who just want to get the job done will get really frustrated. It does vary between organizations, so know what you are looking for before you get started.
9. Research the organization or decide to do it all yourself
I have done it myself and gone with organizations. As you probably already know, there are plusses and minuses to both. Doing it all yourself is a lot more work but it will likely be cheaper. I prefer going with an organization. They have local contacts and knowledge of what’s needed that I can never get, and it allows me to go and serve with our group and let them manage our schedule. Most of the ones I have used have been great experiences.
8. Get your dates out in January
Once you have nailed down enough details to get a date, publish it as soon as possible. My goal is to have the dates out by new years. Some years this is easy to do, others have been a struggle. Families need to know your dates early so they can plan their own vacations or family commitments. Parents have told me they have literally had fights over going on the mission trip instead of the family reunion, help families out by publishing your dates early.
7. Require a non-refundable deposit to sign up
Everyone has good intentions, and a ton of students will show interest in your trip when you first announce it. If you make them write a check it forces them to think through everything before they sign up, not after. The words “non-refundable” are very powerful, use it to your advantage. Make it enough money that it will force a discussion within their family. Some parents will throw out $5 without thinking, but $50 definitely makes them ask questions. Apply this deposit to the total cost of the trip so the only way it will be wasted is if they drop out.
6. Do individual fundraising
I do not like “group fundraising”. I charge every student the actual cost of their trip, and it is their responsibility to raise the money. We do fundraising events as a group, but divide it among those that actually do the work and put it into their individual accounts. If the group has a large goal, 20% of the team will raise most of the money. That fact really bugs me. By making the fundraising optional and tracking individual accounts only the ones that work benefit from it. Ones that don’t want to participate don’t have to, and they pay for their trip however they decide to.
5. The worship/devotions are just as important as the projects
One advantage of going with an organization is they typically do the evening devotion. If they don’t provide one or you are doing it yourself make sure you put some time into planning these. Everyone will experience many things on your trip, and the evening devotions pull it all together and connect their service to their Spirituality. It all works together, so don’t focus too much on the projects and neglect the devotion times.
4. Plan every second possible
Literally schedule as much as possible. You don’t have to be busy the entire time, in fact rest time is a must, but schedule it in on purpose. Type up meal times, devotion times, project time, down time, travel time, lights out times, and anything else you can think of. Print it, pass it out, remind people of the schedule constantly and then actually stick to it as much as you can. If you don’t have a schedule you will be fighting the slow pokes the entire time and likely will not do devotions after the first few days…(re-read #5 if you need to).
3. Do pre-trip meetings
I have had many people comment to me how great our groups are to host, and pre-trip meetings have a lot to do with it. By doing some team building activities, talking through the details, and Spiritually preparing for the trip will jump start the effectiveness of the week. If you take advantage of this pre-trip time, your team will “come together” several days earlier once you are actually on the trip, which makes their effectiveness go up exponentially.
2. Confirm all reservations and details right before you leave
If you have done your work well this step seems a bit redundant, but there is nothing worse than standing in an airport with 35 people and no confirmation numbers. Go over directions with all your drivers so many times they roll their eyes when you mention “drivers meeting.” Make sure the rental company inputted the right code for 12 passenger van, you don’t want to end up with three compact cars. All of these have either happened to me (when I didn’t do this) or were avoided because of this step.
1. Pray through the entire process
This should be number ten and number one. Pray about your purpose and need for a trip before you start this process. Pray through the entire thing, and pray as much as possible during the trip. If God is not a major part of your trip, then you are just a recreational tour guide. The whole point is for God to work through your group wherever you go and whatever you do and to change the heart of every team member. God can’t do any of this if you don’t invite him along.
As I write these ten, I just keep thinking of more that I should have put on here…I might need to add to this list. What would you add to my list?
Fundraising – A Necessary Evil
Every youth ministry has to deal with it…unfortunately. I have fielded several phone calls this week alone about it. There is an abundance of ideas on how to do it yet many of them are not good ones. The worst is youth ministries are not the only group or organization out there that has to fundraise, so competition is high. In our family budget, we literally have an envelope designated for giving away to fundraisers, and we have to say “no” more than we say “yes”.
There are lots of questions surrounding fundraising. Use a company or do it yourself? Seek dollars from the community (like a car wash) or from inside your church (like a spaghetti dinner)? Do you sell something or provide a service? How much money is a reasonable investment before hand? What percentage of profit makes it worth your time? How do you split up the proceeds? Most of the answers to these questions will change based on your specific situation and need, which just makes this whole issue more complex.
Wow…deep breath needed after all that. Let me tell you about the best fundraiser we have ever done, and we continue to do it every year. In fact, I have had 3 people specifically ask when we will start doing it again. Yes, you read that right, people are calling me begging to donate to our mission trip.
We call it “hire a youth”, and it really is that simple. We put an article in our church bulletin asking families to hire a youth student if they need extra help around the house. Yard work, moving, house cleaning, anything they need help with. They contact me with how many students they would like and when, then I call down the list of students who have signed up to work and put a crew together. Once the work is complete they donate straight into the students trip account. Here are a few reasons why this literally is the best fundraiser we have done or ever will do:
It is 100% profit
If a fundraising company calls me I tell them unless they can offer me 85% profit or more I am not interested, those conversations are quick! There is no upfront cost (other than my time to coordinate) and we keep every penny that is donated. We keep it purely by donation, and if people ask I say we have no set price, whatever they can pay. Yes we have a few people every year that give $10 for a several hour job. But we also have people that have paid over a $100/hour for raking leaves, to every person on the crew!
The people that do the work get the money
You know it is true, there is always the student or leader that shows up late to the car wash and takes the easiest jobs once they arrive yet still gets an even cut of the proceeds. Since we have each person raise their own account, if they work they get money, if they don’t they don’t. Much easier to do with a 3 person crew and specific jobs than with large group events.
We actually help people as we make money
Since we have been doing this several years now, people count on the help every year. They are getting the help and labor they need AND get to support our trip. They also see how hard of workers our students are, so they know their money is going to a trip where we will make some real impact. People love it. And I love that we are not asking them to buy cookie dough they don’t want or a discount card they will never use or get their car washed for the 5th time in a week.
It provides great relational opportunities
Over half of our regular “customers” are the older generation in our church, who are also great cooks. Several crews have stayed an extra hour after the work is complete to eat a meal that was provided, or even to just finish the conversation. I love to see them interact with students at church that have worked in their yards. Several students report afterward “I didn’t do hardly any work, we just talked most of the time.” It also gives us a jump start on the unity of our mission team, since the leaders work along with the students we already know each other and have worked together before we go on the actual mission trip.
It builds up our church in the community
People in our church have loved the crews so much they brag to their friends. We have had people call and hire crews that don’t go to church at all (of course we make sure an adult leader goes too). It has been an incredible tool for reaching out and helping our community. One year the Dad of one of the students went back to an un-churched families house the next day and repaired their gutters after meeting them the day before, what an awesome way God can work!
I have had my share of fundraiser horror story experiences, and I am sure you have too. But this is one idea that has turned into gold. As you can see, many of the benefits are way better than any profit we raise. What golden ideas do you have for fundraising?
