Teach the youth to give to others by involving them in fundraising activities. Here are 5 simple youth fundraising ideas that you can use to help them contribute to their favorite cause.
1. Balloon Pop
Pop a balloon for profit and fun. Set up a booth in a festival or fair. Post an announcement or poster on your booth that they can help your youth ministry or organization and win some prizes when they buy a balloon and pop it in front of everybody.
To lessen your expenses, you may go to your local retailers and ask to donate some prizes. Explain your cause for the event and offer them free advertising, such as “Pop a balloon, help a charity and win grocery items from Matt’s Grocery” or “Pop a balloon, donate to the youth ministry, and dine at RJA Diner for free”.
You will need balloons, helium tank, string, and strips of paper where the prizes are written. Slip a piece of paper to the balloon before inflating it, fill the balloon with helium, and tie them with a string.
Ensure that all balloons have slips of paper, even if it is a simple “Thank you for joining.” You can either allow the participants to pop the balloon as soon as they buy it or ask them to hold the balloon and wait for the big announcement.
2. Penny Drive
Decorate discarded coffee cans, beer cans, soda cans, or any type of containers. Punch holes on top of each can and label them with some information about your organization and the cause of your fundraising activity.
Ask permission from the business owners in your town, such as convenience stores, groceries, bars, or fast food stores, so that you can place the cans next to the cash register.
Form a group that will distribute the cans to the businesses and stores, and another group that will collect the cans when they get filled up or after the fundraising campaign. Remember to thank the business owners for their support!
3. Cake and coffee sale
Gather all members of the youth ministry and bake cakes, cookies, pies, bread, and other baked goodies. Approach the pastor of your church and ask for permission so that you can up booths and tables outside your church and sell them after the service.
You can sell the cakes and pies as a whole piece although selling them by the slice is easier and makes more money. You can also hold a bake sale during a festival or fair.
Do not forget the coffee, juice, lemonade, or any thirst-quencher that will go with your cake!
4. Cake Raffle
Print out raffle tickets and sell them for a dollar or two each. Schedule the date and time when you are going to hold the raffle.
Prepare the venue and arrange the sound system for the announcement. Ask your organization officers, local community officials, or church ministers to raffle off the winners.
If you are going to bake the cakes that will be raffled off, prepare the cakes the day before the raffle and do the raffle in the morning so that the cakes are still freshly-baked.
If you are going to buy or order the cakes from a bakeshop, do the raffle in the afternoon so that you will have the time to pick them up in the morning. You can also ask for a discounted price from the bakeshop to support your cause and promote the bakeshop during the raffle.
You can also hold a cake raffle during your bake sale. Encourage customers to buy a raffle ticket for a chance to bring home a cake after the event. You can also give free raffle tickets to customers who will reach a certain amount of purchase, say $20, $30, or $50.
5. Host a party
Host a party to fund your next activity or support the cause of your church, organization, or favorite charity. Sell tickets to friends, classmates, and other kids on the neighborhood.
Arrange the venue and decorate it. You can ask permission to use the church hall, school auditorium, school gymnasium, or rent a clubhouse.
You also need to prepare the music that will be played during the party. If you know a disc jock, ask him if he can DJ on the event for free to support your cause.
To raise more funds, you can sell some snacks and drinks during the party. You can also sell some tickets with free snacks and drinks for a higher price.
Aside from raising funds for your organization or church ministry, these fundraising ideas will also develop teamwork and discipline among the youth. These fundraising activities will help them realize that any event or activity will succeed if members will work together.
Grants for Youth Ministries
Before you can apply for any grant, you’ll need to have thought about your “charitable purposes”. That is basically what you’re aiming to do – are you:-
- teaching young people social or practical skills,
- enabling them to study,
- supporting them at school,
- building relationships with parents,
- helping reduce crime by getting them involved in their community
- or something else?
Then you’ll need to consider what the funding is for – if it’s for a youth worker, then you’ll need funds to help pay salaries, if it’s for sports equipment, you need to find a funder who will help with one-off costs.
How are you working with other local organisations & ministries – churches, youth outreach, schools, etc – working together with other community groups is likely to significantly improve your chances of being successful in your grant application.
Gather a few statistics about the status of children and young people in your area – how many come from deprived backgrounds, what other activities are available for young people, if you have time carry out a survey of how young people are spending their time.
All these pieces of information and work can really help give meat to your applications to improve your chances of success.
Here’s a few suggestions of places to look for grants:-
Government Funding – aimed at the non-profit and charity sector. Grants announced for positive youth activities and to improve community relations. The aim is for young people across the country are to experience adventure, arts, media projects
United Methodists – recognizing that young people have vision and dreams for the world, they offer funding for creative, innovative approaches to ministries for, with, and by young people
Major church or religious organizations may offer some program by which groups of students or youth ministry leaders may apply for grants, please check on the website for your denomination.
Similarly, your local council, city or state may have grant programs specifically for your area – your chances are probably higher with these than with national programs, as there’s fewer applications.