What we do--camp/mission trip fundraiser...

Can't really comment until I've tried the stew. You sold 1200 quarts so it can't taste like dishwater. You called it phenomenal but that subjective. rbell, you're just going to have to put a jar of that stew in the mail. I am what they call in these parts a big ole boy. I did not get to be a big ole boy eating carrot sticks and fat-free yogurt. So go ahead and send that quart of stew to Padre's House Middleville NY (It'll come right to my door with that address. If I'm lying I'm dying but I digress:laugh Anyway, send that stew along and I will supply you with an expert opinion at no charge. :thumbsup: It will be of no benefit to you but why should I take the chance on missing out on some stew.....

We raised $4000 for a mission team building and selling Adirondack chairs. Not surprising the chairs are easy to build and quite popular here in the Adirondacks. One of our fellers has a very nice woodworking shop. There were about 10 of us - each with their own workstation - cutting and sanding. Two of us could assemble a chair in about 15 minutes.

I'm with you on the fundraising. I pastored with a mainline denomination for 13 years that thought it was the community's responsibility to keep the lights on at church. They were always having rummage or bake sales or dinners and such. Raising money for something specific like sending the kids off to camp is very different.

 

we say we need it, and this is the goal amount , and people give, nothing in return except blessings.

 

I like the idea of fundraisers a lot more than having the kids send out "mission letters" asking for support. We see that a lot.

At my sister's church, the youth cook and serve dinner to raise funds for their annual summer mission trip. Then, they have a "pie auction" for the desserts. Over the years, some of the pies have gained quite a reputation so the bidding can get quite fierce. Plus, since the folks know that the money is really going to the youth's mission trip, the case received far outweighs the actual costs.

Another fun/silly method they've used is the pink flamingo night. On one night, they put pink flamingos in congregant's yards -- based on a certain donations. For $x, they will place a pink flamingo in someone's yard for you. For $xxxx, you can purchase "flamingo" insurance to keep it from being placed. I've heard they've had lots of fun with this.

 

Personally if I am going to be approached to donate in the form of buying something, I would prefer to buy a $5.00 box of candy than a $7.00 container of home made stew.

But that is what makes life interesting. If we all liked the exact same thing think of how boring life would be.

 

I don't like doing "fund raising" for youth or mission trips.

BUT, sometimes that is what we do. Over the years, we have...

...had garage sales.

...had fish plate sales.

...had "slave" sales...and worked it off...

...cooked meals and offered them like on Wednesday nights or after church on Sunday.


...

 

Selling dinner is big business here in AL.

I've done several fundraisers where we sold Chicken and dressing plates and did a raised a good deal of money. We usually sold them for delievery at lunch. People HAVE to eat lunch and to get something "different" is always well recieved!

 

Our church has three rescue missions that provide a wide variety of services to the homeless, the poor, the elderly, and pretty much anybody who needs help.

We have a small, unaccredited Bible school. It costs roughly $69 per course, but anyone can come and sit in regardless of their ability to pay.

For all of these things, we have one rule that we hold to very strictly and that is that we will never turn anyone away and we will never charge money for the Gospels (OK, that's two rules).

So, because of that, we rely on fundraisers. We have a thrift store, we have bake sales, we have bar-b-que dinners, and we have our biggest one, "Spring Tune Up" coming up this very weekend. Spring Tune Up is where people bring in their lawnmowers, bicycles, other tools or garden implements, or blades that need sharpening and we tune them up. It started out just with lawnmowers and grew from there. This one event funds about 75% of our expenses related to outreach.

We have also had some awsome flea markets and auctions on EBay and have had some benefit concerts.

We're planning to begin a private Christian school in '12 and we're also planning not to charge tuition, so fundraisers will take on an even more important role.

 

You know, that's really funny, because I belong to a local Parrothead club and I've made Adirondacks and benches and lawn furniture to auction off for the club. Being a Parrothead club, I build them and somebody else paints them in tropical themes. I honestly don't know why it didn't occur to me to do this for our ministries until you brought it up.