Churches play an integral role in nurturing our community. For most people, it is a place of shared values, spiritual teaching and emotional healing — for others, especially those in need, the church is their lifeline. Churches are renowned for providing support to people in dire circumstances, and many community members often turn to church fellowship for advice or assistance when facing challenging times.
Church leaders and their congregation get involved in events to enrich the community and its members through events like food banks, community clean-ups and youth programs. To fulfill their mission of giving back, churches have become involved in creative and innovative fundraisers. So if you’re looking for different fundraising ideas for your church community, keep reading!
How Church Fundraising Has Progressed
Methods of church fundraising have become more varied and creative as technology has advanced. Some churches engage in technologically advanced fundraisers where participants don’t even have to leave the comfort of home to participate. Overall, however, churches enjoy and encourage the community aspect of fundraisers, as it creates and reflects a physical sense of unity and presence. best church fundraisers
Back in the early 19th century, church funding depended heavily on donations and door-knocking. Members were also encouraged to be involved and offered manual labor to produce goods to be donated or sold. For example, women often donated hand-sewn quilts to those in need or sold other hand-made goods to benefit the church. As time went on, church fundraisers started leaning toward hosting organized events that would include raffles, block parties and donation drives.
Today, technology and software have opened up a brand new arena for low-cost fundraising for churches. There are a number of online solutions that assist organizations with creating and managing fundraisers, which allows leaders to attend to other significant areas of fundraising. With these existing solutions, many fundraising platforms are also taking steps toward developing more innovative and distinguished features to give causes an edge and spread awareness.
At Diehard Custom, for example, we offer pop-up fundraising websites to manage products and orders on your behalf. We strive to offer something seamless, different and creative, and we also know that custom branded apparel is a huge hit for everyone. We represent the future of church fundraisers by using apparel to spread awareness and earn funds that can further your church’s mission.
The Best Church Fundraising Ideas
Fundraisers play an integral role in the maintenance and mission of a church and community. Ministries and goals vary depending on the church, but some of the most common programs include missionary programs, faith-based and non-faith-based education programs, welfare programs and humanitarian initiatives. Churches in small communities often find the demand for these programs is higher than they can meet financially, and fundraisers provide a community-friendly way to ensure they can achieve their goals.
Let’s take a look at some of the best church fundraising ideas:
1. Silent Auction
One popular fundraiser idea for churches is a silent auction. At a silent auction, bidders don’t shout their bids like at a typical auction house — instead, they write their bid down on a piece of paper, and whoever has the highest bid on an item wins. While there’s certainly no need for complete silence in the room, having a silent auction takes some of the competitiveness out of a typical auction, making it more family-friendly.
Often, businesses will donate items or services to the auction, so the church earns maximum profits. Artists also might donate pieces for parishioners to bid on. A creative idea to involve the youth is to have children create artwork that parents can bid on.
2. Ticketed Dinners
Families appreciate the gesture of a night-off. No cooking or dishes, just quality time spent with family enjoying delicious food. Ticketed dinners, including a meal prepared for a fixed number of guests, are the perfect way to encourage members to support the church and engage in fellowship. You could host the dinner at church or organize the meal to go, adding convenience as another positive for this idea.
3. Community Sponsorships
Churches play a huge role in their communities, so partnering with a local business can be a great way to fundraise for the church and support a local business. Many restaurants will offer sponsored nights, in which an organization can earn a portion of the restaurant’s profits for the designated day and time. This encourages church members to buy food at the restaurant while supporting their church, making it a mutually beneficial relationship.
4. Bake-Off
What could be better than a competition that involves freshly baked goods? You could get truly creative with specific details for this idea, but the main concept involves an entry fee for contestants wanting to show off their baking talents. You could select judges to help select a winner and even sell the baked goods after the contest. For an added twist, you could make it a live competition and sell tickets for members to watch the competitors bake in real-time.
5. Selling Custom Apparel
Custom apparel is high in demand and can be one of the best fundraisers for churches and schools. Everyone needs clothes, and most people enjoy having custom apparel that supports causes and organizations they love. From schools to sports teams, representing your squad is an essential way to show support.
For churches, custom apparel is a great idea, especially to fundraise and support annual events. You can create custom gear for festivals, block parties and fun runs, advertising your event and even including your community partnerships to thank your sponsors. You can host design competitions to get the community involved and create new shirts year-after-year to encourage members to collect them all.
At Diehard Customs, you can pick a design for a wide range of products — from scarves, beanies, t-shirts and socks to enamel pins and face masks. Plus, we do all the hard work so you don’t have to! We offer a fundraising kit that includes a checklist, design templates, order form sheet, cost calculator and fundraising goal visualizer so you can stay up to date on everything without lifting a finger.
Diehard Custom Fundraising
At Diehard Custom, we want to set your fundraiser up for maximum success, which is why we strive to make our custom fundraising apparel shop and products appealing and engaging for everyone.
Some of the benefits you receive from our platform include:
- You have the potential to make a significant profit, roughly double the cost of goods.
- It’s an easy way to market your organization.
- You’ll have impeccable style options for community or congregation members.
- You can work with a cost-effective platform that allows you to scale your efforts to your mission.
We offer a broad range of quality, low-minimum apparel for churches and customizable designs to suit your preferences. Ordering is an easy 4-step process that involves:
- Selecting your product.
- Choosing a design.
- Reviewing your order.
- Placing your order.
We offer free designs with no commitment, and you can even request a sample of your favorite products to ensure they meet your needs. You can also take a look at our Team Shops to see how a personalized online platform can help boost your fundraising goals.
We want you to focus on your important mission and service to your community without the worry of managing a fundraiser. We’ve created a one-stop-shop solution that includes managing your sales as well as producing, packing and shipping your orders.
Check out our fundraising tool kit to get you ready for church fundraising success and enquire with our team to get started with Diehard Custom today!