Home Youth Leaders Youth Leaders Blogs 3 Healthy Practices for Youth Ministry Fundraising

3 Healthy Practices for Youth Ministry Fundraising

Guest Post byJai Haulk

1) Help your students see the need. Fundraising is just like anything else in teen ministry that you want to be effective and successful, which means that your students to be “sold” on whatever the need is that you are raising funds for.  It’s easy for them to see the need when it’s money being raised for them personally to go on a missions or teen summer trip. But if your raising money to build a clean water well in Africa, your going to have to be more creative in helping them see the need. Brainstorm and create short videos to help the teen visualize the need. Teach a three or four week series around the topic that you are raising funds for then use the fundraiser as a challenge to be a solution to the problem.

2) Balance “Youth Ministry” and “Kingdom” fundraising. Selfishness has been engrained into our society. Youth Ministry is no exception. Students sometimes choose the church they go to based on what they have to offer them (a bad spiritual habit they’ve picked up on from us adults). We have a responsibility to help students see beyond themselves. So once their lives have been transformed by Christ, then we need to help them to make an impact for the Kingdom. There are times to raise funds for a Youth Ministry need, but there are local and world ministry needs that we should rally our students behind. So many of our missionaries budgets have been cut back because of our economy. Why not partner with one of your church missionaries, and use the ideas above.

3) Weight the cost vs effort factor. Let’s be honest that if your group has to do fundraisers, you personally are are most likely getting burnt out on them. If you haven’t yet, you will get to the point where you want to get the most funds with the least effort. Time is vital to us in the world of ministry so we don’t want to waste it. There were car washes that I have done in the past that actually some how lost money instead of profited.

Jai Haulk is a Teen Minister at Ringgold Church of Christ in Hagerstown MD and is also a Fundraising Specialist with a ton of great opportunities for youth workers. Contact me if you have questions or are interested at (301) 331-1300 or jaihaulk@hotmail.com.