Fundraising | Youth Missions Insider

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts There’s a Buzz in The Air or Maybe it’s a Duck?

I know for sure that the buzz is not bunch of wasps or bees… But sometimes that all I’m sure of.

The activity level around our office has just been cranked up a notch (or 20). Stuff is happening in earnest.

Final details or being, well… finalized.

Youth Groups are starting to send their forms into our office.

Lodging stuff is coming together. Food, who’s preparing the food, who’s buying the food, where’s the food going to be stored?

Projects are in their final stages of preparation. The organizations we partner with are making sure everything is ready for when we show – ready to serve.

The last touches on the spiritual growth programing and worship are being made. Presentations being put together. Tech equipment being tested. All the outlines of the worship programs are gong to print.

There’s a lot going on. Maybe we’re just cranked up to 11 (that’s for you Spinal Tap fans). But it feels like we’re giving it all she’s got (Star Trek reference).

And we know for you out there in youth ministry world, it’s just as crazy.

You’re busy wrapping up a another school year of ministry.

There’s graduation Sunday to plan for.

All your summer plans are now just weeks away (no longer months) and everything needs to be ready for summer camp, summer retreat, your mission trip, etc…

It’s busy and details for flying around your office also, just like ours.

Sometimes it feels like we’re all Iron Man (in the first movie). Those first flight scenes where he’s bouncing off of everything and crashing more than flying or landing. That’s how it can feel. Controlled chaos… just barely.

And yet…

Isn’t that ministry. All the hard stuff is done so no one else has to know. All the crazy detail tracking and mountains of paper and sleepless nights – that’s because we just want to see our youth encounter Jesus and their lives to be changed because of that encounter.

The former leader of Group Mission Trips, my boss for 8 years, had a great, goofy analogy for all this. He said we’re like ducks. Ducks look like the smoothest, coolest animal in the world paddling around a calm lake. But in reality, it’s a complete craziness of motion under the water. Feels really true sometimes in ministry.

So to all you ducks out there – Paddle on! God bless all of us as we scramble to get all the “stuff” done.

Add Comment 2 days ago

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts Another New Fundraising Idea

Raising money for your summer mission trip (or summer camp or any summer activity) can be hard. Here’s another idea to help you get the funds you need.

Kroger grocery stores (King Soopers in the West) have a gift card program that helps people in your church as well as you. The basic idea is for your group to give out rechargeable gift cards that friends, family, and people in your church use to buy groceries. Kroger/King Soopers then credits a portion of those purchases to your groups account. The details vary a little by location or region of the country. The best way to get started would be to visit your local Kroger or King Soopers and ask to speak to a manager.

Here are two links to information for example programs at King Soopers and Kroger.

King Soopers

Kroger

My oldest son’s best friend’s baseball team uses this program and they love it. Everyone needs groceries. Kroger/King Soopers are pretty reasonable. It’s a very simple way to help your group raise funds from something everyone in your church does every week.

Let us know what you find out from your local King Soopers or Kroger.

Add Comment April 10, 2012

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts Great New Fundraising Idea!

I just witnessed a great new fundraising idea last night! There is a pizza restaurant chain that has locations across the Midwest and the Great Plains. Pizza Ranch has 163 Locations across 9 States including Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nebraska, Illinois and Kansas. And they have a pretty cool Fundraising program.

A youth group from Dubuque, Iowa that goes on mission trips and is helping to organize a Big Day of Serving in their community was having a fundraiser last night. They bused tables and helped serve guests. They got to keep a percentage of the tips and all the sales for the 3 hours they served the restaurant. The details are here. The youth leader for this youth group told me that they have made as much as $300 (or more) in one night. What a great idea!

I also want to give Pizza Ranch some props. Here’s the vision statement right off their website. “To glorify God by positively impacting the world we live in.” How cool is that?

1 View Comments April 5, 2012

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts The biggest pain for Youth Workers

Over the last week we’ve been meeting with youth workers and hearing from them about their ministries. It’s been fun and rewarding to hear what God is doing in ministries all over the country. I posted about some great things happening here. I’ve also heard some stories of things that are painful and frustrating. Here’s a few of the most consistent points of pain we’ve been hearing:

- Finding resources can be difficult: many youth leaders express frustration with finding a resource (curriculum, lesson plans, games, activities, etc.). It’s very difficult to find something that they felt met all their needs. The common response was to find and use several resources that added together to what they needed.

- Parents just don’t understand (just like The Fresh Prince): youth leaders everywhere are struggling with parents not viewing youth ministry as important to their kids life as school, sports, music, whatever. We blogged about this issue here. Parents don’t believe a Bible study, Sunday school class, youth group meeting, retreat, mission trip, or service experience is as important in the life of their child as those other things. It’s almost universal in youth ministry right now.

- Students are over-committed: nearly every conversation I’ve had in the last 2 years with youth workers involves this topic. Kids just have so much (too much) going on. Between school, jobs, sports, family commitments, boyfriend/girlfriend, and whatever else their is youth group can barely be fit into their lives. They have to be here, do that, finish this, attend whatever and then try to make it to youth group if they can. It’s really hard to develop deep relationships with students you don’t see very often.

- Money: it’s a fact of ministry life right now. There isn’t as many dollars available for ministry as there used to be for many people in ministry. And yet great youth ministry is still happening. People fundraise, do less, choose less expensive programs but they are still doing ministry.

What about you? What’s the big pain for you in ministry right now? We’d love see if we could help.

1 View Comments April 3, 2012

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts Fundraising!

It’s getting pretty late in the mission trip prep timeline and for many of you there is a big issue still looming out there: fundraising.

We’d like to introduce you to two great organizations that are all about helping you raise money for mission trips…and all about helping make a difference around the world.

Get Green To Get Green – I met one of the guys who leads Get Green at a youth conference several years ago. He’s a former youth leader who feels called to help other youth leaders pay for mission trips. Get Green is based on a simple idea: recycling old cell phones. There are many uses for a used cell phone. Instead of just tossing them, they can be almost completely recycled. And you get paid for every phone. Check out who Get Green is and how it all works.

More Than Coffee – Who doesn’t drink coffee? That’s exactly what the founders of More Than Coffee thought. And on one of their own mission trips they got a chance to meet some Christian coffee farmers. It changed the course of their ministry. Now, by selling coffee, they support people in countries around the world and help churches send people on mission trips. Check out who More Than Coffee is and how it all works.

These two fundraising companies are ministries at their core. They are led by people who’ve been in youth ministry and view their current role as ministry. If you’ve not finished your fundraising for this year and are looking to jump start your process, give these two fundraising organizations a look.

Add Comment April 20, 2011

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts Fall Fundraising Poll

Here’s a link to a good, basic, easy fall fundraiser for your group.

Fall Fundraising Idea

It got me thinking about fundraising. I wonder when you begin your group raising money for their summer mission trip.

Add Comment November 9, 2010

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts Does it really take that long?

Planning for a mission trip is a big deal. And can take a long time. Exactly “how long” is tough to answer. There are groups that register for a trip with our ministry as little as a month before the trip. Crazy (to me) but entirely possible because our “job” is to take care of all the details. But… we have learned a few things from ministries that prepare very well for their mission trip.

Prepare as early as you can. Like 1 year in advance. The longer you have to work on all the details of a trip the better chance you have a making sure everything comes together. Giving yourself and your group plenty of time also allows you the chance to even forget something and still have time to get it together!
Choose where you are going right away. 9 months to 1 year before the trip. There is more involved that just the “place” you are going. Who are you going to serve? Where are you going to stay? And… how is all the details going to come together? Regardless if you’re going to plan all that yourself or go through a mission provider, there is a lot of information to pull together and share with your group. Give yourself time to do it right.
Choose who is going on the trip right away (even before you choose where you are going…). Do this as soon as you can, even 9 months before the trip. Knowing who is going gives you the ability to begin to prepare them for the trip. Pre-trip meetings, devotions, study, and forms are much easier when you’re not “guessing” who needs to do what. It’s also the only way to allow students to take leadership roles on your team.
Choose the other adults who are going to serve on the trip as chaperones or leaders. Try and make sure this is accomplished the same time you finalize the students. Your don’t want “warm body” adults who are just along for the ride. Your group needs fully engaged, committed adults who will truly help lead the trip. Getting their commitment early will allow you the chance to help prepare them completely for the experience.
Fundraising… You can’t possibly start this early enough. There are other “costs” associated with a mission trip beside the food/lodging/projects. Travel to and from the service location. “Fun” stuff to do on the way there or the way home. Are you going to make adults pay for themselves or cover their costs? Gas for vehicles, incidental costs that might arrive, a donation for the ministry you’re partnering with… Like i said. There are lots of costs.
Be sure to the take the time to prepare all the participants (youth and adults) with meetings, devotions, detailed information and question & answer sessions. If you’re planning your own trip, you will need to pull together these resources on your own. Our friends at Simply Youth Ministry have a great resource “Prepare. Go. Live.” If you are using a mission provider (like our ministry Group Workcamps), they usually will provide that preparation materials for you (I know we do).

Remember these ideas are from great youth leaders you have taken youth groups on mission trips for years. They believe if you follow these simple ideas, getting ready for your trip will be easier. It may be spread out over months, even a year, but it won’t feel crazy or rushed…

Add Comment September 28, 2010

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts Fall Fundraising Ideas

While your summer trip (mission trip, camp, rafting, etc…) may seem a long way off, it’s never too late to start fundraising. Here’s a couple quick ideas to get you thinking what you can do now to begin to raise the necessary funds for next summer.

Yard work – Rake leaves, trim trees, haul trash and debris for a fee – but make it fun! The crazy thing is many people will give a donation once the “free” work is done.
Fall Celebrations – Halloween substitute at the church without all the goblins and ghouls. Make it family friendly with games and treats suitable for kids and ask for money or a donation at the door. Make sure the event offers as quality an experience as a family would get anywhere else and they’ll gladly pay good money for good, safe family time.
Pumpkin sales – Arrange to help set up a stand and sell pumpkins for your local farmers. Include homeade donations like apple cider, apple sauce and decorations like corn stalks and hay bales. The more professional the sale the more $ people will be willing to pay.

These are basic ideas but you could combine a couple into a single event or use them as inspiration for your own unique idea. If you have a fall fundraising idea that has worked really well for you, I’d love to hear it!