Top 20 Fundraising Ideas from the YFC Family
Here are a few important things to consider before you start browsing through these ideas:
●Try to do as many fundraisers as possible that will give you 100% of the profit. This will almost always be the best use of your time.
●As you put together your fundraising ideas, think about adults you can empower to help you pull them off. As a Campus Life Director, you SHOULD NOT be spending a ton of your time doing admin work on fundraisers. Other people have better skills than you for things like this. Do what you do best – spend time with kids and get them excited about your trip!
●Communicate with parents as much as possible about the fundraising opportunities you have. Kids and parents are easily scared about committing to a trip because of the price tag. Talk them off the ledge by offering easy ways for them to make money.
1.Spring Clean
Description: Hang up flyers/posters around your school advertising a “Spring Clean Up”. You should communicate that students will be available to work on various projects to raise money for their trip to camp this summer. Any amount of money can be donated for their work and checks should be made payable to your YFC Ministry Center. After you’ve advertised, have students go around and ask teachers / administrators if they have any work that they would like help with at their home (pulling weeds, mowing grass, trimming trees, cleaning the garage, planting flowers, moving furniture, painting, etc.). Also encourage students to ask neighbors, family friends, people from church, etc. Have students fill out a form that lists the kind of work to be done, how long it will take, how many workers are needed, and what day it should happen on. Organize the forms and keep track of when and where students are supposed to work. Make sure enough students are at each location to complete jobs; you or some of your volunteers must be there as well.
The great thing about this fundraiser is that most people will give students more than what they really deserve for the work they do! It is easy for people to donate money for an event like this because they are getting something out of it and they know it is for a great cause.
Preparations:
●Create flyers to post around the school and in the community.
●Create a simple “form” that allows students to list what kind of work needs to be done, how long it will take, how many workers are needed, when it should happen, a phone number, and anything else you can think of that would be important to know
●Collect the forms and make sure that enough people are available to complete each job.
2.Egg – N – Beg
Description: Teams of students go out into the community and stop at the homes of people they know (teachers, friends, family, etc.) and explain that they are raising money to go to camp with Campus Life. The kids explain that they will smash an egg over their head (or crack it and let it drip down their back, put the egg in their shoe and then put their foot in…you get the idea…anything gross and messy) if these people will donate money for their trip. If the people agree, the kids have them go and get an egg out of their refrigerator and the kids follow through on the deal. (If they don’t have eggs, have the students suggest something else messy…like maple syrup in their hair or peanut butter between their toes, etc.) When the allotted time is up (two hours is about right), have everyone meet back together to add up the money and determine the winning team.
Preparations:
●Make sure you have enough cars and drivers for each team (Make sure your volunteers have turned in the appropriate paper work to be able to drive students around.)
●Have plenty of envelopes for each team to take with them for collecting donations. Some people will give cash, so this is a good way to make sure it all gets back.
●Get prizes for the team that collects the most money. Make these good incentives, like gift certificates to places in your community (try to get these donated), or a discount on the camp cost.
●Decide what will happen with the money that is collected. Will each team split the money that they collect? Will the money be split evenly amongst the students who participated? Will you use it as general underwriting money to lower the camp cost?
3.Car Wash
Description: These can be good and bad! If you are going to do a car wash, you need a very busy location with lots of traffic. One of the best suggestions is to check with your local Wal-Mart store and ask about car washes in their parking lot. Some Wal-Mart stores will match the profit that you make, and they will let you hook up to their water source.
The best advice we can give you about car washes is to pre-sell tickets. That way you guarantee a profit (nearly 100%!). You will also make money on the day of the sale from random traffic that stops in. If you sell your tickets for $10 and you can get kids to sell 10 of them, they have guaranteed themselves $100!! That is easy money!!!
Preparations:
●Call your local Wal-Mart well in advance of when you would like to have the car wash and see if they participate in this.
●If Wal-Mart does not work for you, find a location with heavy traffic flow and free water hook up.
●Create tickets and hand them out to kids several weeks in advance. Sell tickets for $5, $10 or whatever seems right in your community.
●Make sure you have enough kids scheduled to work.
●Have hoses, buckets, soap, sponges, rags, and towels on site.
●Have bright colored signs to draw attention!
4.Campus Life Talent Show
Description: Put on a talent show where your Campus Life students get to be center stage. Charge admission and sell concessions to make money. Have students who are in the show invite friends and family and spread the word to make it a community building event.
Preparations:
●Find a location that will be free (i.e. high school auditorium)
●Have students who are going to camp help create flyers and post them around the school and in the community.
●Screen all acts and make sure they are appropriate
●Find someone to run the sound/lighting system for the show
●Decide how the money will be used.
5.Cell Phone Drive
Description: There are many companies who buy back old cell phones. Set up a phone drive and have teachers, students, etc. bring old cell phones to a designated location. Collect phones over the span of a month or so and then send them into the company. Most companies will pay for the shipping.
Preparations:
●Check out or similar websites for specific details about setting up a phone drive
●Offer incentives to students who can collect the most cell phones ($25 off camp cost, free t-shirts, etc.)
6.Sell Raffle Tickets at Sporting Events
Description: Get prizes donated from local businesses and raffle them off at sporting events at your school.
Preparations:
●Check with the athletic department at your school and make sure it is ok to do this
●Get local businesses to donate merchandise or gift certificates
●Purchase rolls of raffle tickets
●Make signs that say the proceeds go toward sending kids to camp
●Have students who are going to camp sell the raffle tickets
●Decide how the money will be used
7.Auction
Description: Promote a fundraising auction where 100% of the proceeds go straight to getting kids to camp. Get community businesses to donate items or services. Also, use the kids who want to go to camp – some kids can be a part of setup/tear down, some can help serve refreshments (get them donated!), and some can offer their skills in the auction (babysitting, yard work, vocal or instrumental performances for parties or weddings, etc.).
Preparations:
●Find a free venue – community center, school cafeteria or gym, church, etc.
●Promote the evening throughout the community
●Find local vendors to make donations
●Find students who have special skills/talents to be auctioned off
●Get refreshments for the evening donated
●Set up work assignments for kids
8.25K or ½ Marathon Walk/Run
Description: If you have students who would like the personal challenge of completing a 25K or ½ Marathon, this will be a great fundraiser. Have students write a letter to their friends and family explaining that they are going to run in this event and would like to raise $50 for every mile that they complete (they can choose any dollar amount, $50 is just a suggestion). Help students create a pledge card that allows people to pledge per mile or just to give a set amount.
Preparations:
●Research when/where a 25K or ½ Marathon is happening
●Help students write their letters and help them create a pledge card. Money should be sent to your ministry center, not directly to the student.
●Encourage students to set up a “training schedule” that will help them prepare physically for the run. Maybe you or a volunteer could train with the student(s) to encourage them and help them stay accountable to their training schedule.
9.Sponsor a School Dance
Description: In general, this will probably work better in a middle school setting. Charge admission, sell concessions, have a DJ, give away prizes, just make it a night full of fun! (This is also a good way to promote Campus Life in your school/community.)
Preparations:
●Get permission from school administration
●Plan the dance on a night following a big community football game or athletic event
●Find a DJ who can play a good mix of appropriate music
●Have prizes lined up to give away throughout the night. (ex: free t-shirts, $25 off camp cost, etc.)
●Purchase food/drinks/candy that can be sold at the concession stand. Set a price list and make sure you have a cash box with change.
●Have students who are going to camp create posters to promote the dance. Also have these students work the concession stand, ticket counter, clean-up crew, etc.
●Get parents and teachers to volunteer as chaperones
●Decide how the money will be used
10.Discount Cards
Description: These are cards that offer discounts to local stores and restaurants. Students sell the cards to people in the community and the proceeds go toward their camp expenses.
Also consider making your own coupon book with local connections that you have. You (as a Campus Life director) should probably not use your time working on this. Find a parent or admin person at your office who has good technical skills and has time to work on this. Spend your time recruiting kids for camp!
Preparations:
●Check around the community and make sure someone else is not already doing this. Remember that you are always trying to build community, so you don’t want to compete with other organizations or groups.
●Check out or similar companies for all the details involved with putting these cards together. Some of the things you will have to do is put together a design for the front of the card and contact several businesses about giving special offers to supporters of your group.
●This fundraiser does take some set up time, so make sure you know what you are getting into before you get started.
11.Serve at Festivals/Fairs in your community
Description: Find out when and where there are fairs and festivals in your community. Offer to bring your group of kids to work on set-up and tear-down projects for the event (help set up fences and booths, empty trash receptacles, etc.). Most festival committees are willing to pay a flat rate to have these things taken care of, especially because they can probably pay you less than they would have to pay to have it professionally done.
Another idea at festivals and fairs is to find out if you can sell cold drinks out of a “roaming” booth. Instead of paying the fee to have a booth, you would have students pull wagons with coolers of cold drinks around the fairgrounds. Check with the festival committee to find out if this is an option; explain that you are a non-profit organization and you have kids that are trying to raise money to go to camp. Most people are very receptive to this idea.
Preparations:
●Research when and where your community festivals are
●Contact the festival committee and find out the best way to get your kids involved.
●Make sure you have enough students to work
●Decide how you will use the money
12.Bowl – A – Thon
Description: Get your local bowling alley to donate lanes for you and your camp kids to bowl for money! To get kids interested in this, offer other prizes and incentives (ex: the highest scorer gets $25 off the camp cost, etc.) Have kids call their family and friends and get people to pledge money per pin that they hit. Bowl 3 games and keep track of the score. Then have kids collect the money that people pledged to them. Of course, people can just give a set amount if they would rather do it that way.
Preparations:
●Talk to the manager of your local bowling alley and see if they will donate lanes, shoes, and 3 games per bowler. Explain that this is a fundraiser to get kids to camp.
●Help kids create a calling list and give them a script so that they know what to say on the phone.
●Have people make their checks out to your ministry center and give kids envelopes for people who choose to give them cash
13.Giant Yard Sale
Description: Get people from your community to donate things they would like to get rid of (clothes, furniture, dishes, working appliances, etc). Tell them that the proceeds from the yard sale will go toward helping kids go to camp. Try to get families of kids who are coming to camp involved with donating. Have kids who are going on the trip organize the donations, make signs, and work the yard sale.
Preparations:
●Find a good, high traffic location for the sale
●Spread the word that you need donations for the yard sale. Have students tell their families and friends. Have a designated drop off location for donations.
●Have students help:
○Make signs that advertise the day/time of the sale
○Price all of the items
○Set-up and organize the sale
●Have a cash box with a lot of change
●Have a plan for the items left over after the sale (maybe donate it to Goodwill?)
14.Sell Campus Life Apparel
Description: In the past, there has been Campus Life apparel available on the YFC website. Hopefully this service will be back in the future through the store on the new YFC website. Until then, find a vendor in your community who will give you a good deal on t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc. and sell them for a profit at your weekly club and at large events.
Preparations:
●Work with your local vendor to get a good deal
●If your vendor doesn’t do design work, find someone to donate their graphic design skills to come up with something cool. Or maybe find a group of students who enjoy graphic design and have them come up with the designs for t-shirts! Kids love that!
●Order a good selection of stuff and make it available to purchase at CL events. You can use the money you make to create your own scholarships for kids or to underwrite the general camp cost.
15.Jail – N – Bail
Description: If you have a good connection with any city officials, see if you can really use the local jail! Keep kids “locked-up” until they make enough phone calls to raise enough “bail” to get out of jail.
Preparations:
●Find out if there is any possibility of using the local jail! If this is too far fetched, then find a good location to gather together with the kids to make phone calls.
●Give kids a script for phone calls, explaining that they are raising money to be able to go to camp this summer and that they have to get enough pledges before they can get out of jail.
●Have checks made payable to your ministry center.
16.Work Crew at a Young Life Camp
Description: During the non-summer months, Young Life uses their camp facilities to host weekend retreats. They are always looking for groups to come and do work crew. Work crew includes washing dishes, cleaning bathrooms, making the outdoor grounds look nice, etc. This would be a great fundraiser, but also a great bonding experience for your group. It is also a great opportunity to continue to build the relationship that we have going with Young Life.