The Appeal to Rebuild Holy Trinity Cathedral
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Sample Fundraiser Ideas
Photo, Alice Gollnick, St. Barnabas, Norwich, VT
Use Legos and blocks: From Germany to Vermont, congregations have used Legos to promote and track giving. Sell a “bucket of bricks” for $50 or a “pallet” for $100 to encourage larger gifts. Let the kids construct a new cathedral each week with the growing number of bricks.
BBQ for Bricks: St. Andrew’s in Toledo, OH, was the first to try this great fundraiser that adapts to nearly every part of the country. Whether you go with pulled pork (very Haitian) or dry rubbed beef, you can invite neighbors and colleagues to share a meal for a good cause.
Hold a Golf Tournament: The Diocese of Western Massachusetts linked their congregations together for an afternoon designed to help roll away the rubble in Haiti. Parishes sponsored greens and tees; local businesses donated prizes.
Raise Your Voice in Song: The students of Virginia Theological Seminary held a benefit concert, and several congregations have hosted similar events. Hint: You can boost donations by offering to match the offering or the “door.”
Hold a Carnival Meal: Haitians celebrate three days of Carnival (Kanaval in Creole) before Lent with music, dancing, good food and music. Even out of season, Kanaval makes a great party. You can get recipes here. Let the children make Kanaval masks from paper plates and drums from plastic containers.
Silent Auctions & Sales: Organize around one of the campaign themes to make it fun:
Many Hands Lighten the Load: Sell handmade gloves and mittens, helping hands services such as child care and car washes. Lighten the mood during your fundraiser with funny skits and jokes.
Roll Away the Stones: Sell housekeeping services, yard clean-up, fence painting, or closet/kitchen organizing. Sell Haitian art & crafts (Google the terms and find options from $14-$400.) Or feature local artisans and designate the proceeds for recovering the Cathedral murals.
New Life for Haiti: Hold a plant sale featuring young bedding plant or vegetable seedlings. Hold a silent auction for things that rejuvenate such as vacations, massages and manicures, a night at the movies, or yoga lessons.
Anything to do with Building: Handyman services, gym memberships (build muscle!), architectural tours.
Skip Your Starbucks: Haiti has a long tradition of coffee growing, but the industry has been uncertain over the years. Next time you think of stopping for coffee, put that money aside for Haiti.
Café for a Cause: Raise some dough by holding a bake sale. Brew Haitian coffee to sell as well. Make a Cathedral Cake for the centerpiece using ice cream cones for towers and steeples, then raffle it off. Sell Cathedral Window Cakes and Stained Glass Cookies. Use brownies and other bar cookies to represent bricks. Run a slide show or video of the Cathedral reconstruction effort in the background. Invite one of the suggested speakers in your area to talk about how Holy Trinity Cathedral has helped the people of Haiti.
Change for Trinity: Collect pocket change in the narthex or during coffee hour. You can order church-shaped donation boxes online or make your own from shoe boxes and construction paper. Some congregations draw bricks on the box and fill them in with donor names as people give.
Hold a walk-a-thon: Churches in the Diocese of Connecticut banded together to do this. Plan a route that emphasizes an important part of Haitian life. In rural areas, an agricultural route might be appropriate. Imagine farming the fields by hand, as many Haitians do. In an urban or suburban environment, plan a route that takes in churches and schools. Did you know that nearly every Episcopal Church in Haiti also sponsors a school? This works for all kinds of activities: sing-a-thons, dance-a-thons, read-the-entire-bible-a-thon. Be creative!
Donate a holiday: Whether it’s Christmas or your birthday, ask friends to “give you a brick” by donating to the Rebuild Our Church in Haiti fund.
Questions? Need more info? Contact (diocesan coordinator) at (email)
Sample Fundraising Ideas – page 1 of 3