Baptist churches spread Christ’s love through Sunday services, family and children’s activities, mission trips, and more. These activities are a vital part of a church’s existence, but the cost of running a church is not well known. Congregations may open their wallets when the offering plate is passed, but fewer churches can run on the…
Baptist churches spread Christ’s love through Sunday services, family and children’s activities, mission trips, and more. These activities are a vital part of a church’s existence, but the cost of running a church is not well known. Congregations may open their wallets when the offering plate is passed, but fewer churches can run on the amount collected.
If members truly knew the needs of the church, where their money was going and had an easy way to give, Baptist churches would benefit from their parishioners’ generosity. Donorbox helps thousands of churches across the globe with online fundraising through its powerful tools, features, and donor management solution. Have a look at this 1-min video here for more information –
In this article, we discuss 9 ways to raise money from your congregation and surrounding community.
As a preacher or deacon of a church you may have noticed how many parents seem exhausted and overwhelmed by the end of the week. Parents are stressed from working and caring for their families, but the chances for a date night are few and far between.
Your church can turn this need for a safe child-care option into an easy fundraiser for your church. Find volunteers to care for the children and local businesses willing to donate food. You can ask parents to donate a specific amount and use this opportunity to spread God’s word as parents gain a night of freedom.
Nonprofits bring in vast numbers of donations at the end of the year. While some of that can be attributed to getting your donation in before the end of the tax year, many people have feelings of joy and generosity during the Christmas season. Most nonprofits will hold their largest fundraising campaign at this time of the year. Because of this, the hashtag #GivingTuesday was created and used to encourage donations the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving. In 2020, nonprofits raised $2.5 billion on Giving Tuesday alone.
Your church can also benefit from generous feelings during the Christmas season. This year, church leaders can hold a fundraising campaign similar to what other nonprofits in the area are doing. Send out mailings with pre-paid return mailing envelopes, send weekly or bi-weekly emails to church members, and post regularly on your social media accounts. Give donors an idea of where their gift will go and include impactful stories about how God and the church have made a difference in people’s lives.
If you’re looking to create a simple, online Christmas campaign, this example will be apt! The Cherry Point Baptist Church created this recurring donation campaign to raise funds for their various programs including Christmas offering. Donors could opt-in for weekly/monthly/yearly donations with this simple donation form, as well as designate their donation to a specific program, if not Christmas.
Pro tip: To get the most out of your Christmas campaign, it is best to start sending mail and emails in September or October. If possible, send two mailings before Christmas.
After Christmas, you can continue to campaign but with a different message. Send weekly emails reminding people that a gift to the church can save them on their taxes.
As Christians, we should be motivated to give to others throughout the year the same way Christ did. With this in mind, more churches are encouraging parishioners to volunteer in the community. Your church can inspire members to volunteer by adding a section to your website, and by holding a separate community volunteer day.
During this event, people can choose where and how they want to donate their time. Once again, your church can offer options online or in your Sunday service program a month or two before the event day. Once members decide what they want to do, they can start adding posts and sending emails to their friends and family, letting them know about the event.
Peer-to-peer fundraising is an excellent way to raise money during a volunteering event. Church leaders should start by connecting with a few members who are comfortable online. Ask them to share what they’re doing and why they want to support the church. Give them information about the church to share with their community. As they start to raise money, your pastor can share their success during Sunday mornings and online with social media posts and through emails to the rest of the congregation. The more people see how easy and successful this type of fundraising can be, they will want to join in on the fun.
The Baptist church has been sending missionaries across the world since the early 1800s. Christian men and women tell God’s message to people who have never heard from him before and educate people on how their lives can improve with God’s help. These missionaries and mission teams could fill several books with stories of how many people they have saved, and your church can use these tales to share the success of God and your church with church members and their communities through crowdfunding campaigns.
Your church can start a crowdfunding campaign and share stories and images about the miracles God provides. Tells stories of how God’s message has changed people’s lives across the globe. Add images and videos from the past. Have your church leaders record a message or two to inspire donors. Your goal with this campaign would be to encourage people with God’s words and seek donations to help your church.
Pro tip: Tell a different story each week on social media and through emails, and include compelling images to catch people’s attention. As people begin to share these tales with their friends and families, your church should start sharing how much is being raised and point out those members who are working hardest at getting it done. Once others see their success, more people will jump on board.
Families are a large part of your church. If you are blessed enough to have young families and your nursery and Sunday school classes are filling up, it may be time to hold a family fun fair. While parishioners enjoy themselves and dining on food and drinks donated from local businesses, you can find innovative ways to collect donations.
Raffles are some of the easiest ways to do this. If you have a large group of attendees, raffle games like spin the wheel and Bozo bucket games may bring in a few hundred dollars. Your church can also have a 50/50 raffle for the adults. Ask for a small $10 donation for each ticket, and the winner wins half the pot at the end. This type of raffle also encourages people to stay for the whole event since they must be there to hear their number.
While people play games and watch the shows, your church can also encourage people to donate with a text-to-give campaign. Most people do not carry cash anymore, but they do have a smartphone. Text donations make it convenient for members to give whenever they want. Fairs can be a great way to introduce this type of fundraising to your congregation, especially if you hope to include it in your Sunday services in the future.
With Donorbox, it’s a breeze. All you have to do is share the campaign ID and the text number with your congregation. They can send the ID to the number and receive a mobile-friendly link to make the donation. With our repeat donation feature, your donors can easily repeat this donation in the future – no filling out forms or inputting details.
While family fun fairs can be exciting for some, others in your church are less inclined to attend large events, especially during the current pandemic. These members can still financially support your donation and get something from their gift.
If you are building a new church or another facility, you will likely need to hold a capital campaign to raise enough funds. These campaigns will need major donors and even some corporate support, but individual donations can give smaller amounts and still add their names to the building. Buy-a-brick campaigns can ask for $100 or more dollar gifts in exchange for adding their name or a memorial plaque to your new church. People love to see their name on a donor wall. With buy-a-brick, you can raise large amounts with little effort.
Look at the below campaign. Crossroads Church held a buy-a-brick campaign and explained to its donors what donations to make to buy a brick. If you’re holding one too, try and make it this transparent. With a recurring donation form, they also encouraged weekly, monthly, or annual donations that could ensure a stable fund for the future of the church.
A Baby Picture Contest can be a fun and unique way to raise funds for your church. This is also an excellent way to encourage relationship-building between church members. First, contact your church’s pastor, music director, and Sunday school, teachers. If there are other popular figures in your congregation, you will want to urge them to volunteer as well.
Next, you will want to collect the cutest or funniest baby pictures from all of those who are playing. Finally, paste them onto a board and put it up in your church’s entryway or wherever you get the most walk-in traffic. People can guess who each baby picture belongs to for a small fee. Make it a game and offer prizes for those who get the most right and for the participant who got the most likes. You can also have a little fun with this and encourage people to choose the baby with the prettiest smile or the funniest hair.
Pro tip: Make this fundraiser accessible to more participants by collecting guesses and collections online on a separate website page and campaign form. Share the game on your social media accounts and ask parishioners to share the pictures with their online community.
Does your church have a choir or music leadership team? These individuals love to share their talent in God’s name and are a great resource when planning fundraising events. You may also have individuals in your congregation with connections to professional musicians willing to help. You will need to do your due diligence to find the best options for a worship concert.
Once you have found the artists, choose a date that works for everyone and is not competing with many other events in the community. You can share the event and sell tickets online and during Sunday services. You will also want to ask church members to promote the event and sell tickets to their friends and family.
Pro tip: To bring in a larger crowd, connect with local media and pitch a story about the artists and the upcoming event. That will ensure a larger coverage of the event thus increasing the chances of more funds.
Many religions connect with God during the 40 days leading up to Easter and Jesus’s resurrection. Most Baptists do not celebrate lent, but there are many ways a congregation and church can benefit from doing so. The 40 days leading to Christ’s rebirth were a time of struggle and temptation. He suffered without food and water and was tempted by the devil when he was at his weakest point.
Christians see this as a time to connect with God by either fasting or giving up something that separates you from Christ. This is not an easy thing to do on your own, but as a church, you can find strength in each other and fight these temptations with God’s help.
One way your church can help members during this time is to start a Give-it-up Campaign. Ask members to give something up during the 40 days before Easter and have them create their own campaign page online. They can share their stories on social media about why they are giving something up and collect pledges to inspire them to keep going. On Easter, your church can share how each campaign went and how much was collected thanks to their sacrifice.
Fundraising is not always an easy choice for Baptist churches, but with less money collected from weekly offerings, it is vital for the church’s survival. We hope the 9 fundraising ideas mentioned above help financially support your church while remaining true to God’s mission.
Donorbox is an affordable online donation processor that churches of all sizes can use. Your church can sign up for free and add an online donation form to your website in a matter of minutes. Adding text-to-give and crowdfunding campaigns to your church’s activities is simple and will help raise the necessary funds to keep your church going. Learn more about our features on our website and gain access to more tips and resources in our blog to help you fundraise in the future.
Kristine Ensor is a freelance writer with over a decade of experience working with local and international nonprofits. As a nonprofit professional she has specialized in fundraising, marketing, event planning, volunteer management, and board development.
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Kristine Ensor