Roger and Rose Bear serve in College Ministry at Indiana State in Terre Haute. Their newsletter is one of the best I get. Recently, it spoke of Christian ministry fundraisers. "I grew up in a church that didn't believe in having fundraisers. You shouldn't expect the world to pay for the Lord's work. God's people should support God's work". The Bears went on to say they are doing a fundraiser now collecting gently used shoes for their "Unholey Souls" project.
Many College Ministries must do fund Raisers to support missions projects or Summer Missionaries who have to raise $3,000 to $4,000 for foreign projects. What are fund Raisers that people do? Does it matter if they accomplish some good past raising funds for worthy causes?
-One ministry spends a Saturday working at the area church camp getting it ready for the summer. The students ask people to pledge support per hour for their 8 hours of work. Money is raised and a good project is done.
-Another ministry tells of doing a highway walk-a-thon where they pick up trash and get cash sponsors per mile.
-I inherited a Barbecue Chicken Dinner on Homecoming Day. For several years we sold tickets to parents, alums and friends for a lunch on game day. More than money it seemed the benefit was having parents and alums together and seeing our ministry facility.
- For several years we did a 10 mile Walk-A-Thon where students got pledges for each mile and raised thousands of dollars. A few years back students didn't see the point.
-Golf Tournaments are a favorite fund raiser for many ministries. Some take it a step further and allow participants to buy extra shots or do-overs, etc.
-Another version of the Golf Tournament is getting sponsors to pledge per how many holes you can play in X number of hours.
-One creative College Minister has a full pad tackle football game. He says many former high school playersnlong for one more game. He borrows equipment from a local Chrisitan school. Thry charge guys to play and they sell tickets to see it.
-Some ministries do a Dinner or Dessert Theatre. Or, some even do a full blown musical such as Oklahoma.
What's your feeling about fund Raisers.....good....bad? Must they serve some good other than raising money? Got a great new idea you want to share with others?
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