Most of us have seen our day to day lives interrupted over the last several weeks and we don’t know when we will get back to being able to do things like we used to. For those in ministry, we have seen that the things we had planned for this year may not happen the way that we thought they would. One thing that has been affected drastically is the plans for the youth group’s trip this summer. With many camps and mission organizations canceling trips for this year it may leave many wondering what to do with their summer. For others, their trip hasn’t been canceled yet but they are normally knee-deep in getting students registered and fundraising right now for those trips. So you may be wondering how are you going to pay for the trip if you can’t have any big fundraising events right now. We have a few suggestions about this for you.
Make your fundraiser virtual
It seems like we are doing everything virtual right now but this is not necessarily a bad thing. You can add a virtual fundraiser to that list. You could have someone do a video of cooking lessons, plumbing lessons, sewing lessons, electrical lessons, or other odd jobs around the house that people might donate a little to your fundraiser in order to learn how to do it. You could also do a virtual 5K. You could plan out a run in your area and then post the route and get others to run it and record their time. This way everyone can get outside and be healthy and help raise money.
Meals To Go
You can still do that meal fundraiser you were planning. Maybe you were going to make spaghetti, hamburgers, or something else, turn it into a pickup and go meal. You can still have it at your church and just have people come by and pick it up like they would at a restaurant. You can create a signup page on Facebook or another platform so that you know how many meals to provide for.
Grocery Pick Up
Check with some of the more vulnerable in your church or neighborhood and offer to pick up their groceries for them. This allows you and your students to be able to serve them, raise some money, and help to protect them during this time.
Make some Masks
Maybe you were planning a mission trip overseas and it has been canceled or you are still hoping to go at a later date. Try to find some material that has symbols ofthat area to make masks out of. You might get some material with an Eiffel Tower for a trip to Paris, the Statue of Liberty for New York, a Fleur-de-Lis for New Orleans, a country or state outline, or the countries flag colors. Making masks for people will do a number of things, first, it will provide them a mask for safety, it will provide them a reminder to pray for your team and people you will meet every time they wear it, and much more.
These are just a few ways that you and your team could consider to fundraise for a potential upcoming trip. Even if your trip is canceled though due to safety concerns consider still doing the fundraiser. The funds that you raise with it could go to several different things. They might go into the overall church budget, be donated to a local ministry, be donated to NAMB or IMB, go towards a future trip, or to some families in your community that need help right now. We hope that while you continue to do ministry in these uncertain times and look at the possibility of doing a fundraiser that you will use that fundraiser to grow with your team and support a cause that is seeking to share Christ with others.
