Youth Conference

Bible Memory: Using the verses from CE National's Bible 100 Challenge, Timothy Clothier, Youth Director at Community Grace in Warsaw, Ind., is encouraging his students to ask people to sponsor them to memorize verses. People will choose how much money they'll give to students per verse that's memorized. Students are responsible to say the verses to their sponsors, either individually or as a group. Get specifics... (PDF)
Mystery Dinner Menu: Mystery dinners are great fun and can easily be adapted to fit a variety of themes from Valentine’s Day to April Fool’s day. You need to create a menu 18-20 items. Use items like: main dish, green salad, fork, knife, spoon, toothpick, water, apple wedges, dessert, coffee, cheese cubes, pretzel, sparkling cider, carrot sticks, olive, and pickle. Come up with a theme and then make up silly names for each item on your list. Example code names are Brazilian delight – coffee, Where the road separates – fork, Eve’s Temptation – Apple, Son of Noah – Ham, etc. Print a menu that lists code name on the top half, then on the bottom you list 4 courses and 4-5 blank lines after each course. Guests should have no idea what is going on. They will sit down to a beautiful table, without plates, cups, utensils, and be given the menus. After everyone has chosen their courses, the servers take the menus to the kitchen and bring each person what they ordered for the first course. Then serve each course exactly as it is ordered, even if course on is an olive, a toothpick, chocolate pie and a carrot, without any silverware. Continue until each course has been served.
Create a Calendar specific to your church or youth group or town and sell them. Have kids help with photography, design, etc. Check out www.snapfish.com or www.WalMart.com/Photo-Center.
Have artistic students design a T-shirt, magnets or stickers and have them printed. Sell them to the youth group or in the community.
Check out Woven Joy – not only do you raise money but you are providing an income for Christian women in the Philippines. Check out the beautiful bracelets, necklaces, anklets, bookmarks and more at www.wovenjoy.com.
Job auction/student auction – “auction off” students to do odd jobs for people in your church.
Hold a Dinner in a Basket Night. Have kids create a meal and have families in the church bid on the basket. This is a great way to get people in the church to meet your youth.
Basketball tournament – advertise in the community and charge a per-team fee.
Sell coffee – check out the Ugly Mug Coffee Co. (uglymugcoffee.com), a Christian coffee company specializing in premium organic coffee, hot chocolate, and chai. Sell the coffee by the bag or by the cup on Sunday mornings.
Have a Silent Auction for the community. Get local business to donate items and have people bid on them.
Car Wash Variations
- Location is key!
- Get local business sponsors and hand out flyers in the community advertising a FREE Car wash sponsored by the local businesses.
- Check with your local Wal-Mart because sometimes they will make a donation.
- Try a new twist on this moneymaker and have your kids get sponsors to pay a certain amount of money per car washed.
Dinners – Try something as normal as a spaghetti or a chili dinner or mix things up a little and do a themed or murder mystery dinner. Open it to the church or even the community. Charge a per-plate fee or ask for donations.
Yard sale – ask your church to donate items, or rent tables to the community at your location.
Coffee night – hold it for your church or open it up to the community. Provide some type of entertainment or music to set the mood and bring people in.
Hold a Craft Sale at your church. Have kids or adults in the church donate hand-made items.
Hold a Plant or Mulch Sale.
Have people in the church donate unwanted books and have a Book Sale.
Encourage church people to “Buy Stock” in your teens. For a donation of a certain amount, present gold, silver, or bronze stockholder certificates, and hold a stockholders’ appreciation dinner to thank participants.
Contact a local restaurant and work out an arrangement to sell tickets for a special event at the restaurant.

Other Fundraising Idea Sources:

easy-fundraising-ideas.com - discount and scratch card fundraisers, plus food and magazine sales, and fundraiser FAQs.
fundraiserhelp.com - lots of great ideas, helpful to-do lists, and tips for projects, plus lots of links to national chains that help with fundraising.
abcfundraising.com - discount and scratch cards to national chains
allstar1.com - “The World of Fundraising,” food sales (candy, pizza, cookie dough, pretzels, etc.)
fundraisingdeals.com - all sorts of fundraising categories!
profitpotentials.com - lots of great fundraising sale ideas, including food, wrapping paper, greeting cards, and first aid kits.
wirelessredemption.com - cell phone recycling fundraiser (very affective, recommended by Group Magazine)
fundingfactory.com - printer cartridge/cell phone recycling fundraiser
uthstuph.com - great t-shirt design company! Lots of templates to choose from and great prices!
elbusa.com - custom stickers, buttons, and magnets.
bagtagfundraiser.com - a unique idea of selling luggage tags
pamperedchef.com - they have a Pampered Chef cookbook fundraiser! Could be a good idea for moms for Christmas or Mother’s Day.
krispycreme.com/fund.html - who doesn’t love donuts!!
mickman.com/fundraising - greenery, wreaths, garlands, and more! Highly recommended.

Fundraising Ideas