CentriKid

Fundraising

Fundraising for Camp

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We want every kid to have the life-changing experience of attending CentriKid. We are constantly trying to keep the cost of camp low so that more kids and adults and churches can attend. It is certainly not easy for every family to afford the cost of camp. This is where your church can step in and offer ways to help make sure that every child in your ministry can get to camp: fundraising!

From bake sales, to spaghetti suppers, to having charity nights at local restaurants, we have blogged on fundraising many, many times. Check out some awesome blogs from our archives to get ideas how you can fundraise and help get your kiddos to CentriKid this summer!

Fundraising Tips from the Camp Prep Series (2012-2015)

Making Sure Everyone Gets to Camp by Bill Emeott

Now, head over to our Facebook page to join the discussion on fundraising tips and ideas you have! 

FUNdraisers to Help You Get to Camp

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Fundraisers are a great way to help the families in your church with the financial part of going to camp. But the bake sales and car washes are not the only way to raise money for camp. We have a few fun ideas to get kids involved and excited about camp all while raising money!

Peel Away Envelope Fundraisers

This idea comes from Micheal in Missouri, where they would print one image on top of another image and have squares labeled with dollar increments. When a person donated a certain amount of money they would peel that increment amount off. Once every amount was given and peeled off the image below was revealed! The bottom layer could show a picture of the kids who went to camp the year before or any number of fun images.

Kids Art Gallery 

There are so many talented kids at your church, so why not give them a chance to show off their skills? Kids can draw, paint, sculpt, build or even create a science project. The night the items go on display have a meal at the church to celebrate all the amazing work done by the kids in your ministry.

Scavenger Hunt

Have a camp themed scavenger hunt! Participants could ask for pledges to participate and the team that gets done with the scavenger hunt the fastest and the team that raises the most money wins a prize!

Bake sale + Recipes! 

Put a new twist on the bake sale! Print out the recipe that you used to bake your yummy sweets and sell the recipe with the baked goods.

There are so many fun ways to get kids and families involved with raising money for camp. Finances can be a little stressful sometimes, so it is always great when you can put a little fun in fundraising!

How Do You Get the Most BANG from Your Limited Budget Bucks

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Ministry opportunities are unlimited, but we all need help stretching our limited budget for ministry.  Here are 4 children’s ministry leaders who share from their experience on how to get the most out of their budget.  You’ll see common themes of sharing and wise shopping, so here we go!

  • Buy in bulk and save for the next year…this helps on budget needs for the next fiscal year. – Lisa, Preschool/Children’s Ministry Director from Georgia.

  • I always try to find out what other churches are doing the same VBS and schedule around other dates is possible, so that we can share decorations and leftover supplies.  Also, we have a couple of big churches close by who own lots of inflatables. I ask to “rent” from them at discount instead of paying top dollar from rental companies. – Tammy, a Children’s Minister from South Carolina.

  • We share and borrow props/specialty items with local churches in our area. We shop AMAZON and EBAY to save cost on production events. We also involve our congregation in our ministry events, for example, we served over 2000 people last year in our “Back to school Bash”, handing out school supplies and giving free haircuts. – Kathy, Director of Children’s Ministry from Tennessee.

  • I am a huge fan of networking, and thankfully our local Baptist association provides many opportunities for local children’s ministers to regularly meet together. During those times, we all talk about our ministries and discuss ways we can help each other, and share resources.  For example, last week one of the local children’s ministers found some decorations in her church that she didn’t need, but matched my VBS theme perfectly, so she called to see if I wanted them.  If you don’t already have a network of ministry friends, start calling local children’s ministers and try to get something going. It will take time for something to get started, but it is well worth the effort. I have literally saved thousands of dollars over the years, through sharing resources with local children’s ministers and gained invaluable amounts of great advice and encouragement from them.  – Peter – a children’s minister from Georgia, and former CentriKid staffer.

 

Special Thanks to each of these guys for sharing their insights with us!  What else would you share from your experience?  How do you stretch your limited ministry budget dollars? Share in the comments section below and we can continue to add to create a great collection of ideas!

Fundraising Tips

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Jerry Wooley served at a church in Houston before coming to work at Lifeway. He recently shared with me a great fundraising idea and I wanted him to also share it with you guys!

 

 

 

Fundraising // Waiting Tables

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We recently posted about new and different fundraiser ideas for camp. This past week, we came across yet another cool idea from Cheryl (one of our awesome group leaders). Here is what she told us-

“Our kids waited tables last week at a bar-b-que restaurant to earn $ for camp.  The establishment is closed on Mondays and they let us use it for this fundraiser every year.  Not only do the kids get to serve others, they earn money, plus they are team-building for camp.”

What an awesome way to raise money for camp, but also expose your kids to serving and connecting with their community. Great idea Cheryl! It is that time of year where many of you are planning or getting ready for your annual camp fundraising event. We’d love to hear what your ideas and plans are! Comment to let us know.