There's a lot of things that need fixing in the world right now. Whether it's lack of access to resources or lack of love for our neighbors, we can all agree the world needs more selfless service.
For generations, the mission trip has been a way that communities gather together to serve another community out of love, humility, and generosity. Though only a few people may go directly to help, many generous donations sustain the mission and aid the workers in serving the community.
That desire to help and serve others is quite a moving thing. Still, we can understand how the idea of raising the funds you need to help and serve others can look like another daunting mountain to climb.
We've come up with 7 fundraising ideas for you to fund your next service project or mission trip.
Table of Contents
Begin Fundraising for Your Mission Trip
7 Fundraising Strategies for Missions Trips and Service Projects
- Partner with your local faith-based institution
- Crowdfunding
- Social Media Campaigns
- Food and Bake Sales
- Sponsorship strategies
- Green Fundraisers
- Online (eBay) Garage Sale
3 Tips to Begin Fundraising for Your Mission Trip
With all the things you're planning as you think about your trip, it can be tempting to compartmentalize fundraising as just the thing you need to do to get to your goal. However, if you haven't already done so, we want to encourage you to start thinking about fundraising as building relationships with your donors to develop support and generosity for the long haul.
It's essential to start here as having that relational view does impact how you set up your donations and drives.
Here's an example: If you gather information like email and addresses from giving partners now, you'll be able to remain in touch with them and send update letters during and after your mission is complete.
Second, when planning longer mission trips, try to encourage regular giving or monthly giving partnerships with your donors wherever possible. Having a relationship with your donors will, in turn, support your service project or mission when it's up and running. That means you can direct 100% of your focus toward the work at hand instead of more fundraising.
Third, don't be afraid to ask. Everyone wants to be part of helping and serving others. When you orient your fundraising strategy to highlight the need you're planning to address, you'll inspire people to join the cause. Inspired people are supportive people who are eager to give. Think of your ask as a way for you to bring people into your cause and serve alongside you.
7 Fundraising Strategies for Missions Trips and Service Projects
The internet is brimming with fundraising ideas for service projects and mission trips. It can feel overwhelming to choose the strategies and ideas that will work best. We rounded up seven fundraising ideas that are easy, effective, and practically anyone can pull them off!
1) Partner with your local faith-based institution
Sticking with the theme of community, talk with the leader of your local faith-based institution about coming to the congregation and sharing about your mission trip or service project. Building that relationship with a community means you can receive not just financial but spiritual and emotional support when things get sticky in the field.
Inviting local faith communities to partner with you also allows you to invite others to care about the cause you're passionate about. Many in faith communities are eager to learn and join with worthy causes across the street and worldwide.
2) Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is a fundraising strategy in which you encourage lots of people to get involved by making a small donation online. Most crowdfunding campaigns involve some kind of social media advertisement, and the goal is to reach as many people as possible.
The benefit of crowdfunding is that you're not limited to one community. You can do it virtually. Additionally, you can access the generosity of the world and, if you do it right, someone else handles all the complicated technical stuff for you.
You will need to set up a custom fundraising page that's linked to a donations processing software. However, the Soapbox Engage Donations app is easy to set up and lets you customize to your heart's content. Add all the bells and whistles you need, from goal meters to basic information about your service project or mission trip (no computer science degree required).
3) Social Media Campaigns
These days, social media is usually the quickest and most reliable way to reach the largest audience when it comes to sharing your cause and fundraising to support it. We've talked briefly before about Facebook Live fundraising and its benefits.
For the broadest impact, we recommend having a few active social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.) that you'll regularly update with cross-links to your donations page.
A secondary benefit of using social media campaigns for your fundraising is that you can share updates throughout your trip or service project. Donors love to see you in action! When everything's finished, you'll be able to share and celebrate a summary of all you and your supporters accomplished together--an important but often overlooked piece of effective fundraising.
4) Food and Bake Sales
We can all agree the power to say no quickly vanishes near a table of home-baked cookies (or heaven help us, a Girl Scout cookie stand!).
Bake-sales have two benefits: first, the low cost of ingredients makes for great profit margins. Second, sugar is a powerful self-seller. You'll always have people interested in what you're selling- and, when coupled with a good cause, how can they NOT buy more than they need?
For maximum sales potential, we recommend putting up a few pictures of your service project and have your talking points about the importance of your mission ready to go. It also wouldn't hurt to look into alternative diet treats so everyone can participate in some sweet service (we see you, gluten-free friends!).
Many people don't carry cash these days, making bake sales a bit more challenging. An easy workaround is to use your online donation page! Simply encourage people to make a donation while they're standing at your pop-up bakery!
Consider putting together a flyer that describes your mission trip or service project, your fundraising goals, and how to give online. That way, potential supporters have the option to donate later, too.
5) Sponsorship strategies
For mission trips and projects centered around serving a particular community or demographic, offering a tangible image of the kind of work you'll be doing is a moving way to stir up funds. You could invite donors to sponsor a child, a city, or a building project like a well or house.
Connecting a donation to a specific act gives people a vision of exactly how their money will work to make a difference in the world(for example, $75 pays to repaint a room in the orphanage). For extra impact, consider sending before and after pictures to people who sponsored the various projects.
If you decide to fundraise by asking people to sponsor individuals (for example: pay for a child to attend your program), consider the privacy and dignity of the people involved before using photos of people.
Another sponsorship-style fundraising strategy goes by several names, but we'll call it the "Numbered Envelope Shuffle." Start by numbering a set of envelopes from 1 to 50 (or however high you'd like to go). Donors then select an envelope and donate the same amount as what's written on the envelope. The idea is that all the envelopes add up to part or all of your project's cost or trip.
We love how this idea gives people a guideline on how much to donate while still offering the flexibility to give as they feel comfortable.
6) Green Fundraisers
Money isn't the only thing you can collect to raise funds these days. Green fundraisers that pay people for collecting old (or new) shoes, technology, and other items are popping up. The intention is to repurpose or resell valuable components and fund necessary mission trips in the process!
All you have to do is gather the shoes or phones that are collecting dust in people's closets and send them off. In return, the company cuts you a check for your mission. It's a win-win-win… you fund your project or trip, people get to declutter their closets, and those old gadgets, shoes, and other items don't wind up in landfills!
7) Online (eBay) Garage Sale
We could all use a good declutter. If you're feeling like shoes are just the beginning, you could reach out to your community and ask people to donate older items that are ready for their second home.
Then set up an eBay shop for your mission trip and list each of the items. Don't forget to explain your cause and post your donations page in the shop description. That way, if a shop visitor doesn't find something that piques their interest, they can still donate to a good cause!
This fundraising strategy does require a bit of leg-work, organization, time, and energy on your part. Still, it also has the potential to bring in a big fundraising windfall if done right.
Here at Soapbox Engage, we are eager to equip and empower people who want to make a difference in the world and positively impact people's lives. Our goal is to support people like you--no matter how big or small your project, trip, or cause is. We're here to take the difficult parts like donation fees and email databases off of your hands so you can get back to doing what really matters- helping people!
Are you ready to keep making a difference in the world? Here are three more resources to help your fundraising efforts.
- How To Organize A Virtual Bike Fundraiser: Running, walking, and cycling fundraisers are some of the most popular athletic charity events. Cyclists actually have a long history of pedaling for great causes. This quick guide will help you plan a virtual bike fundraiser for your nonprofit, service project, or mission trip.
- 7 Great Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Event Ideas: Peer-to-peer fundraising enlists the help of all your friends, family, neighbors, and other people in your network to help you raise money for your project or cause. A lot of these kinds of fundraisers are fun, exciting, and easy to host. This blog includes some creative ideas for effective peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns.
- Is Your Nonprofit Making These Common Crowdfunding Mistakes? Crowdfunding is gaining popularity as a fundraising strategy for all kinds of nonprofits, service projects, and mission trips. We created this guide to help you avoid some of the common mistakes and pitfalls so you can get the most out of your crowdfunding campaigns.
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