How Do We Get There?

The biggest hurdle in most mission trips is, you guessed it, funding. I have seen more people miss out on a great opportunity to serve simply because they didn't have the cash-in-hand it would take to pay for their trip. Grant it, we don't ever want to overlook our budgets and we need to be realistic about what we can afford, but we also need to understand that if God wants us to go on a trip, He will also help us to get there.

So, how do we do that? Well, our W&W teams have some tried-and-true fundraisers that work very well for everyone. Some take more effort than others but we have found that the time we spend together fundraising is about more than just earning money for our trip. It is about team building and getting to know our fellow team members. We usually have a lot of fun and earn quite a nice chunk of change in the process.

Let me share with you some of the fundraisers we do on a regular basis.

Everyone has to eat, right? And a good number of people who go to church on a Sunday night will also go out to eat with each other for fellowship after church, right? Well, we decided that one Sunday night a month, we would hold a Work & Witness Cafe and instead of everyone going to the local burger joint, they stay right at church and get some awesome food and fantastic fellowship all while supporting a worthy cause. Each month we have a different menu and so far, it has been a win-win for everyone. Another popular fundraiser is garage sales. If you can get everyone in your church to help by donating all their old "junk" and even offer to pick up large items, you can increase your W&W coffers quite easily. Now there is a lot of work in getting a good garage sale set up. You need to have it organized because even at a garage sale, people like to see what they are getting without having to dig through piles. This helps the people in the church by cleaning out their old stuff and it helps the W&W team by raising funds. Again, another win-win for everyone. Something we have been doing for the past few years is a 5K. This does take a lot more planning and the biggest hurdle here is getting big donors. If you have the manpower to pull this off and can keep the momentum going for several years to build it up, a 5K can be a very profitable fundraiser. One more popular fundraiser we do is selling smoked meats. If you have someone locally with a big smoker, you can have people pre-order racks of ribs, sausages, chicken, brisket....you get the idea and then all you have to do is get them smoked and make deliveries. Even better if you have a set day/time for people to pick them up. Very little leg work on this one but gets great results. Doing this around a holiday or big event works really well. Finally have a pie sale/auction. We have raised some pretty hefty funds selling homemade pies. If you have some uber awesome cooks in your church, even if they aren't on the W&W team, they will probably be willing to help you cook some pies. Just ask them. All they can do is say no. These are just a few of the fundraisers that have worked for us. I would love to hear about your favorite and most effective fundraising projects. Share them with us. Your idea might just help another team make their goals. Happy Fundraising ~~The Admin Team