Donations are incredibly important for churches. They help fund the maintenance of buildings as well as the provision of services and community outreach programmes. And if the latestParish Financial Statistics report is anything to go by, they account for well over half of The Church of England’s annual income.
To ensure donations keep coming in, Churches need to keep their fundraising fresh. Apart from integrating the latest donation tech into their efforts, there are plenty of unique church fundraising ideas to take inspiration from. Here are some of our favourites, and some tips on how to turbo charge them. church fundraisers ideas
Unique church fundraising ideas
Run a paper airplane competition
The cavernous space of a church’s nave is ideal for hosting paper airplane competitions. Kids and adults alike can compete to see who can throw their planes the furthest, with the winner awarded a prize. And if you think it’s an easy task to reach the end of the building, think again – the nave of Winchester Cathedral is 558ft long…over double thecurrent Guinness World Record for paper airplane throwing.
Hold a worm charming contest
One of the more bizarre church fundraising ideas here, but a real crowd pleaser. ‘Worm-charming’ involves stomping on a patch of ground and gathering worms as they reach the surface (apparently they interpret the vibrations in the earth as a signal that moles are nearby). The winner is the person that collects the most worms over a period of time. Strange as it may be, it’s caught on in the North West; the‘Aspull Worm Charming Championship’ has become a staple in the fundraising calendar of St Elizabeth of Hungary’s Church.
Host a history evening
If your church has an illustrious history, consider sharing it with curious locals. Working alongside a historian, you could offer tickets for guided tours around the building and show off its architectural quirks. Technology-permitting, you could even offer ‘virtual’ guides via webcam.
Run a ‘mouse’ hunt
Again, taking advantage of the space available, you could run a ‘mouse’ hunt for children. Take a knitted mouse and hide it somewhere safe in the church grounds, charging tickets to enter the competition and awarding a prize to the winner. You could even follow the example set by St Paul’s Church in Walton-in-Gordano, Somerset, and ask local schoolchildren to draw or colour in pictures of mice. These can then be used as part of the hunt – the winner is the person with the most pictures found!
Hold a virtual auction
In the theme of connecting with the community, you could ask local businesses to donate products and services to sell as part of a charity auction. Apart from raising well-needed funds for the church, they’d benefit from increased positive exposure.
Church fundraising tips
Social media
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again – social media is a fantastic fundraising tool. It allows you to reach a far greater number of people and track the results of your efforts. There are manysocial media fundraising examples to take inspiration from – either to promote your church fundraising event or hold it entirely online.
Contactless technology
Fewer people are carrying cash these days and church fundraising needs to adapt accordingly.Contactless donation technology allows donors to give a set amount simply by tapping their credit or debit card to a wireless terminal, avoiding the need to rummage through pockets for spare cash. Whilst more convenient for donors, it also gives fundraisers greater visibility on their campaigns through valuable data.
GoodBox believes that technology can help charities to improve their fundraising. That’s why we provide organisations such as TheNatural History Museum andThe Church of England with tap-to-give contactless donation terminals. Our innovative tech helps charities to ditch cash and coins in favour of contactless card payments. Interested?Sign up to become a GoodBox member for free, and gain access to exclusive discounts on our hardware and priority access to our data-driven reports.