Fundraising presents nonprofits like churches with the avenue to meet rising needs – especially when there’s a shortfall of capital. These organizations usually approach donors to appeal to them for funds. In some instances, a church may have structured fundraising projects that run through the year as they look to meet various missionary commitments.
At other times, churches may embark on fundraising campaigns as needs arise. To this end, they can take advantage of days like Giving Tuesday, Giving Season or just run a special giving drive. Whatever the case, fundraising campaigns are beneficial to churches to a large extent.
Why Church Fundraising Campaign?
Let’s now consider some of the reasons some churches may need to raise funds, and some of these are discussed here:
Taking Care Of Running Costs
Churches are certainly not ‘for-profit’ organizations, but this does not mean they do not have specific things to take care of. There are bills to settle and maintenance costs, which may be somewhat burdensome for some churches with small congregations. Hence, the church may embark on a fundraising drive, reaching out to local businesses and other philanthropists to keep things going.
Fulfilling Missionary Journey/Needs
Sustaining missionary assignments can be really demanding financially, with the regular collections – offering and tithes – not being sufficient. To address this, the church can implement one or more fundraising idea(s) to generate more revenue to keep the mission work going.
Providing Relief To The Needy
The church can also serve as a link between the needy and people with philanthropic tendencies. It should not go without saying that though churches readily give to charity, the demands can sometimes be overwhelming. So, a need-based fundraising event like a charity auction or wish-list drive can be orchestrated to provide relief to the concerned groups.
Things You Should Hold Dear While Running Church Fundraising Campaigns
As you prepare to host a fundraising campaign, you must have some essential items at the back of your mind. These things can go a long way in determining the level of success you record from your fundraising project.
Transparency
The need to pay heed to transparency should be viewed from more than just the angle of desisting from doing something untoward. You should see to it that you do not leave room for your audience to doubt the credibility of your fundraising drive. In light of this, you should intentionally communicate your goals in clear and straightforward terms. You can also share some bits showing instances where you have put raised funds to use in the past.
Your Volunteer Base
A vibrant volunteer base could also be very crucial to the success of your campaign. With such a base, the probability of gaining increased awareness and revenue is higher. To this end, you can recruit interested church members and others to assist you in your fundraising cause. You should be able to run a peer-to-peer fundraising event with a good support base.
Your Donor Base
Donors are an essential piece of the fundraising puzzle, so you must pay attention to their significance. You should always try to start pitching your fundraising project to the existing donor base – if you’ve got one. And you also have to consider bringing new donors on board to expand your donor base. More importantly, you have to ensure that you make it easy for donors to donate – with the necessary resources in place.
And About The Strategy?
Taking a strategic route to fundraising will gratify the whole activity as you look to generate revenue for your church’s project. Good strategies make top-earning fundraisers stand out, with notable results to show for their (strategic) efforts. So, without further ado, let’s see some strategies you can implement for your church fundraising campaign.
Choose And Plan A Fundraising Event
Several events can be organized to raise funds for your church. But the critical thing is that you go for the one you can conveniently run without financial bottlenecks. You can host the event within your church to save costs on venue leasing and find ways of partnering with local businesses in case you want to run an auction event. Also, Consider a memorial fundraiser, for example, if you’re selecting a fundraising event. These events can be particularly effective in bringing together the whole community and helping raise money for a great cause.
Learn To Delegate Tasks
You don’t have to take everything regarding the running of the campaign up all alone. You can delegate tasks to ensure a seamless flow and promptly bring things to fruition. However, you will have to intimate your supporters about the fundraising project and specifically highlight the tasks for every individual. It would be good to have a viable means of reporting progress [and task execution] to keep a proper record and address emerging concerns.
Maximize Social Media
Social media remains one of the best things to happen to the fundraising community. It has enabled nonprofits to take their (fundraising) drive to where prospective donors regularly converge. Hence, you should leave no stone unturned in ensuring that you maximize the benefits of social media.
For one, you can reach more persons – besides your church members – as you share your objectives and solicit funds on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Interestingly, you can run some fundraising events – for example, viral video challenges – over TikTok or Instagram. It would help if you never forgot to include the details/instructions on how donors can give in your posts.
Your Story Matters – Tell It!
Your story matters when it comes to raising funds, and it helps when told in a way that triggers an emotional response from donors. The story should be more about a family, group, or individual touched by the act of love from donors through your project. It would help if you attempted to paint a vivid picture in the minds of prospective donors, making them see the value they can bring to the table.
Conclusion
You can occasionally embark on a fundraising drive to execute those projects in your church. You will get something tangible from this if you can effectively engage prospective donors and map out the right strategies.
Iskra Banović is our seasoned Editor-in-Chief at BlueFashion. She has been steering the website’s content and editorial direction since 2013. With a rich background in fashion design, Iskra’s expertise spans across fashion, interior design, beauty, lifestyle, travel, and culture.
