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$10, Fund Raising Hurts Your Ministry
Christopher Wesley
May 5, 2011
There’s a lot of events and trips our youth ministry will miss out on because of the costs. Whenever I tell some of my peers this they ask, “Why don’t you fund raise?” The answer is because we are church that doesn’t fund raise. And, it can actually do more harm in the long run. This is why:
- It’s Wastes Resources: To run a fundraiser you need to invest time, energy and money. I know sometimes you have to spend money to make money, but when it comes to fundraisers it’s nearly impossible to calculate all the costs (i.e. wear and tear of building property). Plus why not save the money you would have spent on the fundraiser and just put it towards the cause or trip you are planning to take?
- It’s An Unnecessary Risk: I admit I’m biased because I’ve been burned, but if you don’t raise enough money you’ll end up owing. There is nothing worst than coming out of a fundraiser in debt. And if you fail once, it’s even harder to convince people to jump on board the next time.
- It’s Consumer Driven: When you do a fundraiser you are basically selling something (a fun time, car, etc.). Fundraising is a nice sounding way of turning a profit. If you consistently fund raise you’ll be under the pressure to provide your participants with cool stuff or an awesome time or else you won’t get their money.
Some of you might be thinking, “
Chris, if we can’t fund raise, then what should we do?” My solution, spend the time and energy teaching teens how to tithe. We’ve used several resources (i.e. Dave Ramsey’s
Generation Change), we do a message series every year and we make it a priority when it comes to our one on one mentoring. If you can raise the giving that’s happening at your church then you should be able to budget the costs of trips and events you want to do.
The problem with teaching tithing is it takes time, but the fruits are worth it. When you teach tithing you teach your students to not only invest in the local church but how to honor God. Where fundraising can be about “me” tithing is all about our relationship with God. And as it says in Malachi:
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
Do you agree that fund raising can be damaging to youth ministry? Please share your thoughts.