I need help......

[Gumball1960]

Tried selling seed packets? I had to do that when I was in school and Spring is just around the corner.. :)

[captorquewrench]

have you contacted anyone who is involved with Volunteer Christian Builders? If not, I will contact them (I only went once, in 98 I think) I have friends at church who have gone every year for about 20 years. They may know how some of the churches they've built for have raised the funds.

I've sent your post to a lady I know who's involved with VCB to see what some of the churches have done to get funds together.

[captorquewrench]

FBH, Ive forwarded your post. even if they can't help, i bet they are networked with some other volunteer groups who can.

I'll also try to find you some more info on VCB. Great group, alo tof the same families every year. Just they go build where there needs building, in one-week crews. We went to Pagosa Springs, CO a few years ago with them. It was very moving to see people coming together like that for His work

[captorquewrench]

no, that's not the one. This one is called Volunteer Christian Builders, and I am almost certain they won't have a site. just a small group of mostly retired guys

[captorquewrench]

FBH, VCB is an SBC group. Even if your church isn't SBC (and being in tennesse, probably not) they can help point you in the right direction on fundraising and labor. Found some info here:

Volunteer Christian Builders
Email: vcbuilders@hotmail.com
Phone: (979) 848-2536

Volunteer Christian Builders (VCB), a group of more than 1,000 people who donate their services to help Southern Baptist churches across the country in need of construction work.

[scifiwoman]

You could always do the carwash thing..lol it usually does well. Ask for donations. You could maybe have it at the church on weekends? Valentines day is coming up too maybe something related to that? Good luck.

[captorquewrench]

might have to go with a series of small fundraisers.

[captorquewrench]

Will your church allow a raffle like that? Most will not.

It's a shame, though, because raffles are fantastic fundraisers! I know ours doesn't allow them.

GOOD LUCK and keep us posted! Got to have a roof!

[odyssey]

for our youth group but in the 90's we held bake sales weekly not the traditionl kinds though. Each week about 6 people had to bring a dessert or cookie at least 60-90 pieces. Then we would take 1 or 2 of each dessert and place them on plastic plates/straform plates and the wrap with see through wrapping. It would like pretty and we sold those or 4 or 5 dollars in donations or course, if you had less it was that much. And we did this weekly for several months. The church felt good too buying these that they made together. Raised over 8,000 that went back in the charities of the church and youth supplies.

another thing is we spoke to the nearest Florist we sold us flowers at his cost and made Valentines and Easter Baskets.

I know you said they are on fixed incomes but these might still be of help. GOOD LUCK

[miccit]

How about a silent auction? I have done a couple of these with schools I volunteer at. One school made $20,000.000 and the other made about $5,000. We just went to local (and some not so local) businesses and asked for donations. The one school that made $20,000 does theirs at their annual Spring Fair (kind of like a carnival). The other school had a special night for theirs. They served desserts and beverages. Everyone paid like $5.00 to get in. The older kids provided child care. It was a lot of fun.

Carnivals are another way to make a lot of money. The school that doesn their silent auction at their fair makes between $10,000 and $15,000 on their fair alone.

Good luck!! If you need anymore help feel free to contact me. miccit@yahoo.com I am usually the one that gets roped into these things here!

[jamrsc]

How about a spaghetti dinner? We did one last spring and raised quite a bit of money (can't remember off hand how much), but enough to purchase a water filtration system for some missionaries. And the stuff to make the spaghetti is cheap. We didn't set a price, just took donations.

[miccit]

The spaghetti dinner idea is a good one! We do this at our school. We get all the fixings donated. All of the food is donated to us by the local grocery stores and the sodas are donated by the Coca Cola bottling company. Last year, we got someone who does digital photos to come in and take pictures of people. We got a cut of what they charged for the pictures. We had our dinner the day before Valentines so we made into a theme.

I know what you mean about the candy. Our fifth graders sell candy for camp. It gets kind of old fast.

A Winter Carnival might be fun. I am not sure where you are or what the weather is like there. But, you could do a winter themed carnival. Simple games, a bake sale, a lunch deli, raffles, etc. If you have a lot of families at your church they would probably like it. It is winter and there isn't a whole lot else to do out there!

[angelinwaiting]

I have a magazine here that has a fundraiser thingy in it...It is selling fruit pie candles....they are so cute and I know they smell yummy....they have 6 different flavors....strawberry, raspberry, apple, cherry, and it looks like blureberry and I can't tell what the other one is...LOL...they don't say, its just pictures of them....anyway, it says you sell them for $5 each and you make a 50% profit...example...sell 7 cases and you get a free bonus case and you make $240.24....If you want this article, I would be happy to send it to ya:) Let me know andd I want one of these candles if you sell them:p

[2chevys]

Rummage sales can easily make a couple of thousand dollars. Just have your church members clear out their closets. That way everyone contributes and it doesn't cost them anything unless they buy. Then list your ad in neighboring newspapers as well as your own.

[chort1313]

Rummage sales are a great idea! Our local hs has spaghetti dinners every year to raise money for their band trips. I participated for 4 years. Everything that we needed was donated to us and we were able to make a lot of money off of it! And people didn't mind paying $5 for spaghetti, bread, and salad.

[DBackFan]

Raffles can make a ton of money if done right. Go around and see if any local business will donate items to be raffled off and sell tickets. :)