Church Fundraising

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DeniseNY

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I’m not exactly sure this is the place to put this topic…

For anyone who has experience with organizing church fundraisers, what are some the most successful with which you’ve been involved? i’m thinking in terms of a small size parish, so there would not be a lot of people able to volunteer.
 
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Things that memorialize their deceased loved ones or their children. As in a brick walkway campaign.
Small parishes don’t have members who give huge amounts. They may have a benefactor, but in general, there is a limit to what people can give. But everyone loves memorials. The Irish priests use this tactic to great success int he South. A new stained glass window in memory of a Parent, etc. a liturgical object with a subtle inscription.
We’re about to start a brick pathway campaign around our lake. Would make for a beautiful walking path, and can be added on to indefinitely.
 
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Monthly dinners have been a great boon for my current parish. They keep the food low-cost, simple and they have a crowd they can count on. They have invested in smaller tables so you can eat in couples or small family groups. It’s basically considered a cheap night out and it’s very well attended.

My former parish does a huge used toy drive and then a toy sale a few weeks before Christmas. It’s huge–and it’s wonderful. It’s actually for the food pantry but it makes thousands.
 
One parish we were in years ago had a craft fair, the money came from renting out large tables to vendors. It was amazing! The church just supplies the tables, maybe decorates for the season, offers a snack bar and also a bake sale. Minimum expense for the church. It’s success depends on being to attract good vendors. It helps to visit craft sales and invite quality craftspeople.
 
Another idea that we used in my former parish was a silent auction for the three closest parking spots to the church doors, LOL

We had someone purchase (highest bidder) for each Mass. They went up for grabs each year in August.
We had little signs made in front of them so people would know they were off limits.
Wildly popular those! Especially for the people who always seemed to come at the last possible minute for Mass! 😜
 
My parish did that with the primo spots for Christmas and Easter
 
What often sells well is a meal everybody loves but that people don’t always prepare at home (because of the work involved). Try this checklist for a workable plan. That just leaves the choice of food up to you! 😄
 
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Dinners and prepared foods are a good idea. A lot of people don’t have time to properly prepare their own, a lot of single people and real small families which are difficult to cook for.

You can attract folks from the neighborhood that aren’t necessarily Catholic. There was an Russian Orthodox church near by previous residency that had occasional dinners, and the Baptist church just above me here has their church ladies prepare barbecue type meals periodically.
 
Dacinom said:
Is your aim primarily to have a social gathering or to raise money?

There’s generally low profit in food/meals and it’s high in labor. You mentioned you don’t have many volunteers?

Most money for least investment for the parish are raffle tickets. Best wishes!
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VASTLY depends on the parish. The Knights monthly meals are incredibly good money makers…and only a few Knights run them.

The church no longer runs a carnival during the town fair because it wasn’t making good money despite the fact that vendors loved it and paid the church a cut.
 
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We have a Fall Fair every October: silent auction of donated large items; $5 lunch of donated soups & chili; flea market tables; craft sale; lottery draw generally for a lovely quilt. All together it raises six to seven thousand dollars.

We also do a “grand in the hand” lottery every month. We sell 200 $10 tickets and the winner gets $1000. It’s not the cheapest lottery but your odds of winning are certainly better than all the other lotteries around. it raises us just under $12,000 after the expenses are paid.
 
We had incredibly good luck with one of our Mother’s Day fundraisers. You purchased a flower for a mother, grandmother, etc - red for living and white for deceased - and provided the name of the individual the flower was purchased for. We then inscribed all of those names in a “Book of Mothers” that was blessed and placed in front of the altar, along with all of the flowers. Very little work and hugely popular (we also sold roses to be placed in front of the statue of the Blessed Mother).
 
Is than an imposed maximum for ticket sales, or is your church just not able to sell any more than that?
 
It’s our self-imposed maximum. Our lottery licence runs April 1 to March 31. Many parishioners will write a cheque for $120 in April taking care of the whole year.

One church in the province ran a “Chase the Ace” lottery and raised a few million. They are fixing up their church and sharing with other parishes.

I have to admit that, although I do participate in the Grand in the Hand lottery, I would rather not have any gambling as a fund raiser.
 
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Why do you limit yourself, if I may ask?

And wow… thats impressive…
 
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