FastTrack Fundraising Tips and Articles

Extortion never looked this flamboyant.

A toilet, spray-painted pink and decorated with flowers, has recently been making the rounds in front yards across Nevada County.

Homeowners who find the porcelain throne stuck in their yard can choose to pay $10 to have the toilet removed to a friend’s lawn, and an additional $5 to make sure it never appears on their property again.

The gimmick is the design of Bear River sophomore Emily Dyer, a 15-year-old south county resident.

She is participating in a hunger fundraiser sponsored by the youth group at her church, Sierra Presbyterian. She got the toilet from Habitat for Humanity and spray-painted it bright pink.

Dyer’s father transports the toilet from location to location, and so far she’s estimated the plan has raised more than $1,200 since they began in May.

Proceeds from the toilet removal service (victims can opt out if they don’t want to play along) go to an organization called World Vision, which feeds starving children in Africa.

“Hopefully, we’ll keep it going until the end of summer,” said Dyer.

Students in the youth group have been working on a hunger initiative recently, which included a 30-hour fast in order to better understand the effects of hunger, she said.

You can contact the church to find out how to help at (530) 265-3291.

Source: http://www.theunion.com/article/20110701/NEWS/110639974/1001&parentprofile=1053

WATERLOO — It was an interesting premise to begin with.

The youth group at a Waterloo church is using rain water at a fundraising car wash on Saturday as they raise money and awareness for water conservation projects in Africa.

Organizers at Waterloo North Mennonite Church had collected more than 3,500 litres of water as they prepared for the event, storing it in several donated rain barrels and two large storage cubes on the property at 100 Benjamin Rd.

But things have gotten even more interesting in recent days with the discovery that someone came along and dumped the water out of seven of the barrels before taking them.

That’s right. Someone actually drained out, then stole, seven rain barrels. From a church.

“It is kind of bizarre,” said the church’s interim youth co-ordinator, Paul Koop. “The money wasn’t the issue. It’s the whole irony of them being stolen and dumped out, and we’re trying to raise money to help people collect rain water.”

Koop came up with the idea to use rain water when he decided he didn’t want to waste clean municipal drinking water on cars. “Other countries have a finite supply of water. They don’t have faucets to turn on.”

Church families came through, donating barrels and bringing in their own rain water as they collected it at home. The theft left the congregation “shocked that it happened at the church,” Koop said.

Undaunted, he’s pushing ahead. Although he estimates they lost about 1,200 litres of stored rain water, the thief left behind the two storage cubes hooked up to the church’s downspouts, along with one “ugly” blue rain barrel.

They’ve still got plenty of water on hand for the event, which begins at 8 a.m. Donations are being collected in exchange for a wash, and money raised will support the Mennonite Central Committee’s water projects in Tanzania.

One of the initiatives is the construction of sand dams, where walls are built across seasonal riverbeds. When it rains, sand builds up behind the wall. The sand acts as both sponge and filter, retaining large quantities of water while filtering out impurities.

They’ll also be holding a bake sale and a silent auction for the two water cubes, and there will be water-related displays set up inside. The event goes rain or shine, and volunteers will wash cars until they run out of water.

Source: http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/542116–unique-church-fundraiser-undeterred-by-theft

Churches and religious groups need to raise funds in order to survive and continue serving their supporters. Like businesses large and small, the best way for churches and religious groups to improve their fundraising campaign is to create and promote their “brands”. To build a brand is to explain who you are and what you can do for those who have faith in you. It also helps establish a strong emotional bond between you and your supporters.

To further enhance such emotional bond, here are some useful ways in which churches and religious groups can express gratitude towards their supporters:

• Custom pewter medallions and coffee mugs, which can be crafted to showcase the representative image of your church or religious group and its specific message.
• Engraved or personalized bricks, which can be arranged around a special entryway or sidewalk. They can even be used in landscaping the building or garden of your church or religious group.
• Brass plagues and wall displays, which can be mounted against a polished wood backdrop in high-traffic areas for everyone to recognize the contributions of your supporters.
• Gift plants or memorial trees, which can be erected both indoors and outdoors. Gift plants are three-dimensional sculptures of plants whose leaves are engraved with the names of your supporters. Meanwhile, trees can live for years and help reinforce the bond between your church or religious group and its supporters.

Remember, there is no better way to thank your supporters by publicly recognizing their contributions. Indeed, all of us can do with some faith in certain power “behind the scenes” that sustains us through life’s hardships. Our faith enables us to appreciate the strengths of those around us. Only when we have faith in our fellow people can we have faith in this world.

Package your sunflowers into a Sunflower gram for extra value! Mothers will love that personal touch.

Things You’ll Need:

• Vase (optional)
• Mother’s day card or note
• 3-4 sunflowers for a bouquet, 1 sunflower for a single gram

Instructions

Step 1:

After ordering and receiving your sunflower fundraiser, select sunflowers that are able to hold their heads up with ease. Sunflowers have very heavy blooms, and older flowers will begin to droop on the stalk. You want to find those that stand tall and firm on their stems.

Step 2:

For  a single gram, take one flower and tie with a ribbon near the head of the flower, to create an impressive and cheery Mother’s Day gift.

For a bouquet, simply use three or four flowers.

Step 3 (optional):

Choose a tall, slim vase in which to package your gift of sunflowers if you would rather not sell them in a hand-held bouquet. Sunflowers are very top heavy, so make sure any vases you buy can hold the flowers steady (the water in the vase will help to stabilize it somewhat).

Step 4:

Attach a card that mentions the sunfloewrs with a ribbon to the stem on the bottom of the bouquet or the flower head. You can create a variety of card messages that supporters can choose from.  Sell each sunflower gram for $4.00 or a bouquet for $10.00.

Fast Track Fundraising offers church fundraising ideas and tips that are simple and effective. Whether it’s for your missions trip, lowering the cost of the annual church retreat, or just trying to help out the local youth groups, raising funds can be easy and fun for you or anyone else to do. Continue Reading…