Our church was struggling to make ends meet so it was agreed that the congregation should be asked to raise their giving.
One elderly lady did as asked, proudly announcing to the rest of the congregation that she would be doubling her direct debit amount. What she neglected to mention was that her donation had now risen from 10p to 20p a week!
Often we are embarrassed as clergy to request that our congregation makes a greater financial contribution to the maintenance and running of the church.
After all, you can only ask so many times before your requests start to fall on deaf ears.
Therefore today most churches rely on other forms of fundraising such as village fetes and sponsored challenges.
But before you go abseiling down the church tower, there are many factors to consider.
Does your church insurance cover such an activity or do you need to arrange specific cover?
Further, if you are to bring in professionals to run the event, will there be any takings left over after paying their fees?
The prime intention of your event is to raise funds but can it also engender fun and fellowship and perhaps even lead to church growth?
How can you raise awareness for the event at little or no cost?
Will it be possible to get a mention in the local news or will a piece on your website and social pages suffice?
In my experience, fundraising has always fallen into one of two categories – the regular activities and the one off events.
Most churches have regular coffee mornings, bring and buy sales and fetes.
But let us consider just ten alternative fundraising ideas for churches, which you may not have tried before.