It’s that time of year again: schools are back in session, youth groups are re-energizing, and it’s time to once again figure out how in the world your church youth ministry is going to fund all it wants to do this coming year. And speaking of fundraising, does your church’s youth ministry raise money smarter –– or harder?

Many youth groups work harder than smarter to raise money, and many get caught up in the traditional forms of fundraising that not only produce a small return for the time and effort, but also have little or no actual ministry relevance.

An effective youth group fundraiser should have three components:
* A strong financial return on your time and energy
* A ministry impact on people outside your church
* A ministry impact on the people inside your church –– especially on your youth.  

Here are some insights and suggestions learned from helping conduct more than 1,800 fundraising events for ministries throughout the U.S. and Canada:

1. Focus on Mission, Not Money
Money enables the mission.  Focus your families, youth, and congregation members on the mission benefits that will be achieved through fundraising, not simply on money goals.  People will work much harder to support a worthy mission than to simply raise money.

2. The Mega-Trend of Consolidation: Less Is Best
Some youth groups fundraise year-round. This is nuts. Less is best. Try to eliminate all of the small fundraisers that consume so much time and energy. Replace them with two major fundraisers: one in the fall and one in the spring. 

3. Focus on Donors over Buyers
Your long-term fundraising goal should be to develop a stable base of individual donors to your youth ministry, not buyers of stuff.  Your perspective should shift toward “donor development” instead of simply “fundraising.” Focus on those fundraisers that generate donors – a broad base of regular donors will provide far more revenue and stability than the standard regimen of typical low-yield fundraisers.

4. Involve Adults
Broaden your fundraising participation with adults (and raise a lot more money).  Consider allocating a portion of funds raised to your church’s mission budget to appeal to more members of your congregation.

5. Conduct Pledge-Driven Events
Pledge-driven events, in my opinion, offer the greatest ability to raise significant money and generate internal and external ministry impacts.  The best events for combining youth and adults are combined prayer walk/servathon events.  The best youth-only events are servathons –– service outreaches to the community (often include helping at nursing homes, serving shut-ins, conducting free carwashes, etc.).

6. Give Your Money Away
Give 10 percent of whatever you raise to outside youth-focused ministries in your area or overseas. Giving away a portion of funds helps stimulate a culture of greater giving and demonstrates generosity; it also deepens and broadens the overall mission of your fundraising.

7. Make It Fun
Who wants to do something boring? Make it fun!