Fundraising. Ugh.
That’s what I think every fall when I realize that we have some awesome mission trip opportunities, but that we’re going to need to raise some money. So, if you’re like me, you start to make a list of all the “standards” when it comes to fundraising: pancake breakfasts, car washes, rummage sales, flamingo-ing, etc. It’s a bit depressing, and I never look forward to the work that goes into these types of fundraisers.
As I was preparing to come up with a list of fundraisers for this year, I asked my network on Facebook & Twitter what their favorite fundraisers were, and a friend sent me a note about the Wall O Money. She had told me she made close to $10,000 on this fundraiser the previous year, and so of course, I was all ears!
Essentially, we just needed to get a “wall” of envelopes that were labeled $1 – $200. Then it was as simple as making the wall visible to the congregation, and watch the money come in. It sounded great, and while I was a little skeptical, we decided to run with it.
After just having the Wall O Money up for two Sundays, we’ve currently raised about $3500 from the Wall O Money, and I have a feeling we’ll continue to raise more. And so, in my mind, it really is one of the best youth ministry fundraisers ever. At least in my experience. And here’s what I did:
- Purchased 200 small envelopes, and had youth label them $1 through $200 and had some fun with markers and drawing fun designs on them
- I made stickers out of some pictures from our previous year’s mission trips
- In each envelope, we put a small sheet of paper that included instructions, as well as some information about our mission trips, a link to the church’s mission blog, one of the stickers and a reminder of the dates of the trip so people could pray for us.
- The instructions were simply to put the appropriate amount of cash or check into the envelope, seal it, and get it back to me or put it in my box
- We then found a large bulletin board that was available and put all 200 envelopes on the board using thumb tacks
- We already had a pancake breakfast scheduled, so that was when we “unveiled” the Wall O Money, and now we just leave it up in our Fellowship Hall so that it’s easily accessible by everyone after each worship service.
Here are some of the reasons I think this is an amazing fundraiser:
- There isn’t a lot of time and energy that needs to go into it.
- Because the minimum donation is $1, I had many kids asking parents if they could give a dollar or two (including this young girl who gave the very first donation to the Wall O Money for $1).
- People can go in with friends and decide to donate to one of the larger envelopes.
- The $1-$20 envelopes went very quickly, as did the $190-$200 envelopes.
- Some people were picking envelopes that had the same number as their birthdate, or their age or just a number they liked – so it was fun to try and figure out which envelope to take.
- Since it’s something that we can just leave up, there will always be more opportunities for someone to give.
Again, with minimal effort, we’ve been able to raise about $3500 in just two Sundays. In comparison, a ton of planning, time, and volunteers were needed to pull of our Pancake Breakfast, and that brought in a total of $1200.
So – looking for a fundraiser for this spring? Try the Wall O Money – I don’t think you’ll be disappointed! Or maybe you have a fundraiser that you think is even better? Please share your knowledge here with everyone!
Adam,
I’ve heard nothing but positive things about this fundraiser, and with the decorating of the envelopes, I think you’ve managed to make it more fun. I like that you included info in the envelopes to. Cool stuff man!
well done, I’ve never heard of this. And I hate fundraising enough that I’d probably go without money, I just can’t stand it.
Wow. That’s awesome. Stolen.
Gonna try this for my church. Sounds so simple but yet so efficient!
OH MY GOSH, this is amazing. I just started working on our blasted flamingo fundraiser, that the church and the kids love but somehow always ends up with me driving all over creation with a trunk full of flamingos in the middle of the night. I think it might be time to make a change.
Yah – I know the flamingo deal is a ton of fun for kids but that’s what I’ve heard – it always ends up with the youth minister going a little crazy and tons of late-night driving.
I’m doing it but getting much larger envelopes with big numbers on front. :)
Adam, I have never heard of this one, but I LOVE how easy it is! I am definitely going to try it out! Thanks for a great and simple idea!
Hannah – hope it works well for you too!
The one thing I will mention is that the person who told me about it, said that when she does it again this month, she’s going to have envelopes labeled $1 – $100 and then another $1 – $100. I think that would be interesting as well.
For all of you, if you do this fundraiser, please come back and let us know how it goes!
wallomoney.com is available ;) maybe a social fundraising site?
What are you thinking? What could be put on the site?
I’ll send you a wireframe.
Here’s a link to the wireframe.
http://iambrandondavidson.com/wall-o-money-web-app
Good afternoon! I really like this idea and it does seem very simple and easy with regards to planning, time frame, etc. My one question has to do with the “instructions” that are placed within each envelope. Can you elaborate?
Aaron – here is what I included as my insert – obviously it would need to be tailored to your youth group:
I have a question regarding the presentation…….
Once those envelopes are filled, do you just leave the spot open and wait for it all to disappear or do you replace it with another envelope?
Adam,
I just wanted to say “Thank You!!!” I’m so glad you posted this online. We just did this, and it has truly been the easiest and most effecient fundraiser ever. In the first month we raised over $3000. We put a picture of a youth and their prayer request in the envelopes, and its helped the adults in our church connect with the students better than any fundraiser before.