Fundraising Ideas for Faith & Community Groups

Thank you for your interest in Habitat for Humanity of Kent County. Our mission is to "strengthen families and neighborhoods through partnership, healthy house building*, and affordable homeownership."  Below are some ideas that can help your congregation raise money and awareness about Habitat's ministry. These suggested ideas are suitable for a wide variety of people and ages.

* Habitat for Humanity of Kent County builds all LEED-certified homes as of 2008.

Please take a moment to browse through the list of ideas to find something to suit your congregation. These ideas may even inspire you to think of a different way to support Habitat and build fellowship and community within your congregation at the same time!

  • Pray about it! Prayer empowers us to do God's work and helps us make difficult decisions.
  • Make Habitat a line item in the congregation's budget: This will ensure regular participation in Habitat's work.
  • Serve up your congregation's favorite dinner, desserts or ice cream: Plan a social and spice it up with a special speaker or performance.
  • Make noise with a silent auction: Offer a variety of auction items from baskets to biscuits and music to meals.  Persuasive organizers can obtain terrific donations from area businesses.  Proceeds can number in the thousands.  Engage youth in creating "theme baskets" by asking each student to contribute one or more small items to combine in a gift basket.
  • Get creative with a craft show: Solicit crafters from the congregation and the community to donate items or a portion of sales.  Craft items can range from stepping stones to handmade Christmas ornaments.
  • Ask for alternative gifts: A young man at a synagogue raised more than $800 for Habitat as a bar-mitzvah project.
  • Hold an art sale: Have artists in your congregation donate pieces of artwork to sell with the proceeds designated for Habitat.  Artists can get together and create Habitat-themed artwork or pieces that address the issue of poverty housing.
  • Make a model house: Build a model house in which to collect donations.  Place the house in high traffic areas and encourage congregation members to contribute regularly.
  • Distribute Habitat house banks: Distribute house banks (available at $0.13 each).  Children learn to count their blessings and join in the giving as they collect dimes for every closet in their home and pennies for every light fixture and so forth.  These can be used for family donations, or can be placed on desks or work counters to collect donations from co-workers or customers.  (Contact your local Habitat Faith Relations Coordinator to order house banks.)
  • Buy a brick: Create a grid on a poster containing a drawing of a house.  Sell sections of the grid and write donors names in the spaces so everyone can see who and how many people donated to support Habitat.
  • Organize a 2x4 Sunday: Sell the 2x4's that you will use for construction.  Invite purchasers to sign the 2 x 4's and to write Scripture passages or encouraging messages on them.  Expand the campaign to include other building materials.
  • Pound it home with a nail sale: Paint the tips of nails and sell them - $1 for a bronze nail, $3 for a silver and $5 for a gold nail.
  • Step out with the youth for a walkathon or other athletic event: Set a high goal and challenge youth to obtain "over the top" pledges.
  • Phone a friend: Have the walkathon youth challenge another group in the church to match their donations through a phone tree campaign.
  • Collect a mile of pennies or nickels or dimes: Have your resident genius figure out how much that would net and then get to work.
  • Crank up a concert: Invite members or local artists to give a benefit concert for Habitat.  Enjoy an evening of fellowship and fun while benefiting Habitat.
  • Collect returnable cans: Challenge youth groups to hold neighborhood can drives for returnable beverage containers.  Distribute flyers in advance asking neighbors to collect returnables bottles and cans and offer to pick them up on a designated date.  Take them to a recycling center and donate the deposit return to Habitat.
  • Build a house: Publish a list of material costs and encourage people to donate cash for specific building items, such as a door, window, roof shingles, etc.  Create a display of materials to attract attention.
  • Promote an alternative Christmas: Christ Our Hope Lutheran Church in Riverdale, Ga., raised more than $700 by selling simple Christmas ornaments.  Offer other items or simply ask for donations; gifts aren't always necessary.  Provide acknowledgement cards indicating that a donation has been made to Habitat.
  • Honor special friends at homecoming: When you gather to celebrate the heritage of faith in your congregation, ask for donations to be made in honor or memory of special people.  Create certificates for presentation.
  • Plan a special offering or offerings: Designate a specific Sunday, a holiday, a Habitat month or fifth Sundays as times for special Habitat offerings.  Publicize this early with frequent reminder notices posted in church newsletters, bulletins, websites or email announcements.
  • Multiply your talents: There are a number of ways to approach this particular fundraiser; it rests on the parable of the talents.  Each individual (or group) is given a set amount of money (or requests a certain amount) as seed money to start a fundraiser.  The challenge is to turn the seed money in to a larger offering using the talents and creativity of the volunteers.  This can be a very successful fundraiser.  A church in Traverse City, MI of 1,000 creative members raised $67,000 this way!
  • Try the tried and true: Bake sales, auctions, babysitting, garage sales, preparing mailings for businesses and clean up days for donations are often still great fund-raisers.

Download this list of fundraising ideas to take with you.  For additional information and resources contact Kathy Forzley in Habitat Faith Relations by dialing 616 / 774 2431 x222 or send her an email.