Fundraising for a mission trip can be a challenging task, so we have put together 25 creative ideas that will help you fundraise for your next trip. Try a few of these or all of them, and let us know how it goes! 

  1. Write fundraising letters. This step takes time and the personal investment of buying stamps and envelopes, but it is an amazing fundraising tool! Make a list of everyone that you would send a graduation announcement or a wedding invitation to, then send those people a fundraising letter explaining what you are doing and asking for a donation. Make sure to include a self addressed, stamped envelope to make it convenient for them to mail in their donations!
  2. Have a yard sale. Set aside a Saturday to have a yard sale and sell things that you are no longer using. Post the yardsale on your local sites so that people know that it is for a mission trip. You can also ask people from your neighborhood or your church to participate and donate all of the money from their sales toward your trip! 
  3. Have a bake sale. Bake muffins, cookies, and brownies and sell them at your job or at church for a few dollars. If baking isn’t your thing, you could always ask someone else or a few other people to bake things and bring them as a donation! It’s a great way for people to get involved!
  4. Sell T-shirts. Look up the local t-shirt shop where you live and go explain to them what you are doing. They may give you a discounted price or donate the shirts if they know that you are going on a mission trip! Sell the shirts to fund your trip!
  5. Have a raffle. You can ask local businesses to donate an item and then raffle it off. Movie tickets, a gift card to a restaurant, a gift card to a salon, and a horseback riding lesson are all great ideas to use for a raffle!
  6. Babysit or dogsit. Reach out to your neighbors, church members, coworkers, and local online groups to let them know that you are offering a babysitting or dogsitting service in exchange for a donation of any amount for your mission trip! Many times, you will get a donation that is much more than you would have normally been paid for this service! 
  7. Host a parents night out at your church. Talk with your pastor and make a plan to host a night out for parents. Get some volunteers to help you set up a fun movie or game night for the kids so that the parents can drop them off for a few hours while they go out. Take up a donation of any amount for this service. 
  8. Sell things on Facebook Marketplace. Walk through each room in your house and make a list of things that you don’t want or need anymore. If you don’t have that many things or your own house, look around your room or in your closet to see if you have any clothing that you could sell. List everything on Facebook Marketplace and use the money to put toward your trip! 
  9. Set up a lemonade stand or a coffee stand. You could do this at work, at church, at a local event or farmers market, or in your neighborhood. You could make your own beverage or you could ask a local coffee shop to donate the beverage! 
  10. Host a fundraising dinner. This could be a dinner for your church, your friends and family members, your coworkers, or any group that you are a part of. Prepare a meal or ask someone to help you prepare a meal, and have a donation jar on each table so that people can give! It is also helpful to have an online donation option for anyone who forgets to bring cash or check. 
  11. Ask friends and relatives if you can speak at their church. Pastors will sometimes give you a few minutes to introduce yourself and talk about your trip before taking up an offering for you if they know you or if one of your family members is a member of their congregation. You could also speak at a youth group, a men’s ministry meeting, or a women’s ministry meeting to share about your trip and give them a chance to give! 
  12. Use your network. Do you have a cousin who owns a business? A friend who is a photographer? A coworker who teaches a class at the gym? Any of these people could help you fundraise through their business. It never hurts to ask! 
  13. Directly ask people for donations. It can feel awkward at first, but nothing works better than directly looking someone in the eye and asking for a donation for your trip. Start by asking them if they’ve heard about your trip yet, explain a little bit about what you will be doing, and then ask them if they would like to donate.
  14. Let your pastor know about your trip. One of the first things you should do when going on a mission trip is let your pastor know so that they can be praying for you! If your pastor knows about your trip, they will undoubtedly support you. This may look like a personal donation from them or an offering from the church. Make sure you follow up with them after your trip is over to let them know about everything that God did on your trip!
  15. Cut your hair. OK, maybe this one isn’t for everyone, but it can be a fun way to raise money! Let everyone know that once you raise a certain amount, for example $500 or $1,000, you will cut your hair or even shave your head! Alternatively, you could ask someone to stand in for you. We all know that one crazy person who would actually do this, and it wouldn’t hurt to ask them! 
  16. Use your talents. Are you an artist? Can you make jewelry? Are you a good baker? Can you tutor? Think of what you are already good at, and then offer this service in exchange for a donation!  
  17. Make videos and post them on social media. Let people know what you are doing. It is better to over communicate than under communicate in this case! Make sure that everyone knows what you are doing and why. The more people know, the more people can donate! Make sure to make your posts shareable so that your friends and family can share. 
  18. Use an online donation link to make it easier for people to give online. While many people would prefer to donate by writing a check or giving you cash, there are just as many people who would prefer to donate online! Make sure that you have a giving platform available online. Usually, the mission organization you are going with will have this service available for you. PayPal is also a good option where people can still receive a tax deduction for their gift. 
  19. Ask local restaurants if they will donate a percentage of their sales. Sometimes, you can find larger chain restaurants that offer this service also. Make sure that you have the legal name of the non profit organization that you are going with and their EIN number so that you can offer this to the restaurant. Locally owned businesses often have more flexibility in giving, so make sure you reach out to any local restaurants and ask them! 
  20. Set up a donation jar in local businesses. Get some large plastic jars and cut slits in the top of them. Laminate a mission letter describing who you are and a little about your mission trip and tape it to the front. Take the jars around to local businesses and ask if you can set one out on the counter to collect donations. 
  21. Cut grass for people in your neighborhood. Do you have a lawnmower or have a family member who would loan you one? Knock on doors and let people know that you are mowing lawns for donations of any amount! 
  22. Have a car wash. Get some friends together to help you and have a car wash in a central location! Make sure to have a few people who can hold signs saying that you are washing cars for a donation of any amount! 
  23. Have a book sale. Collect gently used books and have a book sale at your job, church, school, or library. Use the proceeds to help fund your trip! 
  24. Have a pie in the face fundraiser. There is always someone who is a good sport and will let you do this! People can pay $5 to put their name in the bucket to be drawn as the person who will get to pie your volunteer in the face. It helps if your volunteer is someone that kids would like to pie in the face since they seem to have the most fun with fundraisers like this one! A coach, principal or youth pastor would be a great nominee for this fundraiser! Alternatively, you could do a dunking booth and sell tickets for people to be able to throw the ball.
  25. Follow up with people that you have asked. Don’t forget to check back in with anyone who you have mailed a letter to or reached out to for a donation. Sometimes, people are busy and they forget! They will appreciate the follow up. 

Do you have any other creative fundraising ideas? We would love to hear about them in the comments!