Fundraising 101

Organizing your first Christian Book Fundraising event should be fun and easy. We’ve done this many times, so here are some practices that we have found to be successful over the years.

1. Establish a fundraising goal

How much money do you want or need to raise? This will drive a lot of the following decisions from the number of books to buy, to people needed and space required. 500 books will generate approximately $1,500 of profit for your organization.

2. Get a location

Certainly you may be limited to a room in your church or table nearest your ministry entrance, but this decision will also dictate a lot of others to come. 100 books stacks in an area of 4’ x 4’.

3. Set a Date

Be mindful of vacations and holidays and any other local events or sales that are or will be occurring in your area. Many ministries hold the book sales over 3 to 4 consecutive weekends or even weeks!

4. Meet with your fundraising team

You will need people to set up, work the sales and tear down. Books come shipped in cardboard cases so you will have plenty of packing materials available. 2 hour work shifts are best for volunteers and keep a constant rotation of new people involved.

5. Promote Your Event

Send out flyers, postcards, e-mails and/or post prominent posters in key hallways, foyers or traffic areas of your organization. Sales hours need to be convenient for most folks to attend (i.e. 10- 4pm!).

6. Get Pre-Order Commitments

Just like selling cookie dough or pepperoni, get your team to take pre-orders in $10 increments.

7. Food, Drinks and Music

Be sure to have food and drinks available as people walk past your stacks of books. Also, playing music in the background is a great idea to create an environment that encourages people to stay around and linger.

Would you like some more help or ideas to organize your book fundraiser?  Please don’t hesitate to contact us to ask questions, get advice and order your first round of books.