TIPS TO GET THERE
Three Fundraising Tips for the YMJA Retreat!
We can’t wait for you all to join us at our regional retreats this year! Fundraising is an awesome way to bring in support for your youth group and build excitement for the retreat.
Here are some different ideas you can do with your congregation’s youth group in order to raise money. It’s a great way to get the whole congregation involved in something fun and give them an opportunity to give to a good cause!
Car Wash
Of course you probably have heard about or seen a car wash fundraiser: high schoolers standing outside with signs urging people to come pay them $15-$20 to wash their car. They’re providing a genuine service; everyone’s car gets dirty!
Still, you might be thinking, “It’s much easier and more cost effective to go to a an actual car wash rather than have a bunch of young people do it by hand.” Perhaps! But the key to making this fundraiser go a long way is making it a ton of fun for the entire community!
Supplies needed: Car-safe cleaning supplies (microfiber towels, buckets, sponges, hoses, soap, etc.), signs to advertise
Supplies wanted: A large speaker playing some awesome tunes, a cooler with drinks and popsicles, a group of youth to do the work!
Since this is an opportunity for youth to do something physical, it’s probably a good idea to make 2 Thessalonians 3:10 the rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” If a youth wants to be able to utilize the sponsorship donations toward their registration, they have to participate in the car wash! It’s only fair.
Start by advertising to the congregation and friends and family! While it might be a good idea to put out signs in a neighborhood or slip little advertisements in doors, it’s probably best to advertise most to people you know.
About a month in advance, let the congregation know every week that on this day (a weekend is probably best) you’ll be having a fundraiser car wash! Make sure you share the reason behind the fundraising to really show why it’s important they help support. Tell them how much it costs, of course, but they can always give “tips.” ;)
On the day you’ve planned, have all the youth come out and wash some cars! With bumping tunes, plenty of water and other fun drinks and snacks, this will be more fun than work. You can have some people hold signs that help direct those who just drive by and want to support. Have a place (maybe indoors or maybe some nice chairs set up outside) for people to sit if they don’t want to stay in their cars while they’re being washed. Also, make sure that the washers don’t accidentally scratch any cars (this is important!).
After the time slot you’ve established for the youth to wash cars (probably not longer than 3 hours), tally up the cash and eat the rest of the popsicles!
A job well done.
Bake Sale
Who doesn’t love baked goods? And even better if you can not only get a delectable pie out of the deal, but also help send a young person to the YMJA Retreat! This is a great way to pitch a bake sale to the congregation. There are lots of people who have a sweet tooth!
Supplies needed: Youth who will bake pies/cakes/other baked goods. Price tags. A table to present everything!
Start announcing about a month out that the youth will be having a bake sale to raise money for the retreat! Make sure you also announce this to the youth because they’ll be the ones baking the goods—teamwork makes the dream work. If there’s a specific date/time where baked goods are especially needed (maybe a holiday or something like Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, or Purim) that’s a great way to get more people from the congregation to purchase the goods!
Make sure you know how many baked goods to expect and encourage youth to make more than one batch of cookies or more than one pie (for example) in order to get more support.
On the day of the bake sale—likely a weekend, probably after service—set out all the baked goods that the youth created on disposable (but nice looking) plates or platters. Tag a price on each baked good—prices will vary depending on how much there is or maybe how much it cost to make. For example, chocolate chip cookies might cost $25 for a plate of 7, but a carrot cake might cost $40. Encourage the youth to stand at the table or go out and encourage people to buy their item(s).
Hopefully you sell out!
When tallying the money brought in by the bake sale, you can decide if you want to give each person the amount of money made by the items they sold or if you want to lump everything together and divide it evenly among the youth who participated. For example, if Shira Smith made five bake sale items, either she would keep the $150 dollars that came in from that or that money would go into a collective pile with everyone else’s income.
One helpful tip is making sure the baked goods look really delicious and presentable. Also, they should be on plates or in containers that are disposable so no one has to worry about returning a dish (unless you include a very nice dish in the price of the baked good!).
Happy baking!
Silent Auction
If you aren’t familiar with a silent auction, the process is pretty simple. People will purchase raffle tickets (each ticket should cost between $5-$15) to be put into a drawing for different prizes/auction items.
Supplies needed: A roll of raffle tickets, 8-10 auction items, 8-10 bowls/cups, a table to display the items, an auctioneer, a gavel (optional)
You’ll start by getting your auction items. These can be donations from small businesses that want to support you, private donations from people (make sure what they donate is new unless it’s a car), or you can go out and buy gifts at the store. It’s better if the auction items are donated, but even if you have to buy them, you can just deduct that cost from the money that comes in from the auction!
Options for great gifts include: A cool water bottle, a charcuterie set, a box of baklava, a cross-body bag, a nice wallet, Judaica, or gift baskets!
Have your congregation announce when the silent auction will be held a few weeks in advance so people can come prepared with money (if you need to make sure everything is cash) and they can already recognize they’ll be donating to a good cause on that day. On that Saturday (or Friday night or whenever you choose to have your auction) set out the auction items on the table so people can see what they’d like and place one bowl/cup in front of each item. People should come to the auctioneer, buy as many raffle tickets as they want, and then put them in the corresponding bowls/cups of the auction item they want a chance to win!
I’ll break it down with an example: Mrs. Goldenstein wants to win the beautiful Star of David necklace and the leather purse. She buys ten raffle tickets for $100 (if you sell them for $10 each) and she puts seven of them in the bowl in front of the necklace and three in the bowl in front of the leather purse.
After you’ve given plenty of time for everyone to buy as many raffle tickets as humanly possible, your bowls should be pretty full! Have the auctioneer get everyone’s attention and begin the raffle. Starting with the item that costs the least, draw one raffle ticket from the bowl, read it out loud, and cheer on the awesome donor who wins as they come up to receive their justly purchased item. Repeat the process until all the items are gone. Thank everyone for participating, and tally up how much money came in because of this awesome fundraising idea.
Easy!
There are many other options and opportunities to raise money to go to a YMJA retreat (grandparents, even), but here are just three options that could work for you! Let us know if you try any of these and how it goes down!
