Be inspired by our A-Z of fundraising ideas for Messy Church! From danceathons, to variety shows, or having a go at an obstacle course, we’ve got lots of ideas to help you get started. There’s nothing too silly, too messy, or too adventurous when it comes to fundraising for Messy Church.
You can read the A-Z of ideas below. You can download them too as well as a sponsorship form to help you secure those all important donations. You can also pass on the donor response form to those wanting to donate and it will make it super straightforward for them to do so.
We’d love to hear about your fundraising efforts – send us stories and photos!
A–Z of fundraising ideas for Messy Churches
Donor Response Form Sponsorship FormA–Z of fundraising ideas
ASK!
The first step is to ask! People won’t give unless you ask them first so it’s really important to get comfortable talking about needing funds. Hopefully the ideas below will help you come up with some ways to explore getting people excited about giving towards Messy Church.
Barbeque
You could have any type of food – it doesn’t have to be a BBQ – but we all enjoy gathering together to eat as a community and it can be a great time to talk about Messy Church and all the amazing things you’re doing.
Creativity
Use your skills! No one knows your community better than you and we know how incredibly creative Messy Church teams can be. Have a planning time as a team and come up with all the wacky and wonderful ways you could fundraise that would fit the way your community and your Church works.
Dancing
A sponsored danceathon? Get back into disco fever – easy to organise and fun for everyone.
Eco-swaps
If your Messy Church is getting more eco-friendly and encouraging people to use less plastic maybe take advantage of those cost savings. For example, if you’d normally purchase new water bottles while out, but now you bring a reusable bottle, put the money that would have been spent on new single use plastic towards supporting Messy Church!
Food
Let’s face it, food is a great way of bringing people together. There are oodles of ways you can get fundraising with food. Whether it’s a cake sale, a bring-and-share lunch or something as simple as putting a notice on the food tables at your Messy Church.
Games
Putting the FUN in fundraising. Host a game night/event. These could be board games, silly games, even video games if you have the technology available!
Help
We hope that all these activities will help your church and BRF Ministries will get support.
Indoor/Outdoor
Take something that you would normally do indoors outside (or vice versa). A fun reason to get together and do something a little quirky.
Jigsaws
You can do a swap table for jigsaws – how many of us have completed jigsaws sat in boxes in the attic or under the coffee table? Get people to bring them in and ask people to donate a small amount to take one away!
Keep fit
Organising sponsored events like a toddle/run/walk to get everyone supporting one another.
Loose change
You can give people the opportunity to donate their loose change to your Messy Church; this could be when they first come into the event or as they head out. These small donations can really add up over time.
Mystery party
We produced a mystery party for the Messy Church International Conference in 2019 which is available for download on our website. This can be a fun way of gathering people together to do something different. You can also write your own mystery to tie into your unique circumstances for example. Including a historical figure from your town.
News
Promote your activity as much as you can, maybe in your local newspaper, your church newsletter or in groups online. Our BRF Ministries News mailing that goes out every two months includes order forms for Christmas cards and other things – if you could also share this with your church it can really help in supporting our work.
Obstacle course
This can be done inside our outside but is a fun activity, you could even make the construction of said obstacle course a part of your fundraising event and then see who can complete it the fastest, the silliest, the most dramatically etc. (With all the correct risk assessments, of course).
Prizes
It is a good idea to ask people to bring unwanted gifts for you to use as prizes for your activities.
Quiz night
We know a number of people became quizmasters over lockdown and it may be time to dust off those skills once again. You can easily find quiz questions and fun bonus rounds for all ages online. The quiz can be as long as you like and you could even include some questions about Messy Church and fundraising.
Regular giving
Perhaps you would like to become a Friend of Messy Church by making a regular gift of £2 a month or more.
Sponsored
If you’d like to do something sponsored to raise funds we have sponsorship forms that you can use. The possibilities are truly endless, you could do anything: a sponsored silence, a painting marathon or even an actual marathon if you’re feeling especially brave!
Targets
Setting yourself a goal can be a great way to motivate people to collaborate to reach the target. Have a think about what you can realistically raise and share your goals with your Messy Church. Can you join together and raise £100 for your Messy Church and £100 for BRF Ministries? Share when you hit key milestones and encourage people to push to the next target.
Up to you
Whatever you can manage in your space is fantastic – only you know your situation the best!
Variety show
Showcase the varied talents of your community with a variety show! Singing, dancing, ventriloquism – you never know what hidden skills are lurking until you give people the opportunity to perform.
Well-being
Many people choose to take up an activity or give something up – and being sponsored to do this can really help with their motivation.
Xylophone… X-treme…
Some letters are harder than others, and not every fundraising idea will work for your church. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t manage to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds in your first foray into fundraising. Half of the challenge is helping people to understand that what you do as a Messy Church team, and what BRF Ministries does would not be possible without the support of volunteers and financial support.
Yack yack yack
Sometimes it is as simple as providing a place for people to talk! If you’ve got champions in your Messy Church who really get what you’re doing and the importance of Messy Church then let them talk about it!
Zesty
Keep things fresh! Try out some of the ideas on this list and see what works for you. You could plan to switch up your ask every few months, especially if you have new people joining your Messy Church.
