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How can we do "big" events and trips in a "small" budget neighborhood By Jonathan McKee Ever want to bring students to a conference but you can't because of the money? Did you want to do a big event but you just can't afford those cool inflatable bouncy things? Would it have been cool to bring a speaker out to your camp or event but you can only afford your Aunt Martha and her puppets? I received this email recently: "Dear Jonathan- My husband and I are youth leaders at a small, small-town church. We don't have any type of youth account or budget...and we can't afford to put our own money into the program...any ideas???? I feel like our kids don't get to experience anything exciting or fun because of lack of money and most are from families who can't afford the things we do get to plan? -Jessica" Many of us can relate to Jessica. Let's face it, sometimes it seems like money can be a huge barrier. I understand what it's like to have "no budget." For years I worked for a non-profit where the organization couldn't afford anything- I had to raise everything. On top of that- the kids I worked with were from a poor area. Parents never seemed to provide more than a few bucks for events. Despite our lack of funds, our ministry managed to do a ton of great activities and fun events (I've posted these events on our EVENT IDEAS page: http://www.thesource4ym.com/events/) It's amazing what you can do with a little creativity, a handful of volunteers and a few bucks. For example. I used to plan a weekend retreat for 25 students for about $40 a kid. (If you think this sounds high- keep reading- I'll give you help to make this affordable.) I found a cabin I could rent for $500 a weekend ($20 a kid). Then I spend about $2 per kid per meal for a Saturday morning cereal & muffin breakfast, a sack lunch, a spaghetti dinner, and more cereal and sweet rolls the next morning. Then I threw in some money for games and prizes, money for gas (volunteers drove minivans), and maybe a little for a trailer rental to carry luggage, and some misc. For this weekend, I always did the speaking or just led small groups so I could keep my budget affordable. (You can look at the basic format and agenda of this type of retreat on our web page at: http://www.thesource4ym.com/howdoi/weekendretreat.asp) Here's the breakdown PER KID:
$8 4 meals at $2 a meal $2 programming/prizes $4 gas ($100 total) $2 rentals $2 misc $38 TOTAL The above trip was with only 25 students. Imagine what you could do with 100 or 500 students. Larger student numbers create more opportunities for your budget. Even if you have a small group, networking with other area groups allows you to do occasional events with large numbers. Every year, I always did an outreach event with several other youth groups that got together to do a week long trip. This trip always brought in several hundred students. More numbers opened the doors for bigger budget items like speakers or equipment & facility rentals. Good budgeting can open the door to many more activities and events. (For more on budgeting and youth ministry management, check out this book and CD. It's the best I've read on youth ministry management and it comes with a CD with all the paperwork and resources you need: http://parable.com/parable/item.asp?sku=0310235960&rid=792) MONEY FOR BIG EVENTS OR TRIPS What about big events or trips? For example. Every three years I always brought my student leaders to the DCLA Student Evangelism Conference. Many of the students I brought received little or no support from their parents. This made things difficult because the conference came to several hundred dollars per student by the time we included hotel. But I didn't want my students to miss this experience. So I did two things: 1) More than a fund-raiser and 2) Sponsorships. 1) More than a fund-raiser For big trips, conferences or events, I always did what I called "more than a fund raiser. " Basically, it was a fund-raiser with a purpose. I called the Salvation Army (or any homeless shelter near us) and scheduled a day we could come and work for 8 hours. Then I made up pledge sheets for the kids. They all tried to get pledges per hour, for a total of 8 hours. Check out the fund-raising potential. If they can get 20 people to pledge just one dollar an hour, they will make $20 an hour for 8 hours of work. That's $160 for ONE STUDENT! If you do the math, this is better than your typical car wash- and it's a great experience at the same time. (I provide the form I used for this fund-raiser on my web site on my logistical crud page: http://www.thesource4ym.com/logicrud/ ) 2) Sponsorships The other method I used to help students afford camps or big events was what I called " sponsorships." I would start by making a list of the students who needed serious financial help- I usually had about 8 to 10 of these students. I approached the students individually and told them that if they would make the effort and fund-raise or come up with half of the funds for the trip, I would match any funds they came up with. If students didn't have any money at all, they could do the fund-raiser, knowing that I would give them a dollar for every dollar they raised. Most students agreed to this deal, so I would then find them a sponsor. I would put together a one page bio on the student with their picture and why I wanted him or her on the trip. I would then approach people I knew who had a heart for our ministry and ask them if they would sponsor a student. I would hand them the "one page bio," presenting the need. I was always able to find 8 or 10 supporters who were glad to sponsor a student. As an added bonus, these supporters would have a vested interest in this student. I would give them a list of specific prayer requests for the trip or the conference. It was always nice knowing that the student was covered in prayer for that week or weekend. This became more than just a way to raise money, it was a way to bring in ministry partners who got to be a small part of what God was doing in the lives of students. Don't let money stand in your way. The resources are out there, and God will provide. JONATHAN IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE SOURCE FOR YOUTH MINISTRY AND AUTHOR OF THE BOOK THE TOP 12 RESOURCES THAT YOUTH WORKERS WANT: http://www.thesource4ym.com/book.asp 
Jonathan McKee is president of TheSourceForYouthMinistry.com
and author of the new book "Do They Run When They See You Coming? Reaching Out to Unchurched
Teenagers."
(CLICK HERE FOR THE BOOK) Jonathan
speaks and trains across the country
and provides free online resources, training, & ideas for youth workers at
www.TheSource4YM.com
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