Blog

Going on a mission trip, whether it’s across the world or even just a few states away is a wonderful opportunity to help fill people’s practical needs, to share the hope of the gospel, and to make new friends and connections. However, sometimes the staggering amount of money it takes to go on a mission trip stops people from going altogether. GiveSendGo wants to offer anyone considering or dedicated to going on a mission trip some tips and suggestions for how to raise money for missions so you can shine brightly and really make a difference in this world!

Many of these tips and suggestions provide opportunities to get your church family and community involved in your fundraising endeavors as well! 

1. Create a GiveSendGo Campaign

We have a lot of families, groups, and individuals raising funds for their mission trips on GiveSendGo. In fact, it’s one of our most used categories! We encourage anyone looking to raise funds for their mission trip to use GiveSendGo as a tool to make your journey easier. 

Just like with any other campaign, it’s important to tell your story. Be sure to share your heart and why you (and/or) your group feels it’s important to go on this trip. People want to hear what kind of work you will be doing during your trip whether that’s building a house, serving in inner city missions, helping with disaster relief, etc. Missions could be a variety of things, so it’s important to communicate those details about what you will be doing, other ways aside from donating that people could be helping, what they could also be praying for, and why it’s important for you to go and help serve and/or evangelize in that area. 

Once you’ve shared your story, share your campaign as much as you can with your family, friends, social media community, church family, co-workers, and your local community. Share it on your social media sites, send the campaign url through email to relatives and co-workers, and text the campaign url to your closest friends and family. The best way to raise funds for your mission trip is to spread awareness and get as many people involved as you can, so don’t be shy with that share button. You can’t share it too much and you might even be surprised by the amount of people who want to help support you and your group in this calling.
 
2. “Pick a Number” Board or Envelope Fundraising

These two fundraising methods are roughly the same thing or are at least very similar. It can also be called a “Wall of Money”. Either way, the concept is that you make a board with various amounts or numbers ranging from 1-50, 1-100, 1-150, or whatever amount you feel is appropriate. Typically those amounts are written on envelopes or slips of paper and attached to panels on a cardboard display board.

Then, people can choose a number or amount and donate that amount. Once an amount has been given, you can cross that number out on the slip of paper or envelope but leave the number on the board, so you can keep track of what amounts are left. It will also lead more people to want to donate those other available amounts to complete your goal. This method also ensures everyone gets an opportunity to donate no matter what their budget is. The benefit of using envelopes is that people can place their cash or check straight into the envelope labeled with the amount they’re donating. 

The best part about this method is that you can use it more than just once and it can be incorporated into any event. If you’re already hosting a fundraising event (maybe using one of ideas listed below) use this money board as a fun way to have people donate to your trip. You could also set it up and leave it every Sunday at your church, so people can decide when it’s best for them to donate. 
  
3. Trivia Night 

Trivia nights are a huge hit and garner a lot of attendees! It’s also an event that people of every age can participate in. You can charge a set price per group or table, charge per person and put people together at random, or use both methods! The benefit of charging per table or group is that if people want to play with their friends or family they can all chip in the donation price. 

The best part about trivia nights is that you have free reign with the topics you’ll quiz people over! You can have a trivia night with various categories such as movies, nature or landmarks, the town you’re hosting in, history, etc. Or you can get more specific and make your trivia night all about one topic such as Star Wars and each trivia category has something to do with Star Wars. Another option is to theme the trivia night based on the location of your mission trip. Decorate the room like that country or place and then use one of the categories to quiz them over that location. The sky’s the limit, so just have fun and be really creative! 

Because trivia nights can be tailored to your needs, you can implement other fundraising methods or activities into the night. For instance, during intermission you can host a silent auction or play some mini games where people can donate a set amount to play. You can also set up the envelope money board mentioned earlier for people to place donations in as they’re walking around. 

4. Sell T-Shirts, Bracelets, and/or Stickers

Who doesn’t love a good t-shirt? They’re fun to collect and serve as a great reminder of fond memories.

Making and selling a creative t-shirt design is a great way to raise money for your mission trip. Not only do you get to create something unique and personal to you and your trip, but people will wear them more than once, which will only increase the awareness of your trip. A way to take advantage of this is to encourage your supporters to post a picture of themselves on social media with your t-shirt! If you have a hashtag you’re using to share about your trip, you can even use that on the t-shirt and encourage others to share that same hashtag when they post with your shirt.

The same goes for rubber bracelets! They’re also cheaper, so if someone can’t afford a t-shirt or knows they won’t wear it, they can just buy a bracelet. Also, designing a fun sticker for computers, cars, or even water bottles are becoming more and more popular. They’re really easy to create and buy in bulk! Even though they're just stickers, you can charge higher prices like $15 per sticker (or for a pack of stickers). People are really willing to donate if they know it’s going to support something or someone they care about.  

5. Offer a Service

Offering a service, whether it’s just you as an individual or as a whole group going on missions, is extremely effective. Almost everyone has some sort of project around their house or yard they need accomplished and many of those projects are ones that require helping hands. You can reach out as a group or individual to your community, or even to your church family, to see if there’s anyone who needs help with an inside or outside project they would be willing to pay you for to support your mission trip. You’re likely to rack up a lot of projects! 

A few projects you may be able to help out with could be babysitting, lawn mowing, raking leaves, cleaning houses, organizing, building, planting flowers, removing tree roots, cleaning gutters, painting, and many more. Whatever the project is, it’s a great way to not only serve your community, but it’s also giving others the opportunity to serve you through your service by donating for your work. 

6. LemonAid Stand

A lemonade stand (or a LemonAid stand if you want to be punny) is another fun way for a group or a few people to work together to raise money for a mission trip. Making homemade lemonade is easy and fairly affordable. It’s also something simple you can incorporate with other fundraising activities over the summer like a garage sale or auction. 

7. Parents Night Out

Host a parents night out at your church or among your friend group! For one night you can offer to watch kids for a set price, or whatever parents would normally pay a babysitter, while the parents go out and enjoy a kid-free night.

8. Ice Cream Social

Ice cream socials are a fun summer activity to raise money for your mission trip. You can typically buy several large buckets or tubs of various flavors of ice cream for a relatively cheap price. We also recommend you provide different toppings and maybe even some drizzles or sauces for people to choose from. Then, you can charge $5, or whatever you see fit, per cone or bowl and you’d be surprised how many people from the community you’ll attract (especially from families on a really hot day)!

We suggest you also talk to local stores or organizations to see if they would be willing to donate the ice cream to you in support of your trip. The worst they can say is no, so it doesn’t hurt to ask! 

9. Garage Sale 
 
This idea works the best in spring or summer. Invite your family, friends, church family, and community to donate items from their house they want to get rid of to your garage sale. Then, based on your schedule and deadline, you can sell items in your garage sale every weekend or even everyday for a week. Then, all the money raised from the garage sale can go directly towards your mission trip.

 Once you’ve created your GiveSendGo campaign, now it’s time to share it with your family, friends, coworkers, church family, and community! You can do this through sending your campaign url through text or email, contacting your local news station, and sharing it on social media. 

But knowing what to post on social media to raise awareness about your campaign can be difficult. So, we have a few ideas to step up your social media game, no matter what platform you’re using, to help you reach that campaign goal! 

1. Founder Story

Getting to know the founder behind a campaign and more of their story allows potential backers to connect with you on a more personal level. After all, if they’re interested in your campaign they’ll most likely want to know more about what they’re potentially going to invest in. If they aren’t sure what they’re donating to or who they’ll be backing they may not feel secure enough to give. So share a little bit about yourself and how you were inspired to start your awesome campaign! This is the time to share the details of your story!

2. Video

Videos have a lot more impact than you may realize. Even a poorly produced or edited video does something more for your audience than plain text or even sometimes an image. We’re in a day and age where people process and understand information primarily through visuals. Watching videos requires no effort on the backer’s part. It keeps them engaged longer, since video is an entertainment tool and just by watching your video they’re learning more than they even realize themselves. Videos are also sticky, as in people are sticking around and being exposed to your message for longer periods of time. 

You can also do just about anything through video. You can record yourself talking about your campaign (this might be a creative way to share your founder’s story). Or, if you’re camera shy or simply don’t want to show yourself on camera you can still get your campaign’s message across to your audience with video without ever making an appearance on camera. You can make a video slideshow of pictures, show some behind the scenes of your campaign, do a voiceover and cover it with some video or pictures instead, feature someone else related to your campaign and have them tell a story, or (if it’s relevant) feature a place or product. No matter what you decide to do, it doesn't have to be long or professionally made to get the job done. Just be clear and creative and you’ll see just how far your video will take your campaign! 

Once you’ve created a video, you can easily share it on social media with a few clicks. With just a few shares people will hear more about your campaign on a deeper level without having to take the time to read a ton of text. Make sure to include the link of your GiveSendGo campaign when you share your video, so if people are led to donate they have somewhere to do so!

3. Lives

Live videos, like other forms of video content, reach a larger audience than pictures or text as well. The beauty of lives is that they aren’t edited. Likewise, they don’t need to be professionally done or super long to engage with your audience. You’re also not required to always show your face in live videos. You can show a video of an event you’re at, your family, your office space, or even something featuring the behind the scenes of your campaign. Anything that would add to your campaign’s message or goal would be good to show in a live. You can use lives to also share a quick update regarding your campaign, or simply to thank your supporters for donating and praying. 

While you can share live videos to your social media page for people to watch later, people love tuning in to watch a live video because it’s deeply personal and unique. They’re able to see you speaking with them and are even able to have a conversation with you in real time no matter where you, or they, are in the world. Live videos feature a live comment section, so as supporters are asking questions you’re able to respond to them as if they were right in front of you. This also gives you an opportunity to do a Q&A whether that’s to answer questions about your campaign, your story, or even just to get to know more about the people who are donating. It’s a really neat feature that connects you with your audience on a deeper level and lets them know you’re invested in them as well. 

4. Images

Sharing a picture of you, your family, friends, or anything/anyone related to your campaign on social media adds another personal touch to your outreach. It also helps people put a face to the name, or in this case a face to the campaign. Let’s say your family is raising money for medical expenses. Sharing a picture of your family along with some text detailing the story behind your campaign will capture your potential audience’s attention better than plan ole’ text. They want to see the people they’re investing in. Showing a face is a whole other level of communication and often people are led to give simply because they’ve found ways to connect to you. An image is a quick and simple way to make that connection. 

But it’s also important not to just share pictures for the sake of sharing them and don’t post a picture if it’s really bad quality. People are being engaged on social media thousands of times a day. What you post is just something else in a sea of posts, so make it intentional and something that will make them pause to read your caption and engage with your campaign. Be creative, personal, and make sure your photo is of decent enough quality that people actually want to look at it a second time, because it’s what they’ll see when thinking about your campaign later down the road. Remember, people are mostly visual learners. 

5. Blogs

While videos are known to be the best way to get the most exposure for campaigns, blogs are also a great tool. Blogs allow you to share the details of your campaign that you maybe wouldn’t share in your campaign’s summary or in a video. 

In a blog you can get more in depth with your story. You yourself can write a blog or have someone else write something on your behalf to promote your campaign. You can also get more technical with your blogs and share in depth details of how people can help you in your campaign, what they can be praying for, or how to give. Some use blogs as open letters to their supporters to thank them for all their help. You can also embed images and/or videos in your blogs to add a personal touch and to break up the text. 

No matter how you choose to use your blog, it’s something that can also easily be shared on social media. Appealing to all of your audience’s senses is the best way to get the most engagement. 

6. Thank Yous

People want to know that their support is making a difference. If they don’t see their impact, they’re likely to stop caring about your campaign, so be sure to genuinely thank your supporters and do it often. Because it’s true, you really couldn’t do it without them. 

On social media, a thank you can be done creatively like through a video of you and your friends or family all yelling thank you or through something as simple as typing up a thank you post and attaching a photo to share on your page. People will notice your gratitude, but they will also notice the absence of it, so be sure to recognize them for what they’ve done for you and your campaign. 

7. Countdown 

You may not have a strict deadline for when you need your campaign to end. GiveSendGo allows you to raise money even past your campaign’s deadline. However, some people need to have their money raised by a certain date. For instance, people going on a mission trip need the money before they’re able to go. Likewise, a family building a house might need that money by a certain date.  

Use that deadline to your advantage. People may not realize how short or long of time you may have to raise that money, so they might simply be thinking they have plenty of time to give. You don’t have to panic and constantly remind people that you’re one day closer to not making your fundraising goal, but there are ways to encourage people to give before it’s too late. One way to do this is through a countdown. 

People love a good countdown. Don’t believe me? Everyone around the world goes crazy on New Year’s Eve. You don’t have to do an actual ticking countdown to promote your campaign, but for instance, say you’re going on that mission trip mentioned earlier. A post saying “Only 30 More Days Until I Leave for Ghana! There’s still time to help me reach my goal! Just click on this link to support my mission,” sounds a whole lot better than “I only have 30 more days until I leave for Ghana and I haven’t even raised half of the money I need. Please help.” 

Have fun with every part of your campaign even when things don’t always look promising. You might be surprised by somebody’s donation! Some people just need a little time and some reminding before they’re able to give and that’s okay. 

8. Hashtag

This isn’t so much a post idea, but rather something to go along with your posts. Brainstorm a hashtag that really captures the heart of your campaign and use it in your campaign posts. Come up with something creative, simple, not too long, and make it memorable. 

Encourage your audience to use the hashtag when sharing your posts or use it to celebrate on social media when they donate to your campaign. Hashtags stick in people’s memory if used often enough. It’s also easily shareable and spreadable to people who have never heard of your campaign before. Another bonus is it helps you keep track of how your campaign is spreading across social media. 

9. Rewards

You’re not required to give your backers any rewards. However, it would be wise to do so. After all, they’ve invested in you and your idea, the least you can do is return the favor. 

One way you can reward people on social media for their giving and support is by doing a giveaway! You can make a post saying that when someone donates to your GiveSendGo campaign, their name will be put into a drawing and on a certain date you’ll pick a name (or a couple) and send a gift or note to that person(s). Bonus: Record a live video of when you draw those names so you can thank them and even those whose names didn’t get drawn for supporting you. This will draw people to your social media page in anticipation for the drawing and give your campaign even more exposure. 

Good gifts as rewards might be a t-shirt with your campaign name on it, a rubber bracelet with your campaign’s hashtag, or a sticker with an image that represents your campaign. A note or handwritten letter thanking them for their support would also be great to send out as a gift or even to all of your backers. 
If you can’t afford to give rewards like this or you don’t have the time, you can simply reward your backers by continuing to update them on social media and thanking them for their support. Another free way to reward your backers is by featuring their names (if they didn’t donate anonymously) on your social media pages. On GiveSendGo you’re able to access all of these names if you do decide to thank them by social media or handwritten letter. 

10. Campaign Updates

If people are invested in your campaign, it’s likely they want to see it flourish so you can reach your goal. Providing updates from time to time is a form of engagement with your backers and audience. One way to do this is by posting how much you’ve raised. You could post an update celebrating that you’ve reached the halfway goal or that you’ve raised 75% of the money you need. Updates like these make people want to give more so you can reach the end of your goal! 

Your updates should also be to keep people informed about the status of your situation. For instance, if you’re raising money to cover medical bills for a loved one, you should periodically release updates telling people how they’re doing. People give because they care, so one way you can give back to them is by sharing the details of your campaign and story as it’s unfolding. 

Shine Brightly!

If you grew up in church, currently attend church, or have ever visited church there’s a great chance you’ve heard and even sung the following lyrics:

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise him, all creatures here below;
Praise him above, ye heavenly host:
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Ending with a resounding “Amen”, this classic hymn has been a part of church tradition for decades, even centuries. It’s a song almost everyone knows, without knowing they know it and it won’t be dying out anytime soon. 

The word doxology originates from two Greek words, doxa, meaning glory, and logos, meaning word. Doxology literally means, “a word of glory,” meaning we sing, pray, write, read, and meditate on doxologies to give glory and praise to God. 

This doxology written by Thomas Ken is often met with heavy, dismayed, groans especially by the younger Christian generation. However, Isaiah 43:7 says God created us for His glory. So, when we look at this passage, the true meaning of the word doxology, and then at Ken’s purpose in writing his doxology, it’s not just made for one, much older, generation that only listens to classic hymns. It was penned specifically by Ken for his students, the younger generation, and meant to be carried into adulthood, into their old age, because it still contains the same rich promises, reminders, and truths about God. In fact, Scripture is filled with doxologies written by various authors, ultimately written by God, all for that same purpose - to cause people to glorify and be reminded of who He is. What God is saying through His word and what Thomas Ken is meaning to convey through his writing is that we were all created for doxology - we were made to glorify Him with our lives.

As we take a brief look into Ken’s life, we are better able to see how he made it a doxology to the Lord. 

Ken’s Journey to Penning his Doxology 

Ken was orphaned as a young child and raised by his older sister, Ann, who was married to Issak Walton (a familiar name to some as he was most famously noted for his classic The Compleat Angler). 

When Ken was just fourteen years old, he began Winchester College and then four years later he began his studies at Oxford University. He later returned to Winchester College and took a position as the chaplain to the bishop. 

It was during this time, in 1674, he wrote and published a book titled A Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Scholars of Winchester College. It contained several hymns, each for their own unique purposes. This manual, included the following instructions: 

"As soon as ever you awake in the morning, . . . strive as much as you can to keep all worldly thoughts out of your mind, till you have presented the first-fruits of the day to God, which will be an excellent preparative, to make you spend the rest of it better, and therefore be sure to sing the morning and evening hymn in your chamber devoutly, remembering that the Psalmist, upon happy experience, assures you that it is a good thing to tell of the loving kindness of the Lord early in the morning, and of his truth in the night season."

Among the hymns included in Ken’s manual, was his Morning, Evening, and Midnight hymns written directly to his students at Winchester College and Oxford University to sing upon rising in the morning and going to bed in the evening. The Midnight hymn was added later as a song for students to rehearse when they were struggling to sleep at night. These songs, each over ten stanzas, ended with the now famous doxology. 

As David Mathis wrote in his article The Best-Known Hymn in History: Why We Keep Singing "The Doxology" for Desiring God, “Each hymn was a confession of faith, and an invocation of divine blessing, tailored to its particular moment of the day.” 

Ken wrote these hymns about a God he truly believed in and whom he loved. He hoped his students would have that same infatuation and devotion to God, looking to Him in their every waking, and even in their every restful or restless, moment. 

While the doxology is only 25 words in its entirety, Ken was able to clearly communicate the gospel and the glory that God ultimately deserves from us through his lyrics (though our worship could never truly convey what God has done for us and who He is). 

All Goodness and Blessings Flow From Him 

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow” 

God is the one from whom all blessings flow. In fact, as Mathis pointed out, in 1 Timothy 1:11 and also in 6:15, God is referred to as the Blessed One. 

James 1:17 tells us that, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” and in Ephesians 1:3 it says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places”.

He grants us every good thing we experience and treasure in our lives today. The fact that we can wake up and take a breath is a blessing from God that we don’t deserve and yet still receive. This is what John describes in John 1:16 as “grace upon grace”. Just in these few words, Ken is recognizing his life belongs to Christ and was given to him by God not because he deserves it, but as a blessing poured out from His grace.

The Psalmist writes in Psalm 16:11, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Thomas Ken experienced many blessings in his life. He ended up becoming an Anglican minister, a royal chaplain to King Charles II, and eventually a Bishop of Bath and Wells. 

But even he knew that God’s blessings are not for our own benefit, although they do bring us joy, can make life easier, and often fill our wants and needs. No, they are meant to remind us that He holds the universe and sustains us. Ken, in his instructions, reminded his readers that before anything else, we are to present our first fruits of the day to Him, before anything else can reach us, we are to go to Him. The ability to do so is a blessing made possible only through the blood of Christ alone. For that, He deserves all the glory.

Romans 11:36 says, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”

He is our morning, evening, and midnight. He is our Amen. 

Praise God in Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost 

“Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost”

We have the tendency to exclude, or only focus on, one person in the Trinity when we worship. While it’s not wrong or sinful to worship one of His persons, He is also glorified when He’s worshipped in all of his persons and in His entirety. 

1 Corinthians 8:6 declares the Trinity as the Being in which we and everything that exists was created from. Paul says in this passage, “yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” 

He, in His goodness, even grants us every part of Himself, providing us with everything we need to glorify Him, to persevere in steadfastness, as well as giving us the grace to be forgiven (although it is not owed to us). Paul also says in 2 Corinthians 13:14, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

His Trinity is beautiful and deserving of our worship. Every explanation, symbolism, and demonstration of the Trinity we come up with will always fall short because in our human capacity we cannot comprehend it, but we aren’t meant to know everything. We’re only to trust in the One who has bever left us, continues to guide us, and will always hold us. That is enough. 

All Praise and Glory Belong to Him

As previously mentioned, we were all designed and created by our Father, as Isaiah 43:7 says, to glorify God - and to glorify Him with our whole selves.

Ken knew his very purpose and instructed his students and friends to be devoted to this same life of glorification. He said, “the Psalmist, upon happy experience, assures you that it is a good thing to tell of the loving kindness of the Lord early in the morning, and of his truth in the night season.” 

All of Scripture is saturated with these praises. Exodus 15:2 says, “The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him my father's God, and I will exalt him.” 

The Psalmist writes in Psalm 150:6, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!” and likewise, in Hebrews 13:15, “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.”

Finally, in James 5:13 it says, “Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.”

Mathis too exclaimed in his article that “we were made for doxology”. 

“God is glorified in our heartfelt expression of praise. God made us for praise. He made us for doxology. He made the world that he might be praised. And these simple yet profound words serve that simple yet most profound human act of devotion — and all the more when we join our voices and sing together.” 

Later in his life, Ken was one of seven bishops who refused to sign King James’ Declaration of Indulgence, meant to promote Roman Catholicism. For his decision to take a stand for his faith and for this act of rebellion, Ken was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London. He would later be tried and acquitted. In his refusal to sign the document, Ken let his life be a declaration of his doxology to God. 

Let your life be a doxology to the Lord in your every waking and sleeping moment, go to the One who gives endless peace and joy. “We were made for doxology”, so let Him be your Morning, Evening, and Midnight.