Undertaking a mission can be one of the most fulfilling trips in your lifetime; however, many mission trip participants worry about funding their humanitarian and charitable work. The following are 10 mission trip fundraising ideas that can help make your mission dreams a reality:

1. Business sponsorships. Visit local businesses and ask them to sponsor a portion of your mission trip, such as one day’s worth of expenses. Target businesses that advertise in your church bulletin or whose owners you know directly.
2. Send friends and family letters. Send a letter out to all of your family and friends and let them know about your upcoming trip. Include information about the work you’ll be doing, as well as the costs involved, and ask for their support. Take it one step farther: Instead of sending out old snail mail letters, send out emails and contact your Facebook friends with a link to a free donation page you’ve set up on GoFundMe, a site that makes it easy to collect donations online.
3. Church support. Talk to your church leaders and ask them to contribute financially. Churches may have amounts set aside in their budgets for just this purpose. This is one of the most overlooked mission trip fundraising ideas.
4. Bake sale. Host a bake sale after church, noting that all funds will go to your mission trip. Make a display that details your trip for people to learn more about the mission they are supporting.
5. Salvation bracelets. With some rawhide lacing and beads in black, red, white, blue, green, and gold, make salvation bracelets to sell following church services. Sell them two at a time, so the buyer can keep one and give the other to someone else.
6. Garage sale. Think about the lack of material items the people you will help on your mission trip have. Now think of all the things you have that you could sell in a garage sale to raise money for your trip in what is one of the easiest mission trip fundraising ideas.
7. Sell fair trade items. From soap to coffee, there are dozens of fair trade items you can sell to help raise money for your mission trip. Check out the Internet for ideas and know you’ll be helping others around the world while raising money!
8. Car wash. Get your church’s permission to host a car wash fundraiser after Sunday services to help fund your mission trip. Gather together fellow mission trip participants and wash your way closer to having your trip paid for.
9. Mission trip dinner. With the assistance of family, friends or other mission trip participants, host a fundraising dinner with your upcoming mission as the theme. Have presentation materials detailing your trip available and serve local foods from the region you’ll be traveling to.
10. Raffle yourself off. You may not have the money to pay for your mission trip on your own, but you certainly have the time and the talent. Raffle off blocks of your time. The lucky winners will have your undivided service for four hours and you’ll do whatever chores they’d like.