Scholarships

You can provide a scholarship for a teenager to attend an SST next summer. Because of our scholarship program a teenager named Steele was able to attend last summer and is now walking in the purpose of God for his life. For information on how to give towards our scholarship program contact us at 903-509-5360.

Fundraising Ideas and Help

Get a Job

Get an after school or weekend job and SAVE the money that you make. Ask your parents to set up a savings account so that you’re not tempted to spend your money and so that it works for you.

Hold a car wash

Hold it in your church parking lot or the parking lot of a business that will let you do it for free. Just pick a high traffic area and charge on a donation basis. Also, sell cokes, snacks, and baked goods to the patrons as they wait. Make conversation with them as this will boost your revenues and could turn out to be good ministry. You will absolutely want to advertise well and get your church involved.

Church bake sale or auction

Ask for donated baked goods from your church members and family. Sell the baked goods at church functions or even auction them off in a silent auction or stage auction (which could be real fun). It's not unheard of for a pie or cake to sell for $125 to help out the youth!

Church-wide garage sale

Ask for donations from the church family for a youth garage sale. Tell them that you will pick up any clothes, appliances, and stuff people just don’t need. Advertise in the community that a fundraiser is taking place and that you will pick up any donation of goods. Seek volunteers in the church because this is a big job but with big payoffs. We know of a group that made over $2,500 in a two-day garage sale.

Sell your services

Hold a human auction with church members where you sell the services of the student to the highest bidder. The student must then do whatever the purchaser needs to be done during a predetermined time frame. (E.g. Johnny Doe is sold to Mr. Peabody for $150 to work for 5 hours over the next 3 months.)

Send out a letter

We have put together a letter that eloquently states what SST is and why you want to come. The letter is available to be downloaded; you would then personalize it and send it to family members, friends of the family, church members, and anyone else you can think of. A good idea for a mailing list would be your parents' Christmas card mailing list because those people are usually people who care about you and may like to support you. Click here to download the letter PDF that you can print out. If you need a free PDF reader click here.

Make a proposal to your church's Missions Board or Pastor

For most churches in America missions is an important part of the function of the church, so make a proposal to your Missions Board (if you don’t have one, talk with your pastor). Explain what you are doing, and what your needs are.

Make a plea to the church body

Your pastor will usually be excited to let you as a member of the church, speak to the congregation about a missions trip that you are raising money for. Explain what you are doing and what your needs are; you will be surprised to see the way your church gets behind you prayerfully and financially.

Missions Banquet

Hold a youth missions banquet. The youth and adult volunteers will cook, serve, and clean up the meal. Have a dinner show with singing, skits, and other talents that will entertain the guests. This is also a good time to share your vision and what the group is raising money for.

How do I talk to people about giving?

A good introduction: Even if you are speaking to your home church some people might not know who you are. So even if you think everyone knows you just say; “Hi my name is John Doe and I have been going to Church X for 3 years now, etc…”

Share your vision: This means telling clearly what your plans are and what you are doing. “I am going on a two-and-a-half week missions trip which is broken up into a week of intense training and a week-and-a-half of outreach in Houston, Texas, etc.”

Share why it is important: Tell that you will be receiving life-changing teaching and training as well as changing the lives of countless people in Mexico, etc.

Share your specific needs: Don’t just say, "I am raising money for the trip." Be specific about your needs:“I need $800 plus spending money and a new sleeping bag, as well as people who will lift me up in prayer.”

Give a strong invitation: At this point many people will want to support you, but if you don’t tell them how they can practically do that it may never happen. Hopefully an offering will be taken up for you but just in case it isn’t we have supplied a return card that you can put in people's hands to walk them through how to send you money. Click here to download the PDF that you can print out. If you need a free PDF reader click here.