Fundraising Guidelines

Overview
Fundraisers are permissible, with adherence to the following guidelines:
Promotion at Northside
Promotion for fundraisers needs to be done outside of the church. Solicitation, advertising, and announcements are not permitted on the church property. This includes flyers, posters, bulletin, display tables, or verbal announcements. An exception is through the respective team within Nside-Out Community. For example: If the Zambia trip is planning a fundraiser, that can be shared among the Zambia team at Nside-Out Community. Other exceptions, though rare, may be made by the elders and/or leadership team.
It is acceptable to post a fundraising event on the Northside Missions website. This is usually posted on the Missions Calendar as well as the respective short-term trip page. Contact the Missions offices to request your posting.
Promotion outside of Northside
You are welcome to advertise your fundraising event outside of Northside. Ideas include radio, Facebook, community/neighborhood flyers, newspaper, bulletin boards, emails (gathered by your group, not from Northside’s database), personal contacts, and website.
Fundraiser location
Fundraiser events are generally not permitted on Northside’s property. Please plan your fundraising event to be held somewhere else.
A room at the church may be used, however, for the preparation of a fundraiser (such as to make pizzas, fudge, craft items, etc), as long as the room is available, reserved for your group in advance, and you clean up afterwards.
Limitation on the type of fundraiser
Direct solicitation of public donations is prohibited. That means that we cannot stand at street corners or other public places asking for donations. Fundraisers (other than Sponsorship Letters), should be focused on providing a service or product.

Limitations on the number of fundraisers
There is not a set limit on how many fundraisers you can do. Be wise about this, though. It is often better to plan fewer large fundraising events, than to plan many small ones.
Staff participation
Our staff are connected to many people, and resultingly, many mission efforts. Staff are welcome to attend and participate in a fundraiser at their will, but please don’t have any expectation of involvement. The requests can be overwhelming with the number of projects we support and short-term teams we send. The same can be said for Northside’s members.
Sponsorship Letters
We believe that sending sponsorship request letters to family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors when going on a short-term mission trip can generate more financial support than any other fundraising project or event, especially for an individual’s first or second mission trip. We strongly encourage teams to pursue this method of fundraising. Thank You letters and post-trip communication to donors is critical.
Scholarships
Remind your team that members of Northside can qualify for a trip scholarship up to 1/3 of the trip cost. Requests can be made no sooner than 1 month out from the trip departure.