We know that finding a way for families and your church to afford Kidz Kamp can be one of the biggest challenges to participating.
We also know just what a big impact Kidz Kamp can make on the lives of children both now, throughout their entire lives, and for all eternity!
We want you and the children who are a part of your ministry to be able to join us this year, so we have provided some tips and resources that will hopefully inspire and assist you as you help families afford Kidz Kamp.
We also know just what a big impact Kidz Kamp can make on the lives of children both now, throughout their entire lives, and for all eternity!
We want you and the children who are a part of your ministry to be able to join us this year, so we have provided some tips and resources that will hopefully inspire and assist you as you help families afford Kidz Kamp.
Tips & Thoughts on Paying for Kamp
We understand that different churches have different views on fundraising for special ministries like Kidz Kamp.
We understand that different churches have different views on fundraising for special ministries like Kidz Kamp.
- Some churches do not believe that it is productive for them to have a multitude of fundraisers throughout the year for different needs or ministries. For many of these churches they may choose to include funds for Kidz Kamp in their church budget and/or promote and collect a one time special offering for Kidz Kamp. These funds are then used to pay for Kidz Kamp, provide scholarships, etc.
- Other churches believe that children and families should work for the funds for Kidz Kamp through fundraisers.
- Many churches have a hybrid of these two views. There is no one size fits all method to helping families pay for Kidz Kamp. As a Church Coordinator for Kidz Kamp, you will need to talk to your Pastor and leadership to determine what will work best for your Church.
- As you plan don't forget to factor in the costs to your church, not just the families, so you know how you will plan for these.
- Travel costs
- Travel meals (if needed)
- Incidental costs (Let's face it kids (and counselors) often forget their pencils or flashlights, want markers, definitely want extra snacks, etc. which makes having some basic supply boxes helpful)
- Think about the Counselors (and Boogers if bringing any). Will you expect them to pay for themselves or will the church pay for them?
- Encourage families to at least pay the $50 registration deposit. Having at least some personal buy in is important.
Ideas and Resources for Scholarships, Donations, and Fundraisers
Scholarships - If you are giving scholarships to kids and families, but want to have some participation and involvement guidelines consider putting together a scholarship booklet to help guide them through the process of participating and serving.
Donations - If you want to use donations as a method of helping to pay for Kidz Kamp here are a couple different ways.
Fundraising - With fundraisers the sky is the limit with what you can imagine and pull off. Obviously the most successful fundraisers will connect with something the church and community actually needs or wants. Here are a few ideas our churches have used:
Scholarships - If you are giving scholarships to kids and families, but want to have some participation and involvement guidelines consider putting together a scholarship booklet to help guide them through the process of participating and serving.
Donations - If you want to use donations as a method of helping to pay for Kidz Kamp here are a couple different ways.
- Donations from businesses to churches to support Kidz Kamp. Most businesses will want a letter confirming the donation for their tax records.
- Donations that are requested and collected by the children and families. A "sponsorship" type of page could be created to help them accomplish this.
Fundraising - With fundraisers the sky is the limit with what you can imagine and pull off. Obviously the most successful fundraisers will connect with something the church and community actually needs or wants. Here are a few ideas our churches have used:
- The typical selling of items or services - yard sales, calendar sales, candy sales, car washes, dinners, bake sales, etc.
- Auction/BBQ - Some of our churches have had success collecting items for live and silent auctions and selling tickets to a BBQ at the same time. It gives the church/community a fun time of fellowship and allows people to participate in a variety of ways through donation, purchasing, serving and more.
- Craft Fair - Some of our churches have sponsor a craft fair charging a small donation from vendors for space and/or encouraging them to consider donating a percentage of their sales.
- Family Bingo Night - Church members & families were invited to play multiple rounds of bingo, winners received a prize from the dollar store. Adults were charged $25 and $10 for kids which included a meal as well the 10-15 games of bingo. The church's small groups provided gifts baskets for a silent auction.
- Farmers Market - This was a day for kids and their families to come and sell things that they made and all proceeds went to Kidz Kamp. They had to sign up ahead of time and let the church know what they were selling so there weren't 5 kids selling the same thing. The church sold a meal during the event as well and some kids would work that table to earn money. All children that worked whether selling their things or in another way would earn a portion of the proceeds.
- Hot Wing Challenge - Church leaders (that would be a good sport and that people would want to see doing the challenge) were ask to participate. A Hot Ones Challenge kit was purchased and 10-12 leaders were on the stage. Prior to the event the leaders participating went into the community and asked family, friends & the church to sponsor them based on how many of the 10 wings they would eat (ex: $5/wing if you eat all 10 = $50). The sponsors & the whole church were invited to the event and it was live streamed as well and people could also donate online during the event. It was a fun event for the church to watch as well. Questions were asked of all the participants in between each round of wings.
- The Squares - This is something that kids and families do on their own. They can record a video of the camper asking friends and family to help them get to camp by sponsoring a square or two. They can then send the money via Zelle, PayPal, etc. however they want to them them the money, and then that family can turn the money into their church or the they could send the money directly to the church. If they fill up all the squares their entire camp payment is paid for. Click here is an example for Kidz Kamp 2026.
If you would like more information about any of these ideas, please email us at [email protected] and we will put you in touch the leader that shared that idea for more tips and information.