Fundraising
Mission Trip Fundraising Ideas That Actually Work (With a Goal Calculator)
Seven ways churches and families raise money for a mission trip, a calculator that turns any of them into a number of jars, plates or shirts, and the real goal to aim at: $1,200 per missionary.
Every member of the Nichols team raises about $1,200 to go — $800 of airfare and $400 of lodging, meals and ground transport. That number is the point of this page. A fundraiser without a specific goal is a bake sale; a fundraiser with one is a plan.
The one that has worked for years
Patti Nichols runs what the family calls her Money Ministry: she cans salsa at her own kitchen counter and sells it, jar by jar, and every dollar goes to the mission field. It works because it is specific, repeatable, and the person buying knows exactly where the money goes.
Six more, with the math built in
- A church dinner where the plate price and the trip goal are both printed on the ticket.
- A bake sale with the real budget taped to the table: this many cookies is one Bible.
- T-shirts with the trip on the front and the supply list on the back.
- A car wash run by the team that is going, so donors meet the people they are sending.
- A yard sale of donated items, priced to move, with the goal thermometer on a sign.
- A support letter — still the one that raises the most. The generator on this site writes the first draft.
Goal calculator
Price and cost are your numbers — the presets are starting points to change, not facts about anyone’s fundraiser.
To reach $1,200
240 jars
at $5 net each ($8 price minus $3 cost).
With 6 people helping, that is about 40 jars each.
Patti’s Money Ministry works exactly this way: she cans it at her own kitchen counter and sells it jar by jar, and every dollar goes to the field.
Raising for a trip? Tell Don.
He has raised support for thirteen years of trips and answers questions from other teams.
Say the number out loud
“Some supporters are able to sponsor an entire missionary. Others choose to purchase Bibles, reading glasses, hygiene kits, ministry trunks, or help transport supplies into Belize. No matter the size of your gift, every donation becomes part of a ministry that is changing lives both physically and spiritually.”
Whatever you run, print the real numbers next to it. People give more to a Bible at $2.50 than to "mission trip expenses." The cost page on this site is free to print and hand out.
Stay close to the work
Raising money for a trip? Get the next tool
Leave your name and number for new fundraising tools and templates as they come, and a text when the Nichols team lands.
Tools for raising it
Questions people ask
- How much does a person need to raise for a mission trip?
- On the Nichols team, about $1,200: $800 airfare and $400 for lodging, meals and ground transportation. Supplies are funded separately through the supply drive.
- What is the most effective mission trip fundraiser?
- A specific ask with a real number. The support letter still raises the most; Patti's canned salsa works because every buyer knows exactly where the money goes.
- How do I use the goal calculator?
- Pick a preset, set your goal, then enter what you will charge per item and what each costs you. It tells you how many you need to sell and how many that is per helper.
Pass the numbers on.
Most people have never seen what a mission trip actually costs. One share puts this in front of somebody who will give because they finally can see it.
More by the numbers
All 8 articles →
By the numbersWhere Does a Mission Trip Donation Actually Go? Don's $3,940 Budget, Charted
Most ministries answer "where does my donation go" with a pie chart of percentages. This one answers with a receipt: every line of a $3,940 medical mission supply drive, charted, with nothing held back for overhead.
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InteractiveWhat $25 Buys on a Medical Mission Trip (Build the Trunk Yourself)
Twenty-five dollars is 41 pairs of reading glasses, ten Bibles, or eight hygiene kits at Don Nichols' real prices. Pick a budget, tap what goes in the trunk, then make it real.
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The record2013 to 2026: Thirteen Years of Mission Trips, in Charts
13 mission trips across 5 countries since 2013, the three years they could not go, and 509 photographs — Don Nichols' own timeline, charted.
OpenGuides, tools, and the FAQ live on the Resources page. Every fact about the mission on them comes from what Don has published here.