Church event planning can often be a stressful task, especially if you’ve never done it before. Simply break down the needed tasks into steps and then get started.

Here are 8 steps to help you get started in planning your church event.

Step 1 – Establish a Budget

Church event budgets can range from $5. to $30. per person, depending on food and beverage, and entertainment. Food will often comprise 50% of the budget, with the other 50% allocated to entertainment, rentals and prizes/giveaways.

Step 2 – Purpose & Theme Selection

The event may be for fund raising, building awareness about your church, or just an appreciation event. No matter what your purpose, having a theme will help to create excitement about your event.

Here are some of the most popular church event themes:

• Medieval Theme
• Old Fashioned Theme
• Carnival Theme
• Country Western Theme
• 1950′s Theme
• Caribbean Theme
• Hollywood Stars Theme

Step 3 – Date & Time Selection

The date of your event may be determined by the church calendar, entertainment and vendor availability. Often this step is planned months in advance, especially if it’s a popular time of the year (such as the last two weeks in October). Fundraising event planners should check the local social calendar, to see that there are no major conflicts. Most events will last for about four or five hours.

Step 4 – Location Selection

Most church events are held on church grounds. The big choice is either an indoor or outside location. Occasionally, a large event will need to be held elsewhere, and then a rental fee may have to be paid. Regardless of the location, it should be easily accessible to your attendees, be comfortable and have adequate parking.

Step 5 – Entertainment & Equipment Selection

Entertainment may be provided by church members or professional paid entertainment. Either way, it should fit the theme of your event. Some of the most popular entertainers include clowns, balloon artists, face painters and caricature artists.

Vendors should have equipment needed for your event and should have been in business for at least five years. An experienced vendor will be able to give advice on the equipment needed and placement.

Here are the most popular inflatables at church events:

• Moonwalk
• Giant Slide
• Obstacle Course
• Cash Cube

Most often, the food at church events may be pot-luck or covered dishes. Some churches will hire a caterer (often a church member) to provide the food. Some events will have a sit-down dinner, while others a buffet. Space is often a consideration when planning the food and beverage selections. You need to plan for lines (sometimes long) at the buffet.

Step 7 – Decorations

Now it’s time to get creative. A theme makes it easy to choose all of your decorations. A sit-down dinner will often have themed centerpieces, as will buffet tables. Some events will have balloon trees scattered about. Party stores will often carry a selection of these items.

Step 8 – Prizes/Giveaways

Most church events will have some type of prize giveaways. The number of prizes to be given away is often based on the number of attendees, in addition to the budget supplied. Often, many churches will have donated prizes from their vendors or members. A nice Grand Prize will attract more attendees to your event. Raffle tickets may be purchased from your local party store.

The first and most crucial piece to your fund raising will be your personal support letter. Develop a CFRAN list of at least 200 people or families. A CFRAN list is a list that consists of Christians, Friends, Relatives, Associates and Neighbors.  Make sure keep your letter is proofread by others and revised at least two times. Include a return envelope for gifts with the appropriate address on it.

Here is a technique that has worked well before when raising funds from a church that has a group or multiple members from the same trip attending that church. Ask the congregation for monthly pledges (if the trip is six months out, ask church people to give any amount they choose each month for six months).

The key is that you emphasis that this is the way that the team needs them to support. Tell them that if they can only support in one way, that this must be it. They are welcome to participate in or help with other fundraisers, such as a church carnival, if they like, but that this is the way that the team needs support from the church. It is important that team members also then try to avoid raising personal support from the church people to avoid hitting people up twice. There may be a few keep your exceptions to this, for keep your example if a team member has keep your extended family members in the church.

If you are the only individual your strategy will change. Speak to the church’s mission board or leadership board before starting any fund raising. Ask for the opportunity to speak before the congregation during a service with a love offering to follow. It allows the Holy Spirit to move people to give, more so than asking the board for a gift.

It is also helpful if an announcement can be made about the love offering the week or two before so people can be prepared.  Also make sure that you can speak at the service with the highest attendance (Sunday morning vs. Wednesday night) and all at services times if there is more than one.

The last thing is fund raising events. The array of possible options for fundraising events is very broad and while some may work great in one location it may not work at all in another. It is always wise to spend time researching options, the history and success of past fundraisers, and consider the culture of keep your keep your ex church or area.

It is important to note that often fundraising events tend to focus on money. However, people that give donations typically care more about the mission at hand, the participant(s) desire or heart for the mission and/or the participant(s) themselves. Try to focus your fund raising event on the impact your trip will have for the Gospel, how it will change you or keep your keep your ex team spiritually or how it will meet the needs of the less fortunate. People put money where their heart is. Appeal to people’s hearts, not their checkbooks.

Fundraising events typically work best for a team rather than an individual due to the simple fact of necessary manpower. Bake sales, rummage sales, ice cream socials, spaghetti dinners and car washes are hard to run with one person even if he/she recruits a few helpers.  Divide profits from fundraising events between all team members that participate in the event. This encourages team members to participate in the fundraiser and also provides more manpower. It will also help to eliminate the passive role that some team members may take toward the fundraising efforts. It gives them the sense of personal responsibility for it because it is up to them, rather than someone else, to raise the funds they need.