Many youth ministries have budgets for books, curriculum and other miscellaneous items but few have the funds to underwrite every event, camp or missions trip. (That might be a good thing by the way.)
Many of us have to find creative ways to fundraise.
For me, my goal has been to raise money in a way that doesn’t get people buying stuff they don’t need. We have three big fundraisers that accomplish that goal in addition to 4 smaller ones that don’t meet those criteria.
Selling prepaid gas cards has been a huge win and is my number one fundraiser that doesn’t get people buying stuff they don’t need. In two years we have raised $5000 by selling $60,000 of fuel.
This works, but it takes time and a commitment to doing it long term. I truly know that you can make money selling prepaid gas cards as long as you have participating companies in your area.
Here is a quick list of the pros and cons.
CONS
– You need money up front to do it
– You need some sort of system to track funds raised
– If you do it regularly, you need to keep a good supply on hand
– National fuel companies don’t give nearly as deep a discount as local companies (i.e. Compare Exxon who is national at 2% to KWIK TRIP who is Midwest-based at 10%)
– You will need to set up an account with these companies (Simple paperwork)
PROS
– Over time, you will raise money
– You’re not taking money from the fuel companies but from VISA and other credit card companies who are losing on credit card transaction fees
– People need gas and these programs DON’T have customers paying more than the actual worth of the product
– The higher gas prices are, the more you can make
To get started, feel free to contact me for details on how we do it, or feel free to contact any of these companies directly and begin the process of setting up your own fundraiser.

Here is a list of contact info for some of the companies you might wish to connect with:
– KWIK TRIP offers 10% profit and can be reached at http://www.kwiktrip.com/Community/Fundraising/Scrip-Gift-Card-Program/.
– Holiday Station Stores can be reached at http://www.holidaystationstores.com/Page/Scrip (In my experience, if you can prove to them that a local competitor exists with a higher rate, they will match that rate.) Their offered rate is 4%.
– Super-America can be reached at http://superamerica.com/GiftCards/FundRaising Their program offers 5% profit.
– Exxon / Sunoco / BP / ARCO / Texaco all offer their programs through a third party. They offer a 2% profit. Joe manages these programs and he can be reached at 847-553-9129
– CENEX is an option as well for those in the Midwest. To work with them, you will need to contact your local gas station’s management as terms will vary.
– Great Lakes Scrip offers fuel and other scrip programs. They can be reached at http://www.glscrip.com/ but when you do business with a company like them, you add a third party to the mix and the profits drop.