Inviting Youth to Fundraise for Your Chapter

Hot Fundraising in the Summertime

By Holly Miller
NRL Field Coordinator

Active membership often wanes in the summertime as families go on vacation or just spend more time together while kids are out of school. Yet, due to the nice weather, summer is the best time of year to do fun things and raise funds as a chapter.

Young people are often overlooked in the drive to enlist supporters and volunteers. Yet, in the summer, young people have the time and the energy to help your chapter's fundraising.

As members of the post-Roe generation, the youth have been most affected by Roe v. Wade. They also deal with abortion first hand as their classmates and friends develop their own views on the life issues, or, unfortunately, end up in crisis pregnancy situations.

Inviting young people to help your chapter with the following fundraising projects will contribute to their education on the life issues. By training young people to communicate the right- to-life message, you are insuring that the next generation of leaders will be a pro-life one. By enlisting their support for fund-raising, youth are devoting themselves to the chapter, and you are investing in the future of your chapter in more ways than one.

Following are three time-tested activities that they will also enjoy:

Car Washes

You see them almost every weekend, in parking lots of churches, gas stations, parks, and fast-food restaurants. Young people often hold car washes to raise hundreds, even thousands, of dollars for camps, trips, and equipment.

They do them in every community, year after year, because they are inexpensive to carry out, proven moneymakers for good causes, and because they are loads of fun. Most likely your chapter is looking for easy, yet lucrative fundraisers, and car washes fill the bill.

Invite the young people in your community, our future members and leaders, to get involved by manning the buckets and hoses. By providing a prize, like a pizza party, you may be able to encourage several youth groups to challenge each other to see which one raises the most money for your chapter. Car washes are fun and young people are competitive, so give them a little incentive and watch 'em go!

Youth Servants for Life

You may have noticed that teens are far more eager to do chores for others than for their own parents. Get a group of hardworking young people together who are willing to offer several hours of their time and hold an auction for their services.

Whether someone needs weeds pulled or windows washed, he or she may be willing to pay big bucks for some manual labor. Host a pizza party for the youth who participate a few weeks after all the jobs are completed.

Youth Lock-In

Another familiar activity, especially on graduation night, is the "Lock-In." Why not have your chapter members plan and chaperone one for teens?

It's simple. The youth pay a fee to attend, and are literally locked in until morning. Hold the event in a gym or church hall where there is plenty of room for the teens to play. Show pro- life videos, plan fun activities, have board games, play music, provide refreshments, etc.

Basically, you will be hosting a slumber party on a grand scale. Teens will be drawn for the fun of the activities and the socializing. Just be sure to have as many of the possible expenses, like the facilities, DJ, and snacks, donated or obtained at reduced rates so that the chapter turns a worthwhile profit.

Involving young people in chapter activities gives them the important sense of belonging to the chapter. This hand-on experience also educates them and is a living example to the general public that the pro-life movement is lively and growing.

And since teens can do the labor-intensive work of the chapter, easing the burden for the adult volunteers, let them! They even enjoy doing the "dirty work." Moreover, they will raise valuable funds to support the work of your chapter.

If your chapter has had a successful event or fundraiser, National Right to Life, our affiliates, and our chapters want to hear about it! Please let me know by e-mail at hmiller@nrlc.org, via phone at 202-626-8809, or by regular mail to NRLC, attn: Holly Miller, 512-10th St. NW, Washington, DC 20004.