Youth Group NoJ Trip and need ideas to save money

[Sarah & Brian Waterbury]

I am looking for any advice on how to save money taking 2 adults and 5+ teens to WDW for NoJ this year. We are looking to stay at an All Star resort to save on transportation and extra entertainment. We are staying two nights and only going to MK for the events, so we're not buying tickets. But anything you have to help with the planning will help greatly!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Wait for fall discounts to be released.
Use Magical Express and the Disney buses.

 

[Narnia_girl]

If you are looking for ways to earn money for the trip, our youth group has had good luck with a spaghetti supper at church. They have also done car washes, bake sales and garage sales.

 

[Sarah & Brian Waterbury]

Thank you Narnia_girl. We have already had a spaghetti dinner, and have a ziti night planned for 4/12. We're also in the process of scheduling car washes, coupon book sales, and we're helping with the next church yard sale to make more money. Something we're going to try is crowdfunding through t-shirt sales. There is a website, forget the name at the moment, that will let you design and sell a shirt to raise money for a cause. So we'll design a few shirts, buy them ourselves and customize them, and offer the world one of our shirts to raise money. Not sure if this will work, but we're trying. We're also recycling ink cartridges and small electronics as well. I'm trying hard to get my group there this year.

 

[dprincessmom]

Do you live near an area that has seasonal fruit? Our youth sell flats of strawberries in the spring that they get from the growers for market value and then sell them for a profit (usually 8 dollars a flat profit). They do Christmas greenery as well. Other thoughts would be work with a local restaurant to have a special night that you and the kids advertise and you get a percentage of tickets that night. The kids could help serve and split the tips. Have you priced the trip? Do you know how much it will cost per kid?

One fundraiser we have done for an other cause was Bunco. We charge $25 per person which includes game play, dinner and a door prize ticket. We also round up donations for chance drawing tickets. Typically we make $1000.00 or more each time we do it.

Another fundraiser we do for our school is a Daddy/Daughter dance. $25 per couple, gets finger foods (donated), a digital picture (donated) and the event is held in our fellowship hall. The little girls love it - we have it for girls 3k to 5th grade. You could do this around Father's Day. A take on this could be a mother/son tea for Mother's Day.

Finally you could do a movie under the stars event. A laptop, projector and speakers an a family friendly movie for $1.50. You could charge $5 or $10 per family and provide popcorn. Drinks and candy could be charged an nominal up charge.

 

[georgina]

Are you driving or flying? If driving, bring food for breakfast in your room, and lunch items also. If flying it is harder, but there are some grocery delivery services you can check into. (we often bring paper bowls, plastic spoons, dry cereal in our suitcase and buy milk and OJ at the resort Food at Disney is expensive! You can take your own snacks and water into the park also.

 

[Sarah & Brian Waterbury]

Thank you, dprincessmom. You have given me some great ideas to raise money. We are from a very small church, so some of your ideas will be put away for when we're a little bigger.

Thank you, Georgina, we plan on bringing food. We live in Palm Beach County and flying is more of a hassle and takes longer than driving, so we're definitely driving. We plan on having a box of snacks and drinks with us.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

I have chaperoned many youth trips. Some ways to keep costs down are to bring breakfast foods, milk and juice. We enjoyed starting the day in the youth pastor's room for a quick devotion and breakfast. One YP always took the kids to buffets midday then we had snacks in his room after a conference to share and hang out.
We have done retreat weekends where we ask the church family to sign up to prepare and deliver food for the weekend. You would be limited staying in a value with preparing meals. Maybe have sub sandwiches for lunch with fruit, chips, and brownies/rice krispies treats. Have each kid bring $20 or 25 in an envelope with their name on it and each day give them their money for dinner in the park. You can go into NOJ at 4:00 so it is most time efficient to do dinner there. An option though could be to go to Cici's pizza buffet just before for a big lunch/dinner. The teens love this place and there are several outside Disney. It has pizza, salad and desserts for $6.99.
Last year if you bought the 2 day ticket for NOJ before about August 5, you also got a free one day ticket to a waterpark.
For the size of your group if you are taking a van, maybe look at Staybridge suites by Holiday Inn. You can get 2 bedroom/2 baths with a kitchen and a sleeper sofa in the living room. I think they sleep 8. Would be cheaper than 2 value rooms and have a kitchen, and a very good breakfast is included.

 

[Sarah & Brian Waterbury]

Thank you, Belle & Ariel. Will definitely keep all of that in mind. Great advice.

 

[Random Ninja]

Try talking to some of the local restaurants like Chick-fil-a and Applebees. Both of those will do an "event night" where proceeds of the profits that night go to your group. Usually there is a flyer or container for receipts or people have to mention the event.

Skating rinks and other entertainment facilities sometimes will sell you discounted tickets that the kids sell at regular price, or a discount, and the group gets to keep the profit.

Start looking at the budget now with how much the group is going to need including meals. Plan on bringing pastries or donuts and juice for breakfasts to keep costs down. Make goals for the kids to achieve by a certain date to stay on track. Since the NoJ tickets don't get you in until 4pm, eat before going and bring snacks into the park to keep costs down. You might want to put the food budget on gift cards if the kids are going off on their own at all. That way you don't have to carry around a bunch of cash.

If you have multiday tickets, schedule some activities like checking out other resorts, pool time, scavenger hunts, or something to prevent squirrely teens. I remember a few years back someone wanted to do a scavenger hunt where the teens had to go around to different places that didn't require a ticket and figure out where certain pictures were taken. Another good challenge is to collect Transportation cards which can be obtained from random bus drivers, monorail attendants, and boat drivers and helpers.

 

[Sarah & Brian Waterbury]

Oooo, , I love scavenger hunts! That would be awesome! Maybe even include some random acts of kindness activities too! Thanks Random Ninja!

 

[Narnia_girl]

Another fun fundraiser is a trivia night at church. I have organized this several times. I ask several people to research the questions in a category I give them (literature, history, Disney, music, etc...). Each round has nine questions in the category and the 10th question is always a cool bit of trivia about someone in our congregation (who got two speeding tickets in one day...which elder was a homecoming king...) and so on.

You could charge an entry fee per team. But another way to earn money is by selling "Mulligans". Like in golf, if you mess up you get an extra shot (a Mulligan). Each team is allowed one Mulligan per round for $1 (or $5) We did this as a food drive, so our Mulligans cost a can of food.

 

[chris31997]

Look into a date night for fund raising. The teens watch the kids and parents donate to the cause. You can open it up to other churches, childcare centers.

 

[Sarah & Brian Waterbury]

Great ideas, Narnia_girl and chris31997, adding them to the list.