Ideally, youth ministry would be fully funded by the through the congregation's budget.  However, in many congregations fundraising is a necessary component of the youth ministry program.   However, too often youth fundraising lacks an evangelical purpose beyond generating revenue.  Also, many fund raising tools (like frozen food sales) takes a larger percentage of the funds generated than the ministry. 

Congregations may be better served by an activity which both raises funds for the youth group AND serves an evangelical purpose.  Please consider these two options:

First, Augsburg Fortress offers a fundraising opportunity which produces significant profits for the youth group and gives families the opportunity to purchase high quality Christian books for gifts and their homes as a reasonable price and adds excellent books to the church's library.  How?  It could not be simpler! Partner with Augsburg Fortress to receive selected books to sell at a book fair or other special event and KEEP the following: 40% of the proceeds from the sale to support your congregation's ministry;  FREE sample copies of each book included in the program to donate to your church's library.  It's a win-win-win partnership! You get 40% of the proceeds, lots of great books for your library, and you support the mission of the Publishing House of the ELCA. Check out the 8 easy steps to running your fundraising program.

http://www.augsburgfortress.org/fundraising/

Second, Lutheran World Relief offers a fundraising opportunity which produces significant profits for the youth group and raises awareness of the child labor, environmental issues, and economic injustices associated with the cocoa trade. 

http://www.lwr.org/chocolate/fundraiser.asp

It is also a powerful witness by the youth ministry to the congregation when the youth tithe (giving 10%) their fundraising profits for mission outside itself from.  A youth group may tithe to a project listed in the ELCA Hunger Grants Catalog, to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal’s Youth Challenge2,  or to another youth ministry with few resources.

Budgeting for Youth Ministry

Sample Youth Budget

Sample Fundraising Policy