Church Fundraising Idea of the Year in partnership with the
in partnership with the
5. Stop the Clock Competition
Stop the clock, start the fundraising
St. Mary Magdalene church in
Cumbach, Aberdare, needed to install
a loop hearing system as well as
curtains and screens for the back of
the church.
Competition &
Participation
The church had already introduced a
number of fundraising initiatives. For
instance, members of the congregation
could buy a card to remember someone
special on the church’s remembrance
board. Now St. Mary Magdalene was
looking for a new fundraising idea with a
difference.
The solution was ‘Stop the Clock,’ a
simple but effective way to encourage
members of the congregation to make
an extra donation. A clock was wound up
to its full extent, then placed in a sealed
box in the church and left until it stopped
going. People were then encouraged to
buy minutes – if their minute was the time
showing on the clock when it was taken
out of the box, they were the winner.
There were also runners-up prizes –
for the exact minute an hour before
the clock stopped, and an hour after it
stopped. As people tended to buy blocks
of minutes, this avoided anyone winning
more than one prize.
If you’re thinking of an event like this, it
works in much the same way as a raffle.
Give members of the congregation
blocks of minutes to sell, and they can
then jot down who buys which minute, or
choose to buy minutes themselves. It’s
an idea whose time has come!
Church details
St. Mary Magdalene
Diocese of Llandaff
Average congregation = 50
Stop the clock by numbers
n
n
£720 – the total you could raise for selling each minute for £1
15 – the number of minutes on each control sheet
What you’ll need
n
n
n
n
n
A traditional wind up clock
A sealed box or somewhere safe to put the clock
Control sheets that people can use
to sell minutes
Volunteers to sell minutes
A service or event when the clock is wound up and sealed
“
It was a brand new event
for everyone to participate in,
easy to organise and fun to
take part.
”
Adrian Parker,
St. Mary Magdalene
For more fun ideas, tips and advice and the chance to win £10,000 in our 2016 competition go to
www.ecclesiastical.com/churchcomp. Good luck!
Ecclesiastical Insurance Office plc (EIO) Reg. No. 24869. Ecclesiastical Insurance Group plc (EIG) Reg. No. 1718196. Ecclesiastical Life Ltd (ELL) Reg. No. 243111. E.I.O. Trustees Ltd
Reg. No. 941199. All companies are registered in England at Beaufort House, Brunswick Road, Gloucester, GL1 1JZ, UK. EIO and ELL are authorised by the Prudential Regulation
Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.
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