Fundraising

Three months to go before camporee, and the budget doesn't add up: registration, bus, new tents, food for the entire weekend. Someone throws out the classic idea: "let's do a raffle!" — and that's when the question that stalls every board comes up. Can the Pathfinder Club do it or not? The answer exists, it's official, and it's in the Adventist Church's Administrative Manual. This article sorts it all out: what's allowed, what's prohibited, and the strategies that actually work.

💰Where does the club's money come from?

First, a deal: the Pathfinder Club is the Seventh-day Adventist Church's program for boys and girls ages 10 to 15 — and, like any good adventure, it costs money. Tent, rope, patch, insurance, camping trip: none of that falls from the sky. That's why the Pathfinder Club Administrative Manual, published by the South American Division (SAD, the church's headquarters for eight South American countries), dedicates an entire chapter to finances: chapter 3.6.

According to the manual, the club's income comes from four official sources. The first is monthly dues: everyone pays, including the board, with the amount adjusted to members' circumstances — in lower-income areas it can be symbolic, but it exists, because it teaches that what's worthwhile has a cost. And there's a golden rule: no one is left out for being unable to pay. The details on amounts are in how much it costs to join the club.

The other three: the church subsidy (a slice of the annual budget that the local church decides on in committee), sponsorships (support from members, parents, friends, and business owners), and fundraising campaigns — the well-known sales and fairs. The last two exist precisely for big, occasional expenses, like new tents and event registrations. Most of the questions come up around these.

🛒Can the club sell things to raise funds?

Yes, it can. The manual is clear: the SAD considers selling, when the official guidelines are followed, a legitimate source of funds for clubs (ch. 3.6.2). In other words: canteens, fairs, and product sales aren't a "workaround" — they're a recognized tool. But they come with a set of rules every club needs to know before setting up the stand.

The main conditions: sales can never have religious purposes (raising money for the club's program, which is a social and educational activity, is fine; "selling to fund worship services" is not) and never take place at the place of worship — the sanctuary doesn't turn into a store. Products can't go against Adventist principles, which rules out meat, and prices can never be exorbitant. The manual also values sales with an educational purpose, like products made in the church's own courses and workshops.

The reason, in one sentence: the church believes generosity should come from the heart, not the stomach — so a sale can help the club, but it can never replace the spirit of service. Want to go straight to the source? The full document is at the club's official manuals.

Every financial transaction of the Pathfinder club must go through the local Church treasury.Pathfinder Club Administrative Manual (SAD), ch. 3.6

🎟️Can the Pathfinder Club hold a raffle or bingo?

No. This is the chapter's most emphatic answer: the manual prohibits "bingo, raffles, betting, games, or any other method contrary to the principles of the Seventh-day Adventist Church" (ch. 3.6.2). The reason fits in one sentence: raffles and bingo are games of chance, and the church doesn't fund its projects with luck. So that well-meaning bicycle raffle is out — at any club, in any SAD country.

The good news: the menu of what is allowed is large. Think of it this way: if the activity involves real work (making, preparing, serving, providing a service) and a product within the principles, the path is open — always with approval from the church committee, the group that makes decisions for the local church. The table below sums up the most common cases.

What the SAD Administrative Manual (ch. 3.6.2) allows and prohibits in fundraising campaigns.

Read alsoClub treasury→

🧾Where does the money raised go?

Here's the part that surprises a lot of people: the club treasurer doesn't hold on to the club's money. Every financial transaction goes through the local church treasury — and the manual calls any parallel cash box unacceptable. It works like the central server of an online game: every coin goes into the same shared inventory, logged and visible, so nobody gets lost (or falls into temptation).

In practice: the juice fair wraps up, the amount raised goes to the church treasurer, who provides a receipt (ch. 3.6.1). When the club needs to spend money, it comes out of that fund, always with an invoice — from a pencil to a freezer. And purchases are made under the tax ID of the Field (the Conference or Mission, the regional office that administers the churches in the area), never under an individual member's personal ID.

It may look like red tape, but it's protection: for the treasurer, who's never under suspicion; for parents, who know where every dollar went; and for the club, which reports its accounts with its head held high. Transparency is the board's invisible uniform.

🤝How to find sponsors and benefactors for the club?

The manual offers an official sponsorship strategy that's almost a well-kept secret (ch. 3.6.1): list all the club's needs — tents, event registrations, kitchen equipment — budget each item, and ask for help with one specific item. Instead of "help us with whatever you can," the request becomes "help us buy this R$ 650 tent." The supporter knows exactly where the money will go — and can even donate the item itself. It's the logic of a gift registry: a clear goal convinces far more people.

There's also the figure of the benefactor: someone who financially "adopts" a Pathfinder who can't afford the monthly dues, covering their expenses. The manual asks that the child know someone cares about their well-being — and that the matter always be handled privately, never in public. Every financial supporter is entered into the golden book (ch. 3.4.6): an ornate, gold-colored notebook where the secretary records the name and date of the partnership, with room for a signature. It's the club's hall of fame.

The formal request to companies, schools, and public agencies is made through an official letter, the club's official communication document — the manual includes three ready-made templates in appendices A, B, and C. Does your unit want a new tent? Turn it into a mission: list, budget, letter, hand delivery. Few clubs do it; the ones that do, reap the reward.

💡Which fundraising ideas actually work?

With the rules in hand, the playing field becomes clear. Classics that respect the manual: a vegetarian juice and soup fair, selling homemade bread and cakes (no meat, fair price), crafts and products from the club's workshops — from decorative knots to honor projects — a healthy canteen at events outside the worship space, and services arranged with the community, always cleared with the church committee beforehand.

The roadmap that avoids headaches has four steps: idea → church committee approval → execution → accounting report to the treasury. Skipping the second step is the most common mistake; skipping the fourth is the most serious. And plan the calendar carefully: financial pressure spikes months before a camporee — the big campout that brings together dozens or hundreds of clubs — so whoever starts the campaign six months ahead reaches the event without a scramble.

One last tip from people who've seen plenty of canteens succeed: sell an experience, not just a product. A fair with a club exhibit, a first-aid demonstration, and uniformed Pathfinders offering good service raises more — and it also introduces the club to families who'd never heard of it. A well-run fundraising campaign is also the best advertising.