---
title: How do I set up mission trip fundraising in Churchteams? 
description: Create groups for each mission team participant and give them leader level access to manage their supporters.
---

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# How do I set up mission trip fundraising in Churchteams?

## This article guides church staff in setting up the administrative area of fundraising for a mission trip and provides template resources for the trip participant and an overview of the donor experience.

[**Staff Set Up of Groups & Resources**](https://help.churchteams.com/knowledge/how-to-setup-mission-trips-and-fundraising-0#Staff)

**[Mission Team Participant Resources](https://help.churchteams.com/knowledge/how-to-setup-mission-trips-and-fundraising-0#Participant)**

[**Donor Experience**](https://help.churchteams.com/knowledge/how-to-setup-mission-trips-and-fundraising-0#Donor)

### **Overview of Mission Trip Fundraising & Key Terms in Churchteams**

![Mission Trip & Fundraising Management Roles](https://help.churchteams.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Mission%20Trip%20Management%20Roles.png?width=670&height=99&name=Mission%20Trip%20Management%20Roles.png)

#### **HOW IT WORKS**:

Staff will create and manage a trip participants group.  The group will be used to collect payments, track trip requirements and training, and communicate with trip participants. Each trip participant also gets their own group in Churchteams.  The trip participant-led group will be used to sign up prayer partners and donors and to communicate prayer requests and trip milestones to supporters. Supporters join that group through a digital registration form, and every donation they make goes to your missions fund and shows up in the group.  The trip participant leads this group, so they can add supporters, send updates, and see who has given.

A staff member will create the Trip group and the Trip Participants' Supporters group.  For the Supporter groups, create one from scratch, then copy it and rename it to make creating multiple groups easier.  

**One team group, one group per trip participant, or both?**  If you're raising money or collecting items for one shared goal, like stocking the food pantry, a single group is enough, and you won't need any other individual groups. 

For mission trips, use BOTH: One team group that trip participants register into, indicating their commitment to the trip.  The church will use this group for communication and trip logistics.  Then create an additional group for each participant to manage their prayer partners and donors.

### **STAFF SETUP:**

#### **STEP 1:  Create the Trip Participant (Mission Team) Sign-Up Group.**

1. **Create the Mission Team group**.  Name it something like "Uganda 2027 Team."
2. **Make it visible to church and community members for sign-up**. On the Group Information page, set **Browseable By** to **Guest**.
3. **Set the Ministry Type in the Group Profile**. On the Group Profile, set **Ministry Type** to **Missions**.  This will later allow you to list all missions groups on your website using our custom website integration links.
4. **Add [Registration Settings](https://help.churchteams.com/knowledge/how-to-set-up-registration-including-payments-0?hsLang=en) to this Group, making it a Sign-Up.**  Once your group is set up, from the group page, click Registration \> Settings and add the appropriate settings.   
   We recommend adding a missions or trip logo as well as the trip details, such as dates and cost, in Settings Section 2 - Form Header, Image, & Instructions.  Use Section 3 - Form Questions to add existing People Attribute fields and custom form questions.  Set the trip start date and registration start and close dates in Settings Section 4 - Form & Events Settings.  Add Payment and Deposit requirements in Settings Section 5 and follow-up communications in Settings Section 6.  \*You can also [create a workflow](https://help.churchteams.com/knowledge/how-do-i-set-up-a-workflow-in-churchteams?hsLang=en) that uses this group and sends timely follow-up communications and reminders to your team members.
5. **Share the registration Form**. The shareable link and embed code for this registration form can be found in the Registration Settings for this group, in Settings Section 1.  This is also where you will set a Keyword for the group, such as UGANDA.  People can then text the keyword to your Text-to-Church number to receive the form and complete it using their phone.  If the person is already in your database, many of the fields will auto-populate with their information, making registration quick.

\***Once you have Team Participants sign up, you can begin creating their individual Trip Participant Supporter Groups.  (Group Set-Up Instructions are listed below as STEP 2.)**

\*If you will be using individual missions fundraising funds for each participant, go ahead and create those as well.  Giving \> Settings \> Designations/Funds, Add Designation/Fund.  Connect these funds to the appropriate Trip Participant Group as you customize the registration settings. 

#### **STEP 2: Create the first participants'  Supporter group. (for donors and prayer partners to sign up)**

1. **Create the group.**  Name it something like " Uganda 2027 - {PARTICIPANT NAME}."
   
     1. During the group creation process, on the Group Information page, be sure to make the group visible to supporters by setting "**Browseable By**" to **Guest**.    
        ![Security level on Group Information Page - Browseable By](https://help.churchteams.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Security%20level%20on%20Group%20Information%20Page%20-%20Browseable%20By.png?width=670&height=133&name=Security%20level%20on%20Group%20Information%20Page%20-%20Browseable%20By.png)  
        On the Group Profile page, set **Ministry Type** to **Missions.**  Setting the correct Group Profile will help later if you decide to list all your Missions groups on your website using Churchteams website integration links.  
        ![Ministry Type selection on Group Profile](https://help.churchteams.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Ministry%20Type%20selection%20on%20Group%20Profile.png?width=301&height=132&name=Ministry%20Type%20selection%20on%20Group%20Profile.png)
2. **Add the Trip Participant to the Group and set their Group Role to Leader.** From the group page, click the Add button and search/select the Trip Participant for whom this group is being set up.  Set the Group Role to Leader so that they can view and manage the group supporters.  
   ![Group Role on the Group Page](https://help.churchteams.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20Role%20on%20the%20Group%20Page.png?width=452&height=191&name=Group%20Role%20on%20the%20Group%20Page.png)
3. **Set the Group View (optional)**.  Customize the Group View to show the people and registration fields that are most helpful to leaders as they manage the group and communicate with supporters.  Ex: Email Address, Home Address, Phone, etc.  Save your customized view as "Missions" and set that view as the default on the Group Information page.

![Customize Group View](https://help.churchteams.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-10-01%20at%2012.15.58%20PM.png?width=485&height=194&name=Screenshot%202026-10-01%20at%2012.15.58%20PM.png)

#### **STEP 3: Add a Registration Form to Trip Participant Group (where Supporters will sign up and donate)**

Go to the Trip Participant Group that you created in STEP 2, and click **Registration \> Settings**.

1. **Registration Settings, Section 1 - Links & Text-to-Church Keyword.**  This is where you will set the Keyword that supporters will text to your Text-to-Church number to sign-up as a supporter and/or donor. \*\*We recommend using the Trip Participant's last name as the Keyword, so it's easy for potential supporters to remember.
   
   This is also the section where you will find shareable links - use these to post the form in emails and social media.
2. **Registration Settings, Section 2 - Form Header, Image, & Instructions**.  Add a logo and short note explaining what joining the support team entails.  Each of the Registration Settings sections save as you work, so no need to look for a Save button - edits are happening in real time and are visible in the live form on the left side of the screen.
3. **Section 3 - Form Questions** (optional).  Add custom fields if supporters can donate specific items, like quantities of Bibles (set up as a custom dropdown field where supporters can select what to donate).
4. **Section 4 - Form/Event Settings**.  
   \- Set the Default Member Type to Guest or Contributor Only, and the Default Family Role to Unknown.  This will not overwrite the information for people who are already in your database, only those entering info for the first time.  
   ![Registration Settings Section 4 - Member Type & Family Role](https://help.churchteams.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Registration%20Settings%20Section%204%20-%20Member%20Type%20%26%20Family%20Role.png?width=488&height=107&name=Registration%20Settings%20Section%204%20-%20Member%20Type%20%26%20Family%20Role.png)  
   \- Set the Event Start Date as the first day of the trip itself and the Registration Start Date as the first date you want people to be able to sign up.  Both of these fields are required for the group to show in the Churchteams app.  The registration end date is optional, in case you want to close sign-ups on a particular date.  
   ![Section 4 - Date & App Settings](https://help.churchteams.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-10-01%20at%201.08.05%20PM.png?width=507&height=187&name=Screenshot%202026-10-01%20at%201.08.05%20PM.png)
5. **Section 5 - Payment & Fundraising**.  Choose your missions designation/fund that you set up for this Trip Participant.

#### **STEP 4: Copy the first Trip Participant group to create additional groups for other Trip Participants.**

1. ![Copy Group](https://help.churchteams.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Copy%20Group.png?width=271&height=253&name=Copy%20Group.png)
   
   Once you have created the first group and added the appropriate registration settings, **copy the group to create others** (with the same settings) and rename the copied groups according to the names of the other participants.
   
   \*Go to the first group, click the blue Edit button, then Copy Group.  Next, select the option to copy only the group settings (don't copy the roster, since that will be a different set of people for each group).
2. **Rename the group**. After you copy the group, you'll immediately see the original group and the copied group.  Click the copied group, then on the copied group's page, click Edit \> Group Information.  On the group information page, edit the name to match another Trip Participant.
3. **Add the Trip Participant to the newly copied and renamed group and make them the Leader** of this group, so can invite supporters and manage the group.
4. **Edit the registration settings in Sections 1 and 5.  In Section 1,** edit the  Text-to-Church Keyword for this group's trip participant.  We recommend using the trip participant's last name for the Keyword.  
   
   Edit the Missions Desgination/Fund in Section 5 to match the appropriate fund for the group's Trip Participant.  (Since you copied the group and registration settings from the first Participant, we want to be sure you change Section 1 (Keyword) and Section 5 (Fund) each time you copy the original group.

#### **STEP 5: Create a Support Letter template for your Trip Participants to use.**

This gives every trip participant a template they can personalize and send to potential supporters.

1. **Create a content template**. From the main navigation menu, go to Communicate \> Email \> Templates and click New Template.  ([**We provide sample content here**.](https://help.churchteams.com/knowledge/how-to-setup-mission-trips-and-fundraising-0#Participant))
2. **Name and save the template**. Once you have the content, name the template something like Missions Support.
3. **Set the Security level of the template to Leader**.  Back on the Email Templates (listing of all templates), **click the current security level and change it to Leader** so that the Trip Participants (who are leaders of their Support groups) can access this template as a starting point to customize (with their specific info and links) and save as their own. Later, after each participant saves their own version, you can optionally turn the email template into a shareable web page for them to also share and post to their social media accounts (Step 7).  
   ![Email Template Security Level](https://help.churchteams.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-10-01%20at%203.03.56%20PM.png?width=540&height=115&name=Screenshot%202026-10-01%20at%203.03.56%20PM.png)

#### **STEP 6: Send each Trip Participant a welcome email with instructions for managing their Supporter Group.**

First, create a general welcome-and-instructions email template to send to each Trip Participant.  To do this, go to **Communicate \> Email \> Templates**, and add a new template.  [**Suggested content for this email can be found here for you to copy and use as your own.**](https://help.churchteams.com/knowledge/how-to-setup-mission-trips-and-fundraising-0#Participant)

![Leader Access Links](https://help.churchteams.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Leader%20Access%20Links.png?width=119&height=147&name=Leader%20Access%20Links.png)

Trip participants will need 2  unique links: their giving link specific to their missions designation/fund and their group leader access link.

1. Open the Trip Participant's Supporter Group and click **Edit \> Leader access link**.
2. ![Email update group information link to Leaders button](https://help.churchteams.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Email%20update%20group%20information%20link%20to%20Leaders%20button.png?width=435&height=148&name=Email%20update%20group%20information%20link%20to%20Leaders%20button.png)**Highlight and copy the link shown under Update Group Information Link**.  (You will need this in a moment to paste into the email.)  **Click the "Email update group information link to leader(s)" button**.  This opens an email editor with their email already populated.
3. **Select your template from the dropdown list**.
4. Your welcome and instructions email (if you do not use our suggested content found here) should include: 
     1. **The unique leader access link for their supporter group** (copy and paste this in as instructed above in #1-2 of this section).  This is NOT the registration link that supporters will use to sign up for the group or donate.  This link is only sent to the Trip Participant for accessing and managing the Supporters Group.
     2. **The unique registration link (also used for collecting donations) to sign up as a trip supporter (prayer partner or donor)**.  This link can be found and copied from Section 1 of the Registration Settings page of the Trip Participants Supporter Group.
     3. **The template content they can use to email potential supporters.** (You created this template content for them in STEP 5).  Optionally, you can also send this template to the Trip Participants so they can copy the content from the email they receive from you.
     4. **Instructions for accessing their Supporter Group and using the Group to send communications and trip updates to supporters.** (From the group, select people, then use the Action button to opt to send a text or an email.)

### **TEMPLATE EMAIL & INSTRUCTIONS FOR TRIP PARTICIPANT:**

##### **Welcome Email to Trip Participants (create in Staff STEP 6)**

Hi \[INSERT PARTICIPANT NAME\],

We're so glad you're part of the \[TRIP NAME\] team!  We've set up a group in Churchteams to help you build your support team and track donations.

Two personal links you'll need (keep this email handy and add these links as bookmarks):

- Group Leader Access Link (for managing prayer partners and donors):  
  **\[LEADER ACCESS LINK\]**
- Registration Link to send out, asking people to sign up as a Trip Supporter (Donor and/or Prayer Partner):  
  **\[REGISTRATION LINK\]**
- Keyword for texting to sign up (rather than using a link):  
  Text **\[SUPPORTER GROUP KEYWORD\]** to **\[Text-to-Church number\]**.

Follow the instructions and tips listed below to manage your group of supporters:

1. **Access the Supporters Group the church has set up for you to manage your donors and prayer partners.** 
     1. To access it on your computer, click **\[LEADER ACCESS LINK\]**. Save this link as a bookmark on your computer or device so that you can access it often.  You'll use it to manage and thank donors as well as send trip updates to your supporters.
     2. To access the group on your phone or in the Churchteams App, text ME to the church's number, **\[TEXT-TO-CHURCH NUMBER\]**. Your Supporters group will be listed in the Groups section.
2. **You will be notified when someone registers.**  This notification is sent via email and includes a link that will take you back into your group to view responses and contributions.  Tip: If viewing your  group on your phone, turn it sideways (landscape) to see more information.  
   \*You can also check in on your group sign-ups by using the options in Step 1.
3. **Use the group to email and text updates along the way.**  The blue Communicate button at the top of your group page in Churchteams lets you email and text missions updates.

We will also send you a sample email that you can personalize and use to reach out to potential trip supporters, asking them to sign up as a prayer partner or donor.  Look for that in your inbox soon.

If you have questions, reply to this email.

Thanks,

**\[YOUR NAME\]**

**\[CHURCH NAME\]**

 

##### **Sample Support Invitation Letter (use the resource links and keyword we sent in the instructions email to insert where appropriate).**

**\[YOUR CHURCH LOGO OR LETTERHEAD\]**

Hi **\[Supporter Name\]**,

One of the things the Lord has laid on my heart is to serve people outside my normal path.  When our church recently shared an opportunity to join a team going to Uganda this summer, I knew God was calling me to go.

We'll be in Mbale, a town in eastern Uganda, for 5 days.  We'll teach pastors and church leaders to follow Jesus, make new disciples, and build a small structure to hold worship services.  

Here's my ask of you.  First, would you pray with me about this trip?  Second, would you help support our team and me financially?  No gift is too small.  The trip cost is $3,000, and I've already saved half.  

If the Lord leads you to be a part of my support team, as either a prayer partner or donor, please text **\[KEYWORD\]** to **\[TEXT-TO-CHURCH NUMBER\]** or click **\[REGISTRATION LINK\].**

After you sign up as either a prayer partner or donor, you'll receive periodic updates about the trip and the progress we are making.  Thank you for praying and responding however the Lord leads you.

Sincerely,

**\[YOUR NAME\]**

 

### **DONOR OR PRAYER PARTNER EXPERIENCE:**

When mission trip participants send out their invitation to join their Supporters group, here is what the Supporter will see/do:

1. Fill out a registration form by clicking the link in the email or texting the group keyword.  
   ![Mission Support Registration](https://help.churchteams.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-10-07%20at%201.44.22%20PM.png?width=250&height=366&name=Screenshot%202026-10-07%20at%201.44.22%20PM.png)
2. If the person opts to donate, they will click Register and Donate, which immediately takes them to a payment processing screen, where they can enter their bank or card information.  
   ![Missions Donation Payment screen](https://help.churchteams.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-10-07%20at%201.47.46%20PM.png?width=276&height=309&name=Screenshot%202026-10-07%20at%201.47.46%20PM.png)
3. ![](https://help.churchteams.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202025-07-29%20105438.png?width=177&height=158&name=Screenshot%202025-07-29%20105438.png)Donors can give more than once.  By clicking the same link or texting the same Keyword, donors can send an additional donation.  All payments will be tracked in the Supporters group, for the Trip Participant to track as well.  This is helpful for sending Thank You notes to your donors as they give.
4. ![](https://help.churchteams.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Fundraising7.png?width=235&height=205&name=Fundraising7.png)Donors will receive both a registration confirmation and a contribution receipt. Here is an example contribution receipt.  The donation is automatically added to the donor's giving record in Churchteams.  It will be deposited into the church's bank account approximately 2 days later, depending on bank processing times.  The online reconciliation report will help your bookkeeper track the transaction.

 

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