There is a high cost associated with missions. Stewardship is about stretching every dollar, gift, and resource we have for the sake of God’s kingdom. One great way to minimize the cost of an overseas mission trip is by saving money on necessary items along the way.
Short Term Mission Trip Money Saving Tips
People frequently ask, “Are short term missions worth the cost?” As such, churches need to to reduce the costs as much as possible and be sure that the trip has a positive impact. In addition, individuals should reduce the amount they need to fundraise by following a few of the money saving tips provided in this post.
Save Money on Mission Trip Travel Planning
1. Flexibility is crucial. By traveling on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, you can often save a few hundred dollars per ticket. Traveling in low season also adds another layer of savings, but short term mission trips often happen when school is out (high season).
2. Use opaque travel sites when possible. This would be a website like Priceline or Hotwire. These sites offer you significant savings. On a domestic mission trip, I once saved $100 per ticket just by booking through Hotwire. The flight was the exact same flight I would have booked anyway. Here’s how to get the lowest guaranteed price between Priceline and Hotwire. Here’ how to be sure to get the best deal on car rentals.
3. Find local missionary hostels. Many countries have lodges, guest houses, or hostels specifically for missionaries. They typically cannot be found through travel websites. Contact a local host or missionary and see if there are any such housing opportunities.
4. Arrange for access to kitchen facilities. If you have a location with a group kitchen, that will help you save money because cooking your own food is always cheaper than eating out.
5. Plan and prepare early. Time is always a money saver when it comes to travel planning. Be sure you set deadlines for participants that leave you with lots of time to plan the travel arrangements.
6. Always ask about a group discount and age cut offs. Foreign countries might give you child rates for kids who you think are too old. Be sure to ask.
7. Mention you are on a church mission trip.
Short Term Mission Trip Money Saving Tips for Individuals
8. Leave your cell phone at home or buy a local SIM card. Using your phone overseas is VERY expensive. If you think a phone is a must, find a phone with a SIM card slot and buy a local SIM card when you go overseas. Instead you can get free long distance through the internet.
9. Fundraise effectively. Make sure you have a good plan for fundraising. My book, Short Term Missions Handbook, has a step by step guide on how to fundraise effectively.
10. Apply for passports early. The sooner you need the passport, the more it will cost. Passports are expensive enough without needing to pay for an expedited service.
11. Buy clothing items second hand. If you are getting clothes for your trip, you should shop second hand. If you are looking for a specific item, leave time to shop online.
12. Visit your doctor and shop around for meds. Pharmacies often have coupons for new prescriptions. Get your prescriptions early and watch for coupons.
13. Find the cheapest way to exchange foreign currency.
Money Saving Tips for Churches and Missions Coordinators
14. Require travel medical insurance. If there is an accident on the field and the family cannot pay, the church will be asked to assist in the medical costs. Overseas health insurance is always important. In your case, make it required. Personally, I suggest you purchase insurance from an insurance broker who will shop multiple companies.
15. Require payments up front. Sometimes people plan to go on mission trips and then change their minds. Or they think they will raise the funds, but don’t. At the least, require a down payment and full payment before tickets have been purchased.
16. Be selective. It costs a lot of money, time, and effort when someone has to leave the field because of a moral issue. In one case where I was involved, it took a day out of the team’s schedule to deal with the moral issue, and nearly $2,000 for the teen and a chaperon to change their flights to get back to the States. Avoid the headaches and cost by having a good screening system in place.
17. Educate and prepare participants. One way to save money is by being as useful as possible on the field. This is more about adding value than saving money. Obviously, I recommend our Short Term Missions Handbook, as it includes all of the practical tips necessary for preparing for a short term mission trip.
Photo by breezy421.
Do you have any other money saving tips for a short term mission trip?
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Good post.
I’ve found interesting money saving tips which i could inspire me for the next post in my blog. The periods when we make such trips really matters. We really have to consider this when planning for a mission trip travel.
We normally have one annual international mission trip at our church. People who sign up to be involved are allowed to save through the church for their trip expense.. and this is tax deductuble too.
Most of these tips can be applied to almost any kind of trip. Great Post!
Good post Craig,
I can’t think of any tips you missed, but I emphasize LOTS of planning and requiring funds upfront…no exceptions.
I would toot the horn for your Short Term Missions Handbook. It covers every aspect of short term mission trips and will help prevent many problems that one might not otherwise consider.
Craig,
These are all great ways to help save up monies for Missions. You are helping countless folks with their trips! Thanks bro!
Randy Redd
Great article Craig! I have raised 3,000 on three different occasions. Fortunately, when I was raising money I did not have to worry about all the different ways to save money. I did focus on a few things to make sure that I raised the money though. I made sure my fund-raising letters was clean, concise and informative, then it was just a matter of sending out enough.
“God gives every bird a worm, but he does not throw it into the nest.”
Sometimes you can find your prescriptions cheaper overseas! For uncommon prescriptions you don’t want to risk not finding, or very short trips, not worth it, but when I traveled in Southeast Asia for 3 months, I found my $30/month prescription there for $3.
In some places, eating out is cheaper than eating in, especially if you are in an area where it is significantly more expensive to rent a place with cooking facilities, or where it is difficult or expensive to find familiar ingredients and you don’t know how to cook with local ingredients. In areas like this, you can often find a simple, local meal for under a dollar. That bowl of chicken rice soup with flavors of chili, lime & cilantro will probably take you less time, effort & cash than traipsing to the expat market to buy ground beef and lasagna noodles, and you get to experience what the local people enjoy and probably even meet and talk with some of them in the process.
Whenever I’m overseas I try to use my credit card (not debit card – you have more liability with that) as much as possible rather than cash – you are always guaranteed the current exchange rate, and you can only lose $50 even if it gets stolen. You do have to watch out for foreign transaction fees, so find out if your bank charges them.
A couple of comments. First, validate you plans with your short term missionary host. Not all countries have sufficient bandwidth in cybercafes or missionary hotels to use Internet phones. Enable international roaming as a backup in case your plan to purchase a local SIM doesn’t work out. Also, consider prepaid phone cards.
Note: CDMA cell phone carriers do not use SIM cards, and many US carriers that do are locked from using alternative SIMs.
Concerning meds, in some cases you will be looking for additional vaccinations that need to be done months in advance. Check with a travel clinic and CDC website to confirm.
I just returned from a spring break mission trip with my college ministry group. We did not leave the US, but traveled from KY to TX (which helped us save some money).
As a group, we’ve been heading there for about 5 years now, two trips a year. With this frequency, we’ve gotten to know the places we frequent (hotel, car rental) and they are willing to help us get good deals. Plus, everything is booked as a group (like plane tickets) which helps keep costs down.
We took a cook along, and were able to eat for less than $2.50 per person per meal! The food was delicious, and there was far too much of it.