The Cost of Running Alpha
It’s important to note that WEFC and alpha@wefc believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ should be freely offered to all who will come and hear. Therefore, we do not charge guests for the Alpha course.
Although contributions, in both monetary and other forms, are welcome, guests of the Alpha Course are not expected to pay a fee, make an offering or offset any of the costs involved in running an Alpha Course. In collaboration with the pastoral staff of the church, alpha@wefc plans the annual budget and manages much of the expenses incurred.
Below is a list of costs to consider for the running of an Alpha course.
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The initial material costs to run an Alpha course for 25 people approximates S$1000-1500. This cost is incurred only for our first course. Many of the materials are reused on subsequent Alpha courses. Below is a list of recommended materials for our first Alpha course:
- Just Beginning Kit includes everything we need to start and run the Alpha course for 25 guests. Includes: Alpha Course DVD, Course Manuals, Leader Guides, Leader Training DVD, Director’s Handbook, Resource books/booklets for guests, promotional posters, invitations and Alpha Cookbook. This kit has already been paid for and purchased by the church.
- Alpha Course Manuals. Additional needed if we have more than 25 guests (1 manual per guest).
- Small Group Leader’s Guides. Additional needed if we have more than 4 leaders (1 guide per leader).
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The cost of Alpha course materials after our first Alpha course varies according to the size of each course and our promotional needs.
In general, material costs is estimated at approximately $15 per guest/leader. Keep in mind that some leaders will return, so they will not need new guides. Below is a list of possible materials for each ongoing Alpha course.
- Alpha Course Manuals – One manual per guest.
- Small Group Leader’s Guides – One guide per leader/helper.
- Promotional/Publicity items – Each course requires publicity and promotional material in the time leading up to the actual Alpha Course. Promotional materials are available from Alpha Singapore. alpha@wefc prefers to leverage on the use of invitations, posters, DVDs and brochures produced by our own church resources to help promote our courses to make them more relevent to our church and to manage costs. Much of these are recycled wth small additions or edits made.
- Guest resources – An Alpha library is made available as part of each Alpha Course. The library provides a variety of books and booklets to help guests answer their questions about Christianity. These are pre-purchased and restocked by alpha@wefc and made available to each guest during an Alpha Course at cost.
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This varies by the nature and type of each Alpha Course. Below is a list of other costs to consider in our Alpha course budgets.
- Meals – food, tableware, decorations.
- Childcare (if applicable) – cost of hiring childcare workers to provide childcare facilities and assistance for 3 hours (when necessary), supplies. alpha@wefc prefers to rely on volunteers from the church congregation offering their expertise and time, where possible.
- Retreat Facility – rental, meals, snacks, supplies.
- Course Leaders’ Training – meals, snacks, supplies. alpha@wefc organizes and conducts our own training to familiarize course leaders with the course materials and facilitation skills.
- Alpha Training and Events – national or regional events that provide learning and networking opportunities as well as keep our church updated on current events in Alpha. These include training events and conferences conferences organized at a national and regional level.
- Promotional Items – Banners, signage, newspaper ads, flyers, bulletin inserts, multimedia presentations, production costs of publicity videos. alpha@wefc prefers to leverage on church resources, where possible.
- Miscellaneous supplies – writing paraphernalia, name tags, music CDs, songbooks.
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