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How much will it cost to run an Alpha course?
How much will it cost to run an Alpha course?

costs, expenses, buy, DVDs, books, food, promotion

Updated over 2 months ago

All the training videos, Alpha talks, promotional material and weekly handouts are available online for FREE. But there are some costs to consider.

A Home Alpha with 8 people will have fewer expenses than a full-scale church Alpha with 50 people. Once you decide on the location and estimate size of your Alpha, here are some considerations that will impact your expenses.

Promoting Alpha

Will you promote your Alpha by personal invitation and/or on social media (no cost)?
Will you use a print shop for guest invitations, posters, banners?
(Click here to see 40 ways to promote your Alpha.)

Food on Alpha

Is your Alpha online (no food) or in person?
Will you need to purchase food for 5 people or 50 people?

Do you have multiple sources of food donations?
(Click here to read Ideas for Food on Alpha.)

Alpha Weekend or Day Together

Will you be using someone's home or another church (no cost)?
Will you be staying overnight at a retreat centre ($$)?

Will you join another church running Alpha to share the costs?

Can you take up an offering at church to cover Alpha costs?
(Click here to read Alpha Weekend Info.)

Books / Handouts

The Team Guide & Guest Guide are both available as PDFs online.

You can print or email the individual pdf handouts each week.

If you prefer hardcopy books, you can purchase them online at Ekkuip Canada or at your local Christian bookstore for about $15 each.

Recommended Reading

The Alpha Guest Guide includes a list of books for further learning. Some Alpha groups provide a "Book Table" with reading material that guests can borrow for one week and/or purchase.

Online Alpha

Will you meet by using a free platform like Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, etc?

Will your church pay for the Zoom Pro version (no time limit for meetings)?

Do you want to send Skip the Dishes to your guests for the Alpha Weekend? (more info here)

If you would like to create your own Alpha budget, please click here for a sample.

After you register a course, you will have access to the following materials all for free:

  • Promotional materials (guest invitations, posters, banners, etc)

  • All the Alpha videos to download and save to your computer

  • 2 team training videos (in the "Series Materials" section)

  • Team Guide with small group discussion questions for each week

  • Guest Guide with video outline for each week

  • Sample schedules and checklists to help you plan and prepare

  • Info sheets for hosts and helpers

    And more!

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