Articles - Snippits

The are several types of church fundraising ranging from tithing donated during religious services to phone solicitations, direct mail campaigns, and specific types of church fundraising events like bake sales or gala dinner events. But despite the types of church fundraising chosen, there are a few easy principles that must be examined.

In fundraising, the first principle is that successful fundraising takes careful thought and planning. The second is that no organization should rely so much on a single funding source that the group would be unable to function without it. All types of church fundraising preparation needs to be guided by this second principle because an organization that is totally dependent on a large fundraising donation from one individual is very vulnerable.

The organizations that make the effort to use many types of church fundraising such that the loss of any one source of donations would not have a large impact is clearly in a strong position. For example in 1869, the Metropolitan Museum of Art turned solely to the prosperous citizens of New York City for contributions. More than a century later, it still receives contributions from wealthy citizens but it also receives aid from local, state, and federal governments, and from corporations and foundations as well. Sure this is just an art museum and not a church but don't lose sight of the bigger picture here in terms of diversifying the source of donations and not being overly reliable on any single source of donations.

Today, classification of monetary support is essential and no organization can realistically expect to finance its work repeatedly from any single source. Even if the organization is successful in getting one huge grant, it cannot and should not be realistically expected that the grant will be renewed every year, and the future of the organization is far from safe. Furthermore, funding sources prefer seeing that a nonprofit organization's funding is indeed well-diversified because this shows a consensus that the organization is important and worth supporting.

By becoming associated with all types of church fundraising sources, fundraisers can select those most appropriate to their own organization. Remember, it is not very likely that all your supportes will be interested in your efforts, and so, with limited fundraising resources, you will need to choose the battles you are most likely to win.

All philanthropy can be traced back to individual people rather than to foundations, governments, or businesses. The founding philanthropists of the United States were individuals such as Benjamin Franklin whose vision and generosity led to the creation of several of Philadelphia's earliest nonprofit institutions.

During the Middle Ages, Europe's churches were constructed not only through the largesses of queens, kings, and other nobility but also through the generosity of artisans and trade people. Many members of guild and merchant associations, including bakers, carpenters, weavers, shoemakers, butchers, masons, fishmongers, furriers, and other contributed to the building of the famed cathedral in Chartres, France; their funding underwrote the creation of many of its breathtaking stained glass windows. Church fundraising goes way back in time, as you can see.