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The are many 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 should be examined.

In fundraising, the first principle is that successful fundraising requires careful consideration and planning. The second is that no organization should rely so much on a single funding source that the group would not be able to function without it. All types of church fundraising preparation needs to be guided by this second principle because a church that is totally dependent on a large donation from one individual is extremely vulnerable.

The organizations that put forth the effort to use many types of church fundraising such that the loss of any one source of contributions would not have a significant impact is clearly in a strong position. For example in 1869, the Metropolitan Museum of Art turned solely to the wealth people of New York City for support. More than a century later, it still gets donations from prosperous 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 funds and not being overly dependent on any single source of donations.

Today, diversification of monetary support is essential and no organization can realistically expect to finance its work repeatedly from any single source. Even if the organization succeeds in getting one huge contribution, it cannot and should not be realistically expected that the contribution 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 church is important and worth supporting.

By becoming associated with all types of church fundraising supporters, 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 work, and so, with limited fundraising resources, you will need to choose the opportunities you are most likely to win.

All philanthropy can be traced back to individuals rather than to businesses, foundations, or governments. 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 organizations.

During the Middle Ages, Europe's churches were constructed not only through the largesses of kings, queens, and other nobility but also through the support of trades people and artisans. 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. So you see, all types of church fundraising goes way back in time.