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

In fundraising, the first principle is that successful fundraising requires careful consideration and planning. The second is that no organization should depend so much on a single funding source that the group would be unable to operate 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 churches that put forth the effort to use diverse types of church fundraising such that the loss of any one source of donations would not have a large impact is clearly in a better position. For example in 1869, the Metropolitan Museum of Art turned solely to the wealth citizens of New York City for contributions. More than a century later, it still gets contributions 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 donations and not being overly dependent on any single source of support.

Today, classification of monetary support is critical and no organization can generally expect to fund its work repeatedly from any single source. Even if the organization is successful 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 likely that every source will show interest in your work, and so, with limited fundraising resources, you will need to choose the opportunities you are most likely to win.

Philanthropy can be tracked back to individuals rather than to foundations, governments, or businesses. The United States' founding philanthropists were people 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 cathedrals were constructed not only through the largesses of queens, kings, and other nobility but also through the generosity 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.