A pastor’s job description includes reminding parishioners: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
My father was the first person to teach me about fundraising. When I was growing up, he served as the pastor of Baughman Memorial United Methodist Church (a mouthful). I watched him execute his own fundraising strategy when he preached about money, asked parishioners for financial support, or discussed the church’s budget and important donors at the kitchen table. At the time, I didn’t realize how crucial this part of my father’s job was; now I see that he operated as a part-time major gifts officer. Once, I remember him boasting to me that every church he served emerged in substantially better financial shape—even churches that had previously carried a great deal of debt. For him, strengthening the congregation’s financial health was a point of pride.
Local churches remain the backbone of American civil society. According to the 2026 Charitable Giving in America Survey, 74% of charitable donations go to places of worship—more than any other kind of nonprofit. Thousands of pastors across the country fundraise constantly to maintain—and grow—their ministries. But many feel uncomfortable asking for money, which is no wonder. It’s a touchy subject. As soon as a pastor mentions “financial support,” people in the pews start shifting awkwardly in their seats. Many pastors fear coming across as preaching the “prosperity gospel” (telling people that if they give now, God will financially reward them later); they certainly don’t want to seem like they’re trying to wheedle people’s money away from them. For many pastors, it seems easier to pass the plate mutely and hope for the best.
Unfortunately, this non-strategy is (unsurprisingly) non-sustainable. Many local churches carry substantial debt or struggle to cover basic expenses. And even though most pastors enter the ministry to preach the gospel, not to work as professional fundraisers, good stewardship of a congregation requires robust, sustainable fundraising.
A few weeks ago, I decided to ask my father for his fundraising secret—how he’s managed church fundraising so successfully during his nearly forty years of ministry. He answered quickly: there is no secret. In fact, he said, it’s very straightforward: “I don’t ever speak of ‘fundraising’, ‘making an appeal,’ or ‘asking for money,’” he told me. “I talk about spiritual health and maturity. I preach at least once a month that spiritually healthy people tithe.” He referenced the passage in the gospels where Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21). Tithing, he said, isn’t about what the church needs; instead, it’s about the giver orienting his heart towards the kingdom of God with his money. “I repeat these messages over and over,” he emphasized.
From the pulpit and during pastoral visits, this meant encouraging congregants to contribute to the church as a spiritual discipline—both in order to commit themselves more fully to the Lord and in order to put their trust more fully in his providence. Dad wasn’t afraid of being forthright when he preached about money. I remember him proclaiming in many sermons that you can tell what someone’s priorities are just by looking at their checkbook. He urged his parishioners to put Christ at the center of their heart by putting him first in their monthly budget. This message wasn’t an empty “prosperity gospel”; rather, it was his way of focusing on the spiritual and emotional significance a donation has for the one who gives, rather than highlighting the wonderful things the church could do with more money.
Much of my father’s homespun fundraising wisdom parallels Jeremy Beer and Jeff Cain’s “Donor Response Theory” (DiRT). In their book The Forgotten Foundations of Fundraising, the duo identifies four arguments nonprofits make when they ask for money: (1) save our organization from going under; (2) please help us maintain our organization,;(3) invest in the high-ROI work we do; and (4) join us, be part of a community, be the kind of person who gives to our organization. The first three are all about the organization; the fourth is about the donor. Overwhelmingly, this fourth appeal is the most effective.
What my father learned over four decades of pastoral ministry and what Jeremy Beer and Jeff Cain discovered through years of research and experience in professional fundraising comes down to the same core principles, just as applicable for local churches as for big national nonprofits: focus on the donor—their identity, their values—not just on what the organization is accomplishing.
Christ said long ago: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” A fundraiser who recognizes this principle and inspires the joy of giving in his donors will be blessed indeed.
Oh, and by the way—my father told me that last year his church finished the year nearly $100K in the black. The reasoning behind his approach may be theoretical, but the results are very concrete.