New fundraising guide for churches

A local congregation decides to build a church fellowship hall, but doesn’t secure adequate funding beforehand, assuming “the money will come once we get going.” It’s a familiar scenario, and one Seventh-day Adventist philanthropy experts are hoping a new fundraising guide will help local church leaders avoid.

“If you believe the Lord will bless later for the money to come, you can also believe the Lord will bless right now and bring it,” said Nikolaus Satelmajer, who wrote and edited “Successful Fundraising: A Guide for Local Churches” with Lilya Wagner, director of the church’s Philanthropic Service for Institutions (PSI).

“While there are countless how-to volumes, I wanted something customised for Adventist campaigns and projects,” Wagner said. “It was challenging but also satisfying to take the best experiences and practices in my field and adapt them to the needs of [Adventist] leaders.”

“Successful Fundraising: A Guide for Local Churches” is the first such handbook written and edited by Adventist philanthropy leaders. It’s aimed to serve as a springboard for any fundraising project, with advice and formulas on advance planning, structuring a capital campaign, stewardship principles and avoiding debt fatigue.

While the handbook specifically targets a North American audience, its principles will apply worldwide, Satelmajer said. One chapter explores Ellen White’s approach to fundraising and tells how she was a key figure in fundraising for many of the church’s first healthcare and educational institutions. A study of her methods indicates that she believed in asking for donations, especially from those she knew well and from potential donors outside of church membership. 

Satelmajer says that another key principle is getting the entire congregation behind a project before moving forward. With church-wide support, a building project can unify a congregation around a single goal, but when the majority of members are reluctant, a project “can really damage the relationships in the church,” he said.

“Successful Fundraising: A Guide for Local Churches” is available via AdventSource at www.adventsource.org.

The new fundraising guide – an Adventist first.