Churches have tried all sorts of ways of raising money: membership dues, pledges, bonds, patronage, investments, bulletin advertising, fees for services, gift shops, holy day activities, cultural festivals, facility rentals, “poor boxes,” and honorary dedications. But in America, the most widely used of all the fundraising tools is the collection plate.
It was not always thus. The practice of plate-passing originated sometime early in the twentieth century, and it was a marked improvement on earlier fund-raising methods in America. Prior to that most, churches rented pews or had public subscription lists — which highlighted wealth inequality — or they used lotteries and raffles — which were later criticized as gambling. Only on rare occasions would a hat would be passed around to collect money for a specific cause. But as global mission movements rose in the late nineteenth century, more and more people requested special offerings. In time, collection plates became the most powerful fundraising tool the church had.
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