One Fund Strategy
Providing vision clarity with one significant giving ask is a key strategy for simplifying and unifying giving for future generations. Framing the entirety of the church’s missional work—local, state, national and international—as the essential working out of the Great Commission is the new approach to help a new generation of givers connect meaningfully with the full scope of the gospel task.
This significant strategy adjustment to one unified offering is called a One Fund. We might summarize our three goals for a One Fund this way:
What Is a One Fund?
It’s been said that money follows vision. Tellingly, that statement is both an aspirational goal for messaging and a clear reality about the motivations people have for giving. It’s also the rationale for collecting the entirety of the church’s funding needs in one place to present a unified vision of its collective gospel impact.
The practical implication is that all of it works together to accomplish the Great Commission, even mundane things like utilities, insurance, administration, staffing and facilities.
Most One Funds are presented with a 2-year timeframe and ask for a corresponding commitment to tithe and give above and beyond. In this way, a One Fund resembles multi-year capital campaign commitments. The difference is that the church’s full missional objectives—traditional budget, special missions and capital projects—are part of the commitment.
One way to visualize the One Fund Approach is with the analogy of three spending priorities or buckets. Essentially, the first bucket includes the normal ministry budget—ministry programs, people and buildings. The second bucket includes missions—previously budgeted missions and the World Missions Offering. The third bucket includes special projects—large capital expenses and facility renovations.
Here’s an example of three bucket approach from First West’s 2021-2023 See To It Fund:
How Are the Buckets Funded?
Since the first two buckets include previously funded priorities, we should expect to FULLY fund both of those items in the years ahead. The reason for that is simple: The generous gifts of God’s people already provide funds to make that ministry happen. The third bucket is a special project bucket. Because this is something new, we may or may not fully fund that bucket. But because the size and scope of the project depends on funding, this allows the church to adjust project pieces to match the funds in bucket #3.
One Fund Case Study
Consider the following One Fund growth history as a case in point.
This first foray into one fund territory was for one year only (2020-21), a departure from normal operating procedure due to disruptions caused by COVID-19. The church experienced modest success in this tumultuous first year with an additional $177,266 in receipts versus the previous year’s total receipts (2019-20, which includes both Budget and World Missions Offering receipts).
The first full 2-year See To If Fund from 2021-23 was a greater success. Against the last pre-One-Fund baseline, receipts were $526,782 greater in 2021-22 and $308,515 greater in 2022-23. While giving was relatively lower in the second year, recognize the unique economic and inflationary pressures affecting this time frame. But note the significant increase in 2023-24, representing an increase of $802,608 against the pre-One-Fund baseline in 2019-20.
By unifying the church’s financial needs with One Ask, One Commitment, and One Mission and Vision, we have grown overall levels of giving permanently and built a sustainable future giving base.
Resources
“A One Fund Can Keep Your Budget Growing, Even After the Capital Campaign Ends” by Generis
“Six Benefits of a Unified Budget” by Christopher L. Scott
2023-2025 Set To It Fund Summary
Sample Church One Fund Website — FBC Dallas
Sample Church One Fund Website — Village Baptist Church
Sample Church One Fund FAQs — Village Baptist Church (PDF)
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