St Paul’s letter to the Corinthians

Is St Paul really just keeping his field fundraisers on their toes? Or is there more to it than that? Readers with a historical perspective to add should contact SOFII

 
SOFII's view

St Paul’s letter to his followers in Corinth predates Eihei Dogen’s early fundraising letter by nearly 1,200 years. But to be honest this isn’t so much a fundraising letter as a letter that mentions fund collection. It may be the earliest example of a director of fundraising writing to his fundraisers in the field complaining about their failures and exhorting them to try harder to reach their targets.

So, we think it deserves a place on SOFII. But...can you find some even earlier examples? Or anything else from fundraising’s colourful past?

Medium of communication:
Door-drops and householders.

Type of charity:
Religion related.

Target audience:
Individuals, single gift.

Creator/originator:

St Paul (Saul of Tarsus as was)

Name of exhibitor:
Homeless/ Maxine Delahunty

Date of first appearance:
unknown.
Summary/objectives:

To make sure fundraising targets would be met by St Paul’s field fundraising force

Background:

The New Testament

Special Characteristics:

Direct appeal

Influence/Impact:

Probably considerable

Merits:

Historically this exhibit is important because it is really early, one of the first ever documented references to fundraising. There are earlier exhibits on SOFII, see here and here. St Paul though was perhaps the first ever career fundraiser. He has (so far) two exhibits on SOFII, the second can be found here.

St. Paul to the Corinthians

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 12/07/2012 - 21:32.

For much more on this topic see the book God & Your Stuff: The Vital Link Between Your Possessions and Your Soul by Willmer and Smith.

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