“Fundraising” is the term that middle class people use to describe begging for money. If lower class people do it, it is called “begging.” If middle class people do it, it is called “fundraising.” And if upper class people do it, it is called “benefiting.”
Lower class people “beg.” Middle class people “fundraise.” And upper class people have “benefits.” These three words mean the exact same thing.
“Benefiting,” or “fundraising,” or “begging” is when you ask people to give you money. This is also known as “mooching” or “sponging.”
In modern-day, people have come up with the idea that if you ask for the money for someone else, and you are not asking for the money for yourself, then it is not begging. But it is begging. You're just begging on someone else's behalf.
People will say, “But it is for a good cause.” But any beggar on the street can say it is for a good cause. The beggar on the street needs the money to eat and to take care of his personal needs. His personal needs are very important and would definitely constitute “a good cause.”
In the Word of God in Luke 16:3, in the story of the rich man and the steward, the steward said, “I am ashamed to beg.” Then in verse 8, the rich man, the steward's lord, commended the steward for reducing their clients' debts so that the steward would be received into their clients' houses when he was fired. The steward was commended for doing this rather than going out and “fundraising.”
As Christians, we should be ashamed to beg. It makes God look bad—among other things. It makes God look like He doesn't care about us and He won't take care of us so we have to beg to get our or someone else's needs met.
Sometimes movie stars, and famous celebrities, and rich people like that, have benefits. These people then talk about how they raised $50,000, or $200,000, or something for a cause. It is just for show and for publicity purposes. If these people really cared about the cause, and they weren't just doing it for the praise of men, they would have just written a check for that amount themselves and foregone the fundraiser.
Sometimes people have telethons or walkathons or runathons or bikeathons or danceathons or whateverathons to raise money. These “begathons” are not of God either.
Oftentimes Christians—especially ministers—try to justify their begging for money by saying it is for the cause of the gospel. They say that this money is needed so that other people can hear the gospel and be saved. They say that if they don't raise money by fundraising, so that they will have money to propagate the gospel, people will go to Hell. This is false doctrine. This is a lie. This is nowhere in the Bible. God does not need us to beg for money so that we will then have money to preach the gospel. To say that God will just sit in Heaven and let people go to Hell, that He knows would be saved if they heard the gospel, is a lie from the pit of Hell. (The phrase “a lie from the pit of Hell” is just a colloquialism. There are no demons in Hades right now. Therefore, no demons can bring their lies up “from the pit of Hell.”) God always has, and always will, make sure that people that He knows will receive the gospel, hear the gospel so they can be saved—even if He has to translate someone from one place to another like He did with Philip in Acts 8:39–40.
Therefore, Christians should not just ask people to give them money—even if the money is for somebody else.
However, it is NOT wrong to give to people who are asking you for money.
It is also NOT wrong for a Christian to ask to borrow money. If you need or want money for some reason or cause, it is perfectly legitimate according to the Word of God to borrow the money. Borrowing is when you temporarily get the money from someone and you pay it back to them later.
The proper way to raise money is to work for it and to pray and believe God for it. And if you want to donate your money to someone or to some sort of cause, then do so.