Barry Finkelstein

Stewardship Consultant Barry Finkelstein has been a Unitarian Universalist congregational stewardship consultant since the Fall of 2007 and has worked with over 50 congregations on annual budget drives, capital campaigns, and strategic planning. Reach Barry at Team@stewardshipforus.com

Wrapping up your Stewardship Campaign

Our May 31, 2024 Friday Forum, attended by about 20 stewardship leaders, was all about wrapping up your campaign or major phase, formally marking the end, celebrating, listening to feedback, and thanking all of the participants.  The wrap-up phase, which is sometimes overlooked or minimized, is essential for laying the groundwork for future campaigns. The […]

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Bring People Together

Broadening Engagement in Stewardship

For our February 16, 2024 Friday Forum, attended by 30 people, Barry and Mark discussed the need to increase engagement in stewardship within Unitarian Universalist congregations. They emphasized a shift from an “I culture” to a “we culture” and the importance of involving more people in stewardship at various stages. The Forum also addressed the

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Create a 5-Year Strategic Financial Plan

Is it easy and painless to balance your operating budget each year? Are you facing a budget deficit?  Are you able to set aside sufficient reserves?  Do most of your members (and pledging friends) understand the financial realities of your congregation?  Is everyone comfortable talking about money and its relationship to mission?  Is it easy

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Second Annual Survey on the Impact of Covid-19 on Stewardship Campaigns — Survey Results

We may not have expected the pandemic to last as long as it has, nor that we’d be facing a resurgence of it now, but despite its manifold challenges and heartbreaks, the pandemic did not stifle the resilience and generosity of many congregations during this year’s Annual Stewardship drives. By the time congregations were launching

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Second Annual Survey on the Impact of the Pandemic on Pledge Drives

In Spring 2020, Stewardship for Us conducted a survey on the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on last year’s stewardship campaigns and pledge fulfillment.  With 89 respondents, the survey revealed better than anticipated financial and participation results.  However, responses indicated that many congregations had started their annual pledge drives before the full-on ‘lockdown’ went

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Connect and share

Virtual Stewardship for a New Church Year

Unitarian Universalist congregations did a terrific job reacting to the novel coronavirus pandemic.  With support from the UUA and each other, we transformed operations to the virtual universe.  We began conducting everything from Sunday services to religious education classes to meetings and small groups using Zoom.  And stewardship followed suit as our congregations conducted successful

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Stewardship Leaders

Stewardship and Leadership: Part II: We are ALL Called to be Stewardship Leaders

How can I as a stewardship leader, engage other church leaders in stewardship? Part I in this series identified four key leadership traits especially useful for stewardship: Trust Transparency Compassion Hope UUs recognize that effective financial stewardship is essential for carrying out our basic programs and fulfilling our mission. Many of us also recognize that

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