I am often asked if providing naming opportunities for buildings, rooms, and other facilities is a good idea or not. This can be a sensitive area, specifically because it has such powerful potential for good or ill. It’s an important and worthy conversation to have; don’t avoid it just because some feel strongly one way […]
Naming Opportunities on Your Campus: Good Idea or Bad Idea? Yes… Read More »
How can we extend the reach and impact of Unitarian Universalism? There has been much talk about “congregations and beyond.” Among other things, this includes efforts to engage people who are not all that likely to join our congregations, especially younger people and those who declare their religious affiliation as “none.” We are convinced that
Reaching Out Beyond, Dreaming Bigger Read More »
Happy Birthday Well, it’s been a year since we consultants and the UUA started this grand experiment. We asked if stewardship consulting services, provided so well under the UUA’s Congregational Stewardship Network and led so ably by Wayne Clark, could be provided under a new outsourced model. We’re very pleased with the Year One results
Stewardship for Us is One Year Old Read More »
Leadership in Stewardship In many congregations, I hear it said that every member is a member of the membership committee. This is a great message and I hope we all take it to heart. Well, I’d like to suggest a related thought: every leader is a leader in stewardship. I’m talking about all lay and
Every Leader is a Stewardship Leader Read More »
Coming Together and Reaching Out A few weeks back, I participated in a “Summit on the Economic Sustainability of Ministry” sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Association. The focus of the Summit was on the financial challenges facing UU ministers and congregations these days, and what in and out-of-the-box solutions we might come up with to
Last week in Portland, Oregon I was a presenter for a workshop titled, “Year-Round Giving: The Next Big Thing?” Along with my co-presenters the Reverend David Pyle and Jason Kenworthy, we told a packed conference room about this challenging way to gain pledges for an annual budget. We included results from a survey I conducted,
Is Year-Round Pledging for You? Read More »
If you are only accepting cash or checks for donations, you are not offering your contributors options for giving – probably some they would prefer. This is not “making it easy” for people to give you donations, nor is it adapting to how people use money in the 21st century. But Where to Start? Recently
The Essentials of Electronic Giving Read More »
We know that leadership transitions are inevitable, necessary, and healthy. So why not plan for them up front? One of the workshops the Stewardship for Us team presented at General Assembly this year (in partnership with our colleagues from the Central East and Southern Regions) dealt with planning and carrying out good leadership transitions in
Kay Crider is rejoining the Stewardship For Us team after a one-year sabbatical overseas! Feeling refreshed and inspired, she enjoyed immersing herself in different cultures, learned the intricacies of a new language (well, somewhat), and gained new perspective on some of the challenges and benefits of other countries. Perhaps not surprisingly, she got to know
Kay Crider Rejoins Consulting Team Read More »
by Bill Clontz, Stewardship Consultant In 2012, the UUA and the Southern Region embarked on a new course to improve how we share our resources. GIFT, Generously Investing For Tomorrow, is intended to be a simpler and more equitable program for providing the resources that enable our UUA and Southern Region team to serve our
Giving 7% of Our Operating Expenses Seems Like a Big Increase Read More »
