Build Your Stewardship Team

Assemble the Right Team, Then Set Them Up for Success

by Bill Clontz, Stewardship Consultant

[Tweet “Part of the success in stewardship campaigns is in recruiting and preparing your team.”]

 

Part of the secret to successful stewardship programs lies in building and engaging your stewardship team the right way; recruit with an eye towards skills and teamwork, lay out clear guidelines for what is to be accomplished, and manage the available time smartly.

We surely cannot cover all the “how-to” notes in a blog, but let’s hit the high points. Start with focusing on four essential components:

I. Be clear on the mission and vision of the stewardship program

• Establish or review your charter – confirm it meets the congregation’s needs. Clearly address the mission and vision of the team, underlining the importance of stewardship to the life of the congregation, including fostering a spirit of generosity and “paying it forward.”

 II. Build and sustain the stewardship team

• Recruit one on one. Don’t do general advertisements, but talk to people individually.
• About 6-8 seems the right number of people on the team for most, but tailor as needed. Not every duty has to have a dedicated person, but every key function should be covered by someone. Key functions include Congregational Education and Information, Operations and Campaigns, Coordination, and Team Development.
• Seek to have a good mix of long-term, mid-term, and fairly new members, as well as a mix of people with interests in other congregational activities
• People may wish to rotate portfolios. People could serve on the team as long as they wish, but it helps recruitment to have a policy something like “members are asked to serve for a period of three years and thereafter may continue on a year to year basis if they so choose.”
• Consider also some exchanges among like-minded teams: someone could leave Finance and join Stewardship, or leave Stewardship and join the Endowment team, for example.
• Have a modest reading and professional development program to remind of bigger purposes and to hone skills; offer an alternative to regular meetings to discuss these. Good materials abound. Consider also having members track a blog or other source, sharing what they find.

III. Design and Carry Out the Stewardship Program

• This is most often, but not always, done on an annual calendar basis. Key elements include:
• Planning and carrying out the annual stewardship campaign
• Coordinating annual services
• Education (testimonials and items like articles for the web site, etc.)
• Sharing that annual calendar with other entities
• Inherent within these functions is maintaining coordination with other parts of the congregation, conducting periodic pledge performance reviews, and producing reports (post campaign, annual reports, etc.).

IV. Put in Place Assessment, Growth, and Improvement Processes

• Every program could benefit from a periodic review, asking the basic questions, “How did this go? What might we do differently, better? Who will take this on as project lead? How shall we measure success?”
• Having a team retreat or review once a year is useful; include planning for next year. Some teams also do a mid-year “course correction” review.
• Reviews should start with a good checklist to ensure all components are covered, as well as some standards of measurement.
• The team may want to survey the congregation from time to time to see how they feel about the various stewardship components being carried out.

These steps and guidelines will go a long way towards having successful campaigns and team members who enjoy their work in service to the congregation and Unitarian Universalism.

Bill Clontz is a stewardship consultant with the Stewardship for Us Team, supporting the UUA. Bill can be reached at bill@stewardshipforus.com
, via UUA Congregational Life, (http://www.uua.org/finance/fundraising), or through your regional staff.

This blog has a new posting no less than once a month. You may find it and more at our website, www.stewardshipforus.com. You are welcome to sign up for stewardship updates at the blog. Comments and discussion are always welcome; share your experiences with us.