Why Do We Pledge: Part I Everyone wants to be forward thinking, to be creative, to keep up with the 21st Century. So I hear people talking about how pledging to congregations is outmoded; that people don’t live the kind of life where they can plan their charitable contributions a year in advance, that people […]
Pledging is Dead; Long Live Pledging! Read More »
In our previous blog post, we introduced the concept that it’s hard to know where you are going if you don’t know where you are, and that a number of key statistics about your congregation can go a long way in helping leaders understand where they are, where they are going, and what they need
I am Lost But I am Making Record Time – Part II Read More »
Making Better Use of Congregational Data Can Help Us Find Our Way I heard the quote in the title of this blog as a young pilot many years ago. A World War II pilot radioed that report in –he had no idea where he was, but he was making great progress somewhere. In providing stewardship
“I am Lost, but I am Making Record Time!” – Part I Read More »
Quartile Analysis – This is a Powerful Stewardship Education and Management Tool
Quartile Analysis – A Great Tool You Never Knew You Had Read More »
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 »
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 »
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
