The Minister Knowing What People Give

Thanks to Larry Wheeler for his intelligence on this topic!

Honestly, it is always concerning and surprising to me when people ask about the minister knowing the pledge and giving amounts of the congregation members. Concerning because the question may indicate discomfort with the topic of money generally or around the role of the minister, and surprising because so many congregations have already come to terms with this issue.

Whether you have a full-time settled minister, a contracted minister with limited hours, have an interim or developmental minister, she should know. Stewardship is first and foremost a pastoral topic.

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What we give financially is partially determined by how much money we have. This is a Goldilocks issue, as we often have too little or too much money; having the “just right” amount is as rare as a Poppa Bear in a chair. Hence how much money we have is an area of challenge, sometimes creating joy yet often suffering – a pastoral issue.

Giving is also partially determined by our relationship to, and role in, the congregation. We may have found our longed-for “home” in the congregation or be faced with serious conflict there. Hence our connection to the congregation and its community, and how that informs our giving, is a pastoral issue.  Don’t forget that money and its uses are also potentially rich areas for spiritual growth as well – isn’t that the minister’s purview?

Most ministers, except in cases where the congregation system is quite unusual, have multiple roles. She is the pastoral care and indeed spiritual leader of the congregation, yet is also the organizational leader. I know that our congregations are governed by trustee boards, and that the board is the fiduciary of the congregation. Nevertheless, implementation and management are normally led by the minister- that is what the board expects; the congregation does as well. As an organizational leader of a congregational nonprofit, knowing the specifics of gifts that are given — and who those donors are — is vitally important.

When a minister knows the pledge amounts and names:

• She can be part of “solution” if there are issues around a gift commitment either when it’s made or during the year – this is a pastoral role.
• As the Annual Drive is being organized the Minister can be part of discussions around who should be approached tenderly and who should make that approach (may be the minister).
• When people fall behind, the stewardship team can check with the minister before doing anything – in fact, the minister may well be the best person to make that contact.
• If someone suddenly makes a significant drop in their giving level, the Minister may well want to check things out from a pastoral point of view.
• She can do personal “Thank yous” in a nice way – “your gift makes a difference” – too often our larger donors receive almost no recognition – who better than the minister to acknowledge their generosity?
• The ministers can call on people who it makes sense for them to call on – e.g. who calls on the board president and the co-chair of the annual drive?
• Ministers can be an active part of the Stewardship Team’s discussions from the beginning – overall planning, strategies, and key messages. This includes choosing people to give testimonials.
• A minister, in reviewing Annual Drive results may notice something about a donor that s/he wants to explore in a careful way – e.g. new member with a particularly high gift or a longtime member whose gift fall off.
• If it’s known that the minister is aware of giving levels, then congregants can feel comfortable talking with her about their giving and ways that they can be helpful to the congregation
• If the minister knows giving levels it takes away some of the unnecessary secrecy around money matters and this is a positive change

Money is a potent subject, because it relates to power in our culture. But really, ministers are very mindful of this and will not change how they minister to people because of their giving level. We need to trust our ministers if they are to lead us successfully through all of the challenges of building beloved community!

Mark Ewert is a stewardship consultant with the Stewardship For Us team. Mark can be reached at mewert@stewardshipforus.com, via the UUA’s Congregational Stewardship Network, (http://www.uua.org/finance/fundraising/index.shtml), or through your regional staff.

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