Many congregations hold retreats for their board in the summer months both to bring their new members up to speed and to determine priorities for the congregation. Include congregational stewardship in your planning and training of board members.
Among the Board’s primary responsibilities to the congregation are:
- Serve the Mission
- Uphold and sustain the institution
- Be good stewards
In order to serve the congregation and help sustain the institution, board members need good information about stewardship and giving. The annual retreat is a perfect time for a review of the current stewardship practices in your congregation.
Here is a Sample Stewardship Presentation and session for your Board Retreat:
Start with the nuts and bolts of how your congregation does stewardship.
Basics: How does your congregation invite giving?
- Do you have annual pledge drives? Or year round giving?
- How is the stewardship leadership recruited?
- What methods of communication do you use in asking for pledges?
- Have you had a face-to-face stewardship campaign recently? Every year? Did you know these visits can be done well via Zoom?
- What giving guide do you use?
- Are there other ways you raise funds?
- What percentage of the budget is met through congregational pledging?
A presentation on the overall giving of the congregation will help board members understand giving practices and encourage them to engage in building a culture of generosity.
Numbers: What does the giving look like?
- How many pledging households do you have?
- What percentage of member households pledge?
- What’s the average pledge?
- What’s the median pledge?
- Show your pledging quartiles and how many households make up each quartile
- What is the amount of the top and bottom pledge in each quartile of giving?
Provide time for the board to ask questions and discuss what these numbers may mean. What is the context in which these numbers exist? Have your median/mean been going up or down? To what extent? Are there one or two extremely high pledges that could be in jeopardy in coming years? What are median incomes in the area? Note that UU Congregations statistically represent above average income. Help board members understand the economic range of the congregation. How do you message so that every pledge feels welcome, no matter the size? In what ways is your congregation developing a culture of generosity?
Present the expectations for Board member participation in your stewardship.
Board Leadership:
- Make pledges early so that the stewardship team can tell the congregation that the full board has already pledged when the pledge drive starts.
- Make a stretch pledge for your individual circumstances, indicating high commitment to the congregation. Note that it can be very powerful if the stewardship team can tell the congregation that your full board is on (or working to be on) the giving guide.
- Be active volunteers in your stewardship team’s strategy. (small group gatherings, pledge Sunday, leadership giving gatherings, one-on-one conversations, etc.)
- Be willing to give a testimonial about why you give generously to the congregation.
- Help develop stewardship leadership and lift up the role of the stewardship team to the congregation.
End your board session by inviting thoughts about how the board might further develop a culture of generosity in all aspects of congregational life.
“Generosity is the most natural outward expression of an inner attitude of compassion and loving-kindness.” —The Dalai Lama
Rachel brings communities together to finance the things they value most. She is committed to stewarding our Unitarian Universalist communities toward healthy relationships with money and value. Her TEDx talk focuses on how we might create value together. She also co-founded and lead an innovative crowd-sourced lending platform, Community Sourced Capital. Reach Rachel at Team@Stewardshipforus.com