All Aboard at the Stewardship Station!

Does your Commons area have a Stewardship Station, where all can come aboard to learn and share?

by Bill Clontz, Stewardship Consultant

Walk into just about any of our congregations and in the Commons or Greeting Table area, you will find an array of literature about Unitarian Universalism. Happily, one will also usually find much good information about the congregation- information on Lifespan Spiritual Growth, Social Justice, Adult Enrichment, etc.

That is all to the good, and important for both members and visitors – good information, easy to find. But how often do we find such an abundance of information about stewardship? Not so often.

Enter The Stewardship Station

Think about what would be useful to both members and visitors. It would not be difficult to assemble such information and put it out in an attractive and easily accessible arrangement.

Something like a stacked file would display several items with minimum space required. If there is adequate room, this would also be a good place to display a testimonial from a member of the congregation, in a display next to the Stewardship Station. Here is an example from one of our congregations:

Can You See Me Now?

Before what, think about where. The station should be visible from some distance and several angles, and well placed next to high traffic flows.

Having a well-made sign at the top is also useful, something along the lines of “Welcome to Our Stewardship Station” and a logo or graphic that represents your congregation.

What might be in a Stewardship Station?

Consider these items to go into your station. If you don’t have these items already on hand, setting up the station is a good motivator to get them created:

• The commitment (pledge) card
• Information and instructions about making automatic payments
• How to use an APP to donate via smart phone
  (You do use an App, don’t you?)
• Information about pledging via your website, QR code, etc.
• How to make a gift of securities and mutual funds
• Information on Donor Advised Funds and IRA Minimum Required Distributions (MRD)
• The current case statement for your most recent stewardship drive
• Points of contact for more information (its helpful for your stewardship team to have its own email address, which can forward to team member’s personal email accounts), including the email and phone number for the church office.

Similarly, information stations can be set up nearby by other teams for any ongoing capital campaigns or in support of the endowment/legacy society.

Keep It Current

Once a stewardship station is set up, it is important that the team check it regularly to ensure current forms and accurate information are displayed, and that the station is replenished regularly.

That’s it. Not a very difficult thing to do, but an important step in keeping your members informed and engaged. Do you have such a station in your congregation already that you are proud of and would like to share? Send us your stories and photos and we will be glad to share them with everyone.

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 via your regional staff.

This blog has a new posting no less than once a month. You may find it, and more, at www.stewardshipforus.com. You are welcome to sign up for stewardship updates at the blog.

Comments and discussion are always welcome; share your ideas and experience with us.