Author Archives: Robin Nelson

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Robin Nelson

De-bunking Fundraising Myths – Part 7 (of 12)

We’ve all heard myths about fundraising.  These often lead us to do the exact opposite of what we should be doing to raise money.  We’ll be running a twelve part series de-bunking fundraising myths to take a close look at these false assumptions about giving.

This is the seventh in the series and we will run one each month (if you can’t wait to a year to read all of them you can purchase the book Beyond Fundraising: A Complete Guide to Congregational Stewardship and read them in Chapter 1: The Spiritual Roots of Stewardship).  Are large givers going to barricade the road we wish to travel down?

As always, we encourage you to leave comments.

Fundraising Myth #7

Myth: Generous givers feel entitled to complain loudly when things do not go their way. They attempt to “hold the congregation hostage” by threatening to eliminate their financial and volunteer support.

Truth: There may be a few generous givers who feel entitled , but not many. Fundraising consultants have an axiom that says, “People who give the most complain the least; those who give the least complain the most.” People are more committed to faith communities when they give joyfully of their aptitudes, abilities, and money (their gifts), when they willingly proclaim the faith community’s good works (their call), and when they participate in the work (spiritual vocation) of their faith community. With few exceptions, the most committed congregants are those who are helpful and supportive to a fault. The people who are vocal obstructionists often lead with their heels, giving little of their gifts, call, or spiritual vocation to their faith community.

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Generosity, Myths, Operational/Organizational Aspects

De-bunking Fundraising Myths – Part 6 (of 12)

This is the sixth of the twelve part series in de-bunking fundraising myths (if you can’t wait to a year to read all of them you can purchase the book Beyond Fundraising: A Complete Guide to Congregational Stewardship and read them in Chapter 1: The Spiritual Roots of Stewardship). We’re examining these myths closely to clear-up these false assumptions about giving.

How involved do people want to be when they give the congregation money?

As always, we encourage you to leave comments.

Fundraising Myth #6

Myth: People want to make their contributions without getting involved in the messy decision-making process of the congregation.

Truth: Many want to share their opinions about how the faith community’s internal programs and global ministries are conducted. For some, having an opportunity to provide decision-making input is a tangible benefit of giving. It is a way of investing in the programs and ministries of the faith community.

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Annual Budget Drive, Capital Campaigns, Myths, Operational/Organizational Aspects

De-bunking Fundraising Myths – Part 5 (of 12)

We’ve all heard myths about fundraising.  These often lead us to do the exact opposite of what we should be doing to raise money.  We’ll be running a twelve part series de-bunking fundraising myths to take a close look at these false assumptions about giving.

This is the fifth in the series and we will run one each month (if you can’t wait to a year to read all of them you can purchase the book Beyond Fundraising: A Complete Guide to Congregational Stewardship and read them in Chapter 1: The Spiritual Roots of Stewardship). You may have seen the commercials for Bing about search engine overload, and we may feel that way sometimes but it doesn’t necessarily mean that congregants don’t want to know where their money is going.

As always, we encourage you to leave comments.

Fundraising Myth #5

Myth: Because many people are suffering from information overload, they do not want to know how the congregation is using their contributions.

Truth: May people, although overwhelmed with information in their daily lives, are also well educated and a bit skeptical. They are less likely than previous generations to have blind faith that the congregation is using their money wisely. They want to know that their contributions are making a difference, and they are interested in the facts and figures as well as the narrative that explains the ways that their financial gifts are being used. (Note that this does not necessarily mean they want to see long columns of numbers as found in a detailed line-item budget.)

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Myths, Operational/Organizational Aspects

De-bunking Fundraising Myths – Part 4 (of 12)

We’ve all heard myths about fundraising.  These often lead us to do the exact opposite of what we should be doing to raise money. This is part of a twelve part series on de-bunking fundraising myths and taking a closer look about false assumptions about giving.

This is the forth in the series and we will run one each month (if you can’t wait to a year to read all of them you can purchase the book Beyond Fundraising: A Complete Guide to Congregational Stewardship and read them in Chapter 1: The Spiritual Roots of Stewardship).  Everyone is asking for money these days so what does that mean for for our congregations? And how do we make sure we’re at the front of the group?

As always, we encourage you to leave comments.

Fundraising Myth #4

Myth: Now that so many organizations are asking for contributions, people have decreased giving to their faith community in order to disperse contributions among many organizations.

Truth: There is no research to support this claim.  Those congregants who have become disciplined stewards tend to contribute to many organizations, including their faith community. Ian Evison has concluded that congregations and the programs they administer are receiving a greater share of charitable contributions than in the past.

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Myths, Stewardship Education

De-bunking Fundraising Myths – Part 3 (of 12)

We’ve all heard myths about fundraising.  These often lead us to do the exact opposite of what we should be doing to raise money.  We’ll be running a twelve part series de-bunking fundraising myths to take a close look at these false assumptions about giving.

This is the third in the series and we will run one each month (if you can’t wait to a year to read all of them you can purchase the book Beyond Fundraising: A Complete Guide to Congregational Stewardship and read them in Chapter 1: The Spiritual Roots of Stewardship).  We all feel the pinch during an economic downturn; however, this does not spell disaster for our faith communities.

As always, we encourage you to leave comments.

Fundraising Myth #3

Myth: During periods of economic downturn, people can’t be expected to give as much money to their faith community.

Truth: When faced with limited discretionary income, people choose their charitable organizations more carefully. If a compelling case is made in support of the annual budget drive or a capital campaign, they will make significant financial commitments. If a case is not made, potential donors think that the faith community does not deserve to get their money.

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Annual Budget Drive, Capital Campaigns, Fundraising, Myths, Stewardship Education

Financial Stewardship Campaign Case Statement – Chapel Hill, NC

Making a compelling case is one of the most important elements to a sucessful annual budget drive or capital campaign.  Congregants want to know “what difference will my contribution make?”  So when a congregation is preparing for an annual budget drive or capital campaign its extremely important to take the time to draft a compelling case statement about what can/will happen when the annual budget drive or captial campaign goal is met.  Congregational Stewardship Consultant, Frankie Price Stern, shares with us this Financial Stewardship Campaign Case Statement from the Community Church of Chapel Hill, UU, her home congregation.

“How Will We Love This World?
2010 Financial Stewardship Campaign
Community Church of Chapel Hill, UU
Case Statement

Transformational love is at the heart of our faith and history as Unitarian Universalists and as members and friends of the Community Church of Chapel Hill:
(more…)

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Capital Campaigns, Fundraising, Operational/Organizational Aspects, Spiritual Giving

De-bunking Fundraising Myths – Part 2 (of 12)

We’ve all heard myths about fundraising.  These often lead us to do the exact opposite of what we should be doing to raise money.  We’ll be running a twelve part series de-bunking fundraising myths to take a close look at these false assumptions about giving.

This is the second in the series and we will run one each month (if you can’t wait to a year to read all of them you can purchase the book Beyond Fundraising: A Complete Guide to Congregational Stewardship and read them in Chapter 1: The Spiritual Roots of Stewardship).  Just because people say that it is true and have repeated it over time does not mean that it is the truth much like the existence of a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

As always, we encourage you to leave comments.

Fundraising Myth #2

Myth: Because baby boomers (those born just after World War II) are generally self-centered, materialistic, and achievement-driven, they do not give much money to faith communities or other charities. Furthermore, they do not have the time to offer their call or spiritual vocation to their congregations.

Truth: Research conducted in 1994 by the Barna Research Group indicates that baby boomers were the most generous generation of the twentieth century. Barna states, “If we compare their giving to that of prior generations when those people were the same age, boomers emerge as more generous.” His research indicates that boomers might be willing to give more to faith communities if furnished with sufficient motivation to do so. It is the “show me what difference my contribution will make” mindset of many boomers that often frustrates older congregational leaders. In contrast, these older congregants come from a generation that sees giving as an obligation and an expectation. When older leaders fail to understand the motivation of boomers, they are unsuccessful at raising money from boomers and often unsuccessful at recruiting them for leadership roles.

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Fundraising, Giving and Receiving, Myths, Stewardship Education

Congregational Stewardship at GA

The Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations’  49th Annual General Assembly in Minneapolis, Minnesota is only 20 days away.

General Assembly, GA, is our yearly meeting of congregations where we come together “to take part in the governance of our Association, to build together a vision for its future, to learn from each other, to work, talk, play, and imagine together, to grow together” (from the opening of the General Assembly Program). 

Congregational Stewardship Services traditionally has a presence at GA.  Wayne Clark and Robin Nelson (Director and Program Manager, respectively, for Congregational Stewardship Services) will be attending, leading workshops, meeting with leaders, staffing “the booth”, and available at GA.  Additionally, some of the Congregational Stewardship Services consultants will be at GA.  Notably, Mark Ewert, will be co-leading a workshop #3009 Stewardship as Authentic Presence with Dr. Sharon Groves as well as leading a discussion group. 

For a complete listing of all of Congregational Stewardship Services offerings at GA:

Congregational Stewardship Services is part of the larger Staff Group called Congregational Life.  As such, we will be in the Congregational Life “booth” #642 in the Exhibit Hall.  If you have questions for us you can stop by “the booth” and leave a message for us and we’ll be sure to get back to you as soon as we can. 

See you at GA!

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Fundraising, Green Sanctuary

De-bunking Fundraising Myths – Part 1 (of 12)

We’ve all heard myths about fundraising.  These often lead us to do the exact opposite of what we should be doing to raise money.  We’ll be running a twelve part series de-bunking fundraising myths to take a close look at these false assumptions about giving.

This is the first of the series and we will run one each month (if you can’t wait to a year to read all of them you can purchase the book Beyond Fundraising: A Complete Guide to Congregational Stewardship and read them in Chapter 1: The Spiritual Roots of Stewardship).  Just because people say that it is true and have repeated it over time does not mean that it is the truth much like the existence of unicorns.

As always, we encourage you to leave comments.

Myths About Giving #1

Myth: Those in low-income households don’t have money to contribute, so they offer their time instead.

Truth: The myth that people contribute money or time has been disproved. Recent research by Ian Evison, formerly of the Alban Institute, shows that, in general, financial contributions follow an investment of time. Those who give more time also give more money. In addition, anecdotal observations by fundraising consultants indicate that people with limited income often contribute a higher percentage of that income than those with larger incomes.

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Fundraising, Giving and Receiving, Myths, Stewardship Education

Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day

On this 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, may we hold the Earth delicately in our hands and reflect on how we may become better stewards of the Earth both individually and collectively.

There are many things you can do to celebrate Earth Day both locally and globally.  Invite you to join me by finding at least one way you can celebrate.  Here are some ways that you might want to celebrate:

Whatever you end up doing, I hope that you take some time to sit and reflect on the reverance of this beautiful planet.

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Green Sanctuary