Appreciative Inquiry

Interested in a unique fundraising option?

Interested in a unique fundraising option? If so, we have found the article for you! Jeff Shapiro writes about a group of senior citizens posing nude for a calendar to help raise money for their church. Shapiro writes, “a group of senior citizens from a congregation in Massachusetts stripped down to their birthday suits to pose for photos in a 2012 calendar created to show the beauty of aging.

Twelve men from First Parish in Framingham, a Unitarian Universalist congregation, who are all between 64 and 87 years old, took it all off in the making of the parish’s Celebration 2012 Calendar. Don’t worry though, they don’t reveal everything. In each of the calendar’s images, the men aren’t wearing any clothes, but each of them is covered up by a prop in their private areas.

The goal of the calendar is to show, in a society that can sometimes be obsessed with youth, growing old can be a joy. The parish wanted to show that these older men are still full of life, they have a lot to offer and they have a great sense of humor.”

You can read the full article on The Christian Post website.

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Appreciative Inquiry, Fundraising, Generosity, Giving and Receiving, Money, Uncategorized

Book Review: Reach Out and Give by Cheri J. Meiners, M.Ed.

“The World is beautiful. There’s so much to notice and be grateful for.”

Reach out and Give is a short, easy-to-read children’s book that is uplifting, positive, and a useful tool in teaching children how they can be generous and reach out to their community. At only thirty pages with bright and cheerful illustration, follows one young boy in his journey throughout his community where he learns how he can give his time and talent to those in need. Moreover, Reach Out and Give highlights how good it can feel inside yourself when you help others and are generous.

The message conveyed in this book is one that every child should understand, and while the story itself is a useful learning tool, so is the four pages of resources for parents and teachers located in the back of the book. This section of resources begins by defining important words that a young child might not yet understand, but will be essential to know when learning about giving: generous, grateful, relief, service, talents, and volunteer. There are questions provided that can help stimulate a conversation about generosity between a parent and/or teacher and their young child. Lastly, there are a number of games that are highlighted to utilize during “teachable moments” related to generosity.

One great idea the author has is for children to create a “We’re Grateful for” Journal. She writes what the teacher will need to prepare this journal and what kind of materials are necessary, and then she writes how to effectively use this teaching tool: “Talk with children about what it means to be grateful, using discussion questions for pages 1-3. Explain that you will be keeping a journal-a daily record- of things everyone is grateful for. Each day, you and the children can each draw a picture or write a journal entry of something you saw, something that happened, or something you realized you are thankful for. Invite children to date their entries and add them to the book each day. Continue over several weeks, noticing from time to time how full the journal is growing and how much there is to be grateful for.”

Whether you are a parent, teacher, or religious educator in your congregation, this book is extremely useful in helping a child to understand the importance of generosity. To learn more about the author and the text, you can visit Free Spirit Publishing for details.

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Appreciative Inquiry, Art of Thriving, Fundraising, Generosity, Giving and Receiving, Resources, Spiritual Giving, Stewardship Education, Volunteer Management, Youth

Study finds that Donors that give more to Church also give elsewhere

“Houses of worship and other charities often aren’t in competition for dollars but instead tend to reap donations from similar donors, a new study shows.

Slightly more than 50 percent of people who financially supported congregations also gave to at least one charitable organization in the last year, according to a study conducted by Phoenix-based Grey Matter Research Consulting.
Researchers also found that the more Americans give to a house of worship, the more they donate to other groups. And the trend continues with the generosity of the donor.

For example, donors who gave less than $100 to a house of worship also donated an average of $208 to other charities. Those who gave between $100 and $499 to a congregation gave an average of $376 to others. Donors of between $500 and $999 to places of worship gave an average of $916 to others.”

To read the rest of this article, you can visit the Beliefnet Blog that highlights this report.

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Appreciative Inquiry, Art of Thriving, Fundraising, Generosity, Giving and Receiving, Money, Spiritual Giving

To Rebuild church, Stop looking for Quick Fixes by Dan Dick

“To rebuild Church, stop looking for quick fixes,” speaks to congregations that try to meet fundraising goals by selecting the ‘perfect’ technique. The best possible technique will not guarantee success unless congregants really care about the church.

Dan Dick writes, “At what point do we finally wake up to the fact that there is no such thing as a lasting, transformative ‘quick fix’? The United Methodist Church has suffered through over 50 years of ‘church-in-box’ programs that have produced poor results at best.

Disciple Bible Study came closest to delivering transformation, but ultimately “popular” did not translate into “effective.” Literally thousands of people have had wonderful, meaningful, enjoyable Disciple experiences. However, a variety of independent follow-up evaluations indicate that there is a very low retention rate, that few people adopt sustained spiritual formation practices, and few report any transformed behavior in their daily lives. I hear about the handful whose lives were completely changed, and I do not devalue any such experience—but unless Disciple has been an integrated component of a comprehensive developmental process of spiritual formation, it remains a pleasant experience for the vast majority. ”

You can read the entire article on the United Methodist Portal’s website.

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Annual Budget Drive, Appreciative Inquiry, Art of Thriving, Capital Campaigns, Endowment, Fundraising, Generosity, Giving and Receiving, Long-Range Stewardship Planning, Money, Myths, Operational/Organizational Aspects, Resources

U.S. Giving Rose Overall During 2010

Individuals in the United Stated increased their philanthropic giving in 2010 by 2.1%, despite the pace of economic recovery. While this rate of increase still shows we have not rebounded to pre-recession levels, it is a “remarkable testament to the core values of Americans” says Patrick Rooney of Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy in their annual “Giving USA” report.

Giving to religious organizations dropped 0.8% in 2010, much less than the 2.3% drop for environmental and and animal welfare causes, and the 1.5% drop for human services, according to the report.
One piece of advice in the report is that persistence pays off – those who may have decreased or eliminated their giving during the recession are now slowly “regrowing their philanthropy.”
As we rebuild and reshape the economy for this next decade and beyond, our presence and our action as UU communities can ensure that giving to our UU churches remains an important piece of who we are and all that we represent.
For a more detailed summary of the report, please see the following article from the Chronicle of Philanthropy, which also contains a link to the entire report.

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Appreciative Inquiry, Art of Thriving, Generosity, Giving and Receiving, Money, Resources, Stewardship Education

CSS at UUA GA: It’s really not alphabet soup!

 

The annual General Assembly (GA) of Unitarian Universalists (UUA) was recently held in Charlotte, North Carolina. During those five days, the Office of Congregational Stewardship Services (CSS) conducted four workshops.

Because worksho p attendance was greater than expected (over 400 attended the four workshops) we ran out of handouts. As promised, here are the links to those handouts:

FORTH Introductory Video
Appreciative Inquiry and the Annual Budget Drive PowerPoint

During these same workshops, small groups of participants were ask to answer these questions and the links to their responses are at:

FORTH Short-Term Goals
FORTH Long-Term Goals
Characteristics of a Stewardship Team

 

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Annual Budget Drive, Appreciative Inquiry, FORTH: A Stewardship Development Program, Fundraising, Generosity, Giving and Receiving, Money, Resources, Spiritual Giving, Stewardship Education, Uncategorized

Learn more about Stewardship at General Assembly

General Assembly 2011 in Charlotte, NC has finally arrived! Director of Congregational Stewardship Services, Dr. Wayne Clark, is leading a number of workshops this year. For those of you interested in the new FORTH: A Stewardship Development program that was just launched, there is a two-part workshop that may be helpful in deciding if this program is right your congregation. Information is included below for your convenience.  We hope to see you there.

Thursday 10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Convention Center 209 AB

Stewardship: Appreciative Inquiry and the Annual Budget Drive
Lead by Dr. Wayne Clark

How do you approach your annual budget drive? Do you focus on the problem of limited money? Do you
identify the root causes? AI turns these conversations inside out, asserting that positive approaches to change can transform your congregation. Come learn how to apply AI to your next annual budget drive.
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Thursday 1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
Convention Center 209 AB

FORTH: Growth, Stewardship, and Leadership (Part 1)
Lead by Dr. Wayne Clark & Mark Ewert

Come learn about this new and comprehensive stewardship development program. By the end of the workshop, participants will know how to:
1) initiate FORTH
2) take an Appreciative approach to FORTH, and
3) gain access to FORTH products and Resources.
Handouts and time for questions will be provided.
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Thursday 2:45 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Convention Center 209 AB

FORTH: Growth, Stewardship, and Leadership (Part 2)
Lead by Dr. Wayne Clark & Mark Ewert
This is the second of two FORTH workshops. (Participation in part 1 is not a prerequisite.)

FORTH is a stewardship development program, and this workshop focuses on improving lay and professional leadership skills. Learn how to implement FORTH in your own congregation, while activating growth and freeing-up resources.
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Additionally, this year the Congregational Life Staff group will  be hosting Table Talks at the Congregational Life booth in the exhibit hall. Dr. Wayne Clark will be hosting two Table Talks on Stewardship. During this time, congregational leaders are encouraged to come to the Congregational Life booth and asked Wayne follow up questions regarding Workshops or stand alone questions on any stewardship topic.

Table Talk Information
Location: #721, Congregational Life Booth, Exhibit Hall
Date: Friday, June 24th at 2:30 and Saturday, June 25th at 2:30
Time: 30 Minutes
Topic: Any Stewardship-related questions

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Annual Budget Drive, Appreciative Inquiry, Art of Thriving, FORTH: A Stewardship Development Program, Fundraising, Generosity, Giving and Receiving, Money, Resources, Stewardship Education

FORTH: A Stewardship Development Program has officially launched

We have some exciting news . . . .

FORTH: A Stewardship Development Program has been launched after four years of input from hundreds of congregational leaders. FORTH has been created because we know that some of the healthiest faith communities focus more on stewardship than fundraising. As noted in chapter one of Beyond Fundraising: A Complete Guide to Congregational Stewardship fundraising emphasizes the need of the recipient; stewardship addresses people’s spiritual need to give.

Take a look at FORTH. Start by watching the 8-minute introductory video and decide if you would like more information about how your congregation can adapt this year-round program to fit the unique needs of your congregation. You may also want to look some other new FORTH resources including The Art of Thriving and the Stewardship Self-Assessment pages.

You can join the FORTH Community by completing the Congregational Self-Assessment. Upon completion, you will have access to many free and helpful resources:

  • Several short videos of lay leaders who have had some experience with FORTH
  • Suggested Year Round Calendar
  • Recommended Stewardship Language
  • Sample Stewardship Team Job Description
  • Recommended Stewardship Team Formation and Charge
  • Stewardship Information and Ideas
  • Sample Organizational Charts
  • Annotated Bibliography (currently more than 130 items)
  • Operational Support for Effective Stewardship
  • Suggested Four-Year Activities

Once you have completed the Self-Assessment, you will receive an email from the Congregational Stewardship Services Administrator with information on accessing these resources. In this e-mail, the Administrator will include a link to the web pages with these resources and the username and password required for logging on to these pages. Please save this information.

Want to get your leaders involved in an exciting interactive process? Become a FORTH Partner by asking five of your congregational leaders (lay and/or professional) to complete the Congregational Self-Assessment and your congregation will gain access to all the resources listed above, plus these free interactive activities:

  • Closed Facebook group
  • Regularly scheduled conference calls
  • Occasional webinars hosted by UUA congregational stewardship consultants
  • Updates distributed through Constant Contact

After five of your congregational leaders have completed the Self-Assessment, Wayne Clark will create a profile for your congregation, sending it to your FORTH Partner contact person. Information about FORTH Partner activities will soon follow.

Interested in some on-site consultation from a UUA stewardship consultant? Ask us about our fee-for-service program, with a sliding scale to match the size of your congregation.

Questions? Contact Us

Wayne Clark, wclark @ uua. org (207) 829-4550

Mark Ewert, mewert @ generositypath . com (202) 722-8888

Brent Jurgess, forth @ uua . org (617) 948-4272

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Appreciative Inquiry, Art of Thriving, FORTH: A Stewardship Development Program, Generosity, Giving and Receiving, Long-Range Stewardship Planning, Resources

Creative Ways to Explore Giving with your Congregation

Recently, a UUA staff member attended a service at First Parish Brewster, Unitarian Universalist, in Brewster, MA. This congregation happened to be leading a service about happiness and its connection to giving. For congregations who are struggling with ideas on how to incorporate these types of discussions into their church service in a creative way, First Parish is a great example of a congregation who is using creativity to start conversations about stewardship.

Here is an excerpt from First Parish’s sermon, which built a connection between personal happiness and giving generously. In this excerpt, Rev. Mary McKinnon Ganz discusses a few ways to practice compassion as a means of finding your happiest self. Compassion and happiness are linked with stewardship in a story about First Parish’s own church community:

 

“…Find a community to practice with – a group of people who are mutually committed to each other’s practice of compassion. A lot of the small groups in this church partake of this happiness. In Small Group Ministry, six to 12 people come together with a mutual commitment to listen to each other, to hear one another’s stories non-judgmentally, with compassion in their hearts. If you’re not in one of these groups this year, please consider whether you might be able to join in the fall.

 

The happiest people I’ve met in this church were in a group that met only three times. This was a class gathered by Judy Jollett to consider a practice of giving one gift a day for 29 days. People report that this helps them to focus on what it is they have to give and not on what their limitations are. The third meeting of that group, not quite a month ago, virtually rocked with joy. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.  People reported finding joy in the most ordinary things – large and small ways they had discovered that they could give to someone else. Like taking the time to look in the eyes of a harried checkout clerk, and smile, and say, “Don’t worry. I’m in no hurry.” When we take the time to pay attention to what we have to give, our hearts overflow with generosity. Giving becomes a way of life, a path that leads to happiness.”

There are also members of the congregation who have gotten involved in stewardship conversations in their church. Here is an excerpt from a testimonial, titled “This I believe,” which was written by lay leader Kevin Lowey.

“I know we are capable of this type of abundance. Here’s just one sign of our changing prosperity. Last year our open plate collections totaled $14,000. Guess how much has been collected this year to date?…If you guessed $28,000, you’re right!! There’s a growing momentum and a renewed vision here at First Parish. If we can put the same spirit of generosity and abundance into the commitments we make this spring to support our church, it will allow our leaders to build a budget that will make good on the potential that I think all of us are feeling. I know I’m feelin’ it!”

While each congregation may approach stewardship conversations differently, this blog was meant to illustrate how thoughtful church members and staff can be when discussing stewardship. Special thanks to Rev. Mary McKinnon Ganz, Rev. JD Benson, Allison Beavan and Kevin Lowey for their permission to highlight their work on our blog.

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Appreciative Inquiry, Fundraising, Generosity, Giving and Receiving, Money, Sermon, Spiritual Giving, Stewardship Education

A Quiz and the FORTH Report

This week we have a quiz for you.

Answer yes or no to the following questions.

  1. Yes/No Does your congregation have enough money?
  2. Yes/No Do you have an active planned giving program?
  3. Yes/No Is there a predominant culture of generosity in your congregation?
  4. Yes/No Are your board and committee meetings conducted in a consistently positive manner?
  5. Yes/No Does your congregation have a common definition of stewardship?
  6. Yes/No Do you have a year-round calendar of stewardship-related activities?

If you answered no to any of these questions, there is a recent report that might be helpful.
(more…)

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Annual Budget Drive, Appreciative Inquiry, Endowment, FORTH: A Stewardship Development Program, Fundraising, Generosity, Giving and Receiving