For many congregations, tis the season of the annual budget drive. As a stewardship consultant, I talk with many congregations, especially at this time of year, as well as with the Regions and the UUA. I observe an unintentional trend among us that we all should be interested in eliminating.
If you are a congregational leader or a stewardship volunteer, I bet a conversation something like the following will be familiar to you:
“How is the budget drive coming along? We are at about the three-quarters point on the calendar.”
“Well, the commitments that are in look very good – people seem to be giving this serious thought and are responding generously. But we only have about 20% of the commitments in, so it’s hard to know how we are doing.”
“Oh, swell. That means that once again our volunteers will have to spend hours calling people asking them to make their commitments. Most people do when asked, but what a poor use of our volunteer time. Still, we have to do it, so the leadership knows what they have to work with for a budget.”
Sound familiar? People don’t mean to delay, but doing so puts our leadership in a difficult position for planning and makes our volunteers do unnecessary work. If we would all commit to an early and thoughtful response to the call for contributions, we would make life remarkably easier for a lot of good people. The rule in our house is that no more than two weeks after receiving the information, we make our commitment. That request for a commitment is not wine – it doesn’t get better with age! Let’s respond promptly and generously – please.
Now, let’s take that discussion up a level or two higher. At the same time you and I are working out our congregational budgets, the Regions and the UUA are doing the same at their levels. We all sent in our certified data by 1 February, yet as we begin moving into spring, a number of congregations have yet to make their commitments to the Annual Program Fund (or the GIFT program for the Southern Region).
To highlight what should be an obvious point, the regions and the UUA are we. They serve us and our priorities, and in so doing they rely on us for predictable and sufficient resources. Without timely and generous commitments, they cannot plan effectively or carry out programs in the way we would expect. Imagine if your boss said, “I ‘m sure we will pay you next week, I’m just not sure how much or exactly when. Check with me later and maybe I will have more to tell you.” None of us would like to live like that – and we should not ask our regions or our Association to do so either.
So, how about it, fellow Unitarian Universalists? Let’s get our personal commitments in, early and generously, and let’s have the courtesy and foresight as congregational leaders to do the same for those that count on us and serve us.
Bill Clontz is a stewardship consultant with The Stewardship for Us Team, supporting the UUA. Bill can be reached via bill@stewardshipforus.com,via the UUA’s Congregational Stewardship Network, (http://www.uua.org/finance/fundraising/index.shtml ), or through your regional staff.
This blog has a new posting no less than once a month. You may find it and more at our website, www.stewardshipforus.com. You are welcome to sign up for stewardship updates at the blog. Comments and discussion are always welcome; share your experiences with us.
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