UUA Programs & Services: Congregational Fundraising Services: Assessment Visit

Congregational Services

Fundraising Consultant Program Assessment Visit

Fundraising Consultant Program

Assessment

Endowment Fund Guide (PDF)

Feasibility Study

Financing Your Spiritual Home

Searching for the Future

First, an assessment visit provides an opportunity for a fundraising consultant to gather information about your congregation. The consultant will want to get clear about your current situation and your desired future. Prior to arriving, the consultant will have received extensive written information about your congregation. In addition, the consultant will gather more information in a series of meetings while visiting the congregation. The consultant may want to meet with the following constituents:

The minister	The annual canvass chair
The director of religious education	The strategic planning committee chair
Any other professional staff members	The building and grounds committee chair
The finance committee chair	The governing board

Second, an assessment visit will provide your congregation with specific recommendations to get "from here to there." Based on all the information gathered, the consultant will list several steps necessary to allow your congregation to reach its long-term goals. These recommendations will be given verbally at the end of the assessment visit, and will then be followed by a written summary. The recommendations may address the following issues:

A five-year strategic plan	A capital campaign
An endowment program	Facilities planning
An annual canvass	UUA loans, loan guarantees and grants

Third, an assessment visit will clarify ways in which the Fundraising Consultant Program may be helpful to your congregation. The program has provided consulting services to hundreds of congregations since 1985. Each fundraising consultant has had first-hand experience with a wide variety of fundraising issues and has been thoroughly trained through the Unitarian Universalist Extension Department. Fundraising consultants are prepared to guide and coach your congregation through all aspects of your comprehensive fundraising processes.

Unitarian Universalist Association
25 Beacon St. | Boston, MA 02108 | 617-742-2100