Wayne B. Clark, Ph. D wclark@uua.org
Director of Congregational Fundraising Services, UUA

Although there are many annual canvass options, adopting a person-to-person approach has several advantages. An annual stewardship committee, with coaching and guidance from a UUA fundraising consultant, can complete a successful annual stewardship canvass within nine-months. These guidelines, however, represent a process outline. Every annual stewardship canvass is unique and the specific process varies from congregation to congregation.

Building an annual stewardship canvass is basically a nine-month process. If you follow the process, it will be easier. Wayne recommends using a fundraising consultant for four visits, with a lot of work being done in between.

The Nine-Month Planning Process

At the first visit 9 months before the launch, consultant will:

1. want to meet with minister first
2. want to hold a large meeting with all of the key players; purpose is to review the whole process and develop a calendar
3. want to meet with the treasurer, finance committee to outline the development of a mission-oriented development process

Before the second visit the Finance Committee needs to develop a mission-oriented budget. Take the previous budget, and divide it by the programs that you have in your congregation (rather than just doing a line-item budget). For example: Denominational connections, parish life, community outreach, lifespan religious educations, worship, and music. The advantage to this method is that you end up asking "Which part of our mission do we want to cut?" rather than "Which line item do we want to cut?" if you don't raise enough money.

The more people you get involved, the less each person's job will be, and the easier it will be to recruit people; there will be more ownership, more enthusiasm. Fundraising has more to do with building relationships, telling your story, than it does with raising money. While it may be hard the first time through, when it becomes part of the culture, it gets easier.

The second visit of the consultant is sometimes not needed: it is more of a check-in to make sure nobody's dropped the ball, and that everything is being coordinated. It helps for some to have an outsider tell people things.

Before the consultant's third visit, the canvass brochure needs to be completed. It needs to have a "case statement" – a justification for why you're asking for the money (UUs do not respond well to guilt -- they don't believe they're going to Hell if they don't pledge enough). What does work is presenting in great clarity in how you're going to use the money. The brochure should have in it:

1. What you accomplished last year (people will forget);
2. What you want to accomplish this year.
3. The most important part of the brochure is the gift table, which indicates how many pledges at each level you'll need to reach your overall pledge goal.

Recruitment of volunteer canvassers works best with a maximum ratio of 4-1 of canvassers to canvassees. 3-1 is ideal, but 4-1 is OK. When recruiting canvassers, the only thing you ask someone is to attend a canvass orientation; at the end of that, you ask them to canvass no more than four people (you want to find out EARLY if people don't have guts or inclination to do it).

There is nothing equitable about the distribution of money; some people have it, some don't. Also, there are some who have the willingness to give more, so you acknowledge that (you don't advertise it, it's low key) by having a "lead gifts" reception; (nobody is canvassed there, it messes up the purpose, which is an acknowledgement of their role). This is to PRE-LAUNCH the fundraising process (often on a Sunday afternoon). Then you pre-canvass the lead gift people in the next week or two. It doesn't have to be in someone's home, can be at a coffee shop.

The Fellowship Event

The Fellowship Event is a big party, for everybody, (where you can announce you've already got x amount of pledges from a core group); then you go out and canvass the general gift givers.

Scheduling Canvass Visits

Before the canvass, be familiar with why you're asking for the money (what's the case), and make your own pledge first. Each canvasser should pledge before canvassing.

The first criteria for matching canvassers is people who are likely to contribute at the same level. The second criteria is close location (not as big a deal). The first name on a canvasser's list should be a guaranteed success, someone who'll be a positive experience.

The canvasser should have ten or 12 blocks of time when you're available. When people give excuses, accept them but push for the visit, not necessarily for money but because the relationship is what is important; in the long run, the congregation needs to know how a canvassee is feeling about the church. E-mail works sometime for setting up a visit. If a canvasser reaches an answering machine, telemarketers say, "Don't leave a message." But it's different for churches, because you know you've got a receptive audience. How many messages should you leave on an answering machine? As many as it takes, until an appointment is set up, or you hear a positive "no" from a real human voice.

The Canvass Visit Itself

1. First tell your (Canvasser's) story – what excites the YOU about the church; share a meaningful moment with a specific incident.
2. Then have them tell their story – you LISTEN when you hear concerns; ask if it's OK to write down some notes; then ask if it's OK to attach their to the concerns.
3. Ask for their financial pledge (have a preliminary guess as to what the canvassee's pledge might be)

"I'm hoping that you will consider a pledge in the range of _____." Then you wait patiently.

The Follow-Up

The canvasser should offer thanks for their generous financial support. Write a hand-written follow-up card (nothing financial in it).

Wrapping Up

Before the last visit of the consultant, he or she reviews how to convert pledges to real money. Consider electronic transfer of gifts every month (not credit card); this method ensures cash flow, especially in summer months. Otherwise, consider monthly statements that go into the home every 30 days. Identify what went well, what didn't, and who might be leaders for the next year. Start preliminary plans for next year's canvass. Consider appointing co-chairs with two-year staggered terms, so there's always a new/old person combination.

Reported by Allen Stern; formatted for the web by Kasey Melski.