New Fundraising Manual Helps Dreams Come True

It is fundraising that makes all of our UU dreams possible. From the annual canvass to capital campaigns, it is one of the most important parts of congregational life. It pays the minister and religious education director, makes our social service programs possible and keeps the roof in place.

Yet we don't always do it well. We worry about raising enough and sometimes we even have trouble talking about it. We'd rather endure a thousand committee meetings than have to ask each other for money.

Raising money will never be easy. But it doesn't have to be as difficult as we sometimes make it. And now there's a new tool to help us do it better.

The UUA's old familiar "green book," the denominational bible of fundraising for many years, is no more. It has been replaced with Fundraising with a Vision, a new manual written by Ed Landreth, one of the UUA's capital campaign consultants and a member of First Parish in Cambridge, MA.

The basic principles are the same — face-to-face canvassing is still the most effective way to raise money. But there are new touches. The primary one is in the title. Landreth explains: "The basic premise of the book is that each individual in the church has some sort of idea of what they want the church to become, whether larger, friendlier, more spiritual, but they rarely have an opportunity to express it.

"It's been shown that if a congregation goes through the process of talking about its collective vision there is a coming together of the ideas as to where we're going together. If you go through that process, then fundraising will be easier and more effective because people will agree on a direction and open their pocketbooks."

More than 650 copies of Fundraising with a Vision have been sold by the UUA bookstore in the past year. Wayne Clark, the UUA's Director of Building Programs, and a fundraising consultant for the denomination, says, "Fundraising with a Vision takes a more comprehensive view of raising money. Instead of focusing specifically on fundraising, it encourages congregations to clarify who they are and where they're going."

The UU Congregation, Fort Wayne IN (220 members), used Fundraising with a Vision for its recent canvass, which emphasized raising money for programs rather than line items. Board member Toni Kring found it helpful to talk about money in a new way. "A line-item budget is often just an opportunity for endless discussions over very little," said Kring. "There's not a lot of wiggle room in most church budgets. We found the new fundraising process worked really well. But you have to do the homework and have the programs in place to build on."

At First Jefferson UU Church, Fort Worth, TX (165), which used Fundraising with a Vision for the first time this year, the annual canvass raised about 25 percent more than in previous years. Mary Alice Williams, former chair of First Jefferson's planning task force, credits the increase to a face-to-face canvass, the first in several years at Fort Worth, and to talking about money needed for programs.

"It was very successful," she said. "We set a high goal and we reached it. The canvassers went out and asked people what they liked about the church and what they wanted it to do and then how much they could give to make those things happen. We found we were actually talking to each other, which is what we went to church for in the first place — community."

Resources

Fundraising with a Vision, A Canvass Guide for Congregations, by Ed Landreth, 1997, is available from the UUA Bookstore. 128 pp. $25 800-215-9076

For questions about Fundraising with a Vision call Wayne Clark, the UUA's Director of Building Programs, 25 Beacon St. Boston, MA 02108 207-829-4550.