CERG

These resources are provided by Rev. Renee Ruchotzke, CERG Leadership Development Consultant. We also recommend you visit the UUA Resources Pages for additional resources listings. Of particular note is the Top Picks for Stewardship and Annual Canvass on the UUA website.

You may also want to look at the resource pages on Conflict Management, Governance, Healthy Congregations, and Leadership Development.

Sample Stewardship Videos
Some congregations are creating short videos to provide to members as part of their stewardship campaign. Here are two samples:

• UU Church of Kent - http://vimeo.com/38034388
• Oak Ridge UU Church, Tenn. - http://www.youtube.com/embed/T7uQ9SW5bvo

Web-based Resources: Articles

• Putting Your Money Where Your Mission Is by Dan Hotchkiss
• A Soul Decision by Dan Hotchkiss
• Rethinking Abundance: How Three Congregations Rediscovered It for Themselves by Linda-Marie Delloff
• Giving During Tough Economic Times (pdf) by various UUA staff
• Five "Online Giving" Lessons for Churches from the Fuller Theological Seminary Blog
  

Web-based Resources: Videos

• How to Accelerate Generosity in Your Church (1:22)

Web-based Resources: On Demand Webinars

• Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is: New Ideas in Stewardship, a video recording of a panel of UU's who are also fundraisers for other non-profit agencies. We recommend you read Not Your Parent's Offering Plate, view the video panel discussion, then use this Study Guide with your stewardship team. Some notes about how to make the "ask" from a discussion session from the original event are also available.

Web-based Resources: Blogs & Facebook

• Congregational Stewardship, a UUA Blog
• Giving Speaks by Laurel Amabile
• UU Stewardship Lab on facebook (you must request to join)

Web-based Resources: Newsletters & Webpages

• Interconnections - An email newsletter that publishes tips and stories about vital congregations for lay leaders and the professional staff who work with them.
• Nurturing Generosity - UUA website on fundraising
• Planning Giving and Endowment Program Resources from the UUA
• Annual Program Fund Toolkit from the UUA.

 DVDs

• Dramas to Provoke Generosity contains poignant videos produced by Jim McQuaid (Turnip) of six skits that the Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (ERUUF for short) has used to focus members' attention on things that matter, starting with generosity. The DVD also contains the complete scripts of these skits (and two more recent ones). 

Books

• Creating Congregations of Generous People by Michael Durall - Michael Durall challenges congregations to accept their responsibility to own the stewardship process and to empower people to lead more generous lives. Who, if not religious organizations, has the moral authority to do so?
• Beyond Fundraising: The Complete Guide to Congregational Stewardship by: Wayne B. Clark - Clear blueprint for successful fundraising that moves beyond the myth of scarcity toward the reality of abundance..
• Beyond the Collection Plate: Overcoming the Obstacles of Faithful Giving by Michael Durall - Analyzes prevailing attitudes in church toward giving and managing money, and demonstrates how many prevailing practices in stewardship campaigns and fundraising have lost their effectiveness. Provides strategies for encouraging more giving
• Not Your Parent's Offering Plate by J. Clif Christopher - Unlike leading nonprofit agencies and institutions, we too often fail to convince potential givers that their gifts will have impact and significance. In this book, Christopher lays out the main reasons for this failure to capture the imagination of potential givers, including our frequent failure simply to ask.
• Whose Offering Plate Is It?by J. Clif Christopher - Simple, strategic advice on such difficult questions as:
  • "Exactly how do I go about gaining access to the donor records when my church has prohibited it for a hundred years?"
  • "How do I explain a meeting with just those who are strong givers without alienating those who are not?"
  • "How can we advocate online giving without encouraging some to abuse their credit cards?"
  • "What should letters to different giving constituencies look like?"