Dreading the Annual Fund Drive

This congregation faces the annual fund drive with even more dread than others I have known.

This is a low-wage area, and many people have settled here who simply love the beauty of the country, never mind the opportunity or lack thereof.  It's also a place where people retire, despite the winters. Some of their working families are doing well, financially, but others not so much.  Some of their retirees are comfortable, while others are having to skimp. It's hard to tell who is who, financially. So it's hard to find the right tone for the annual fund drive... On the one hand this is a good thing for a Unitarian Universalist congregation, this diversity of income and wealth, and on the other it presents a real challenge.

This congregation deals with the challenge by hiding from the annual fund drive. They hope it will happen without them.  But it won't.  Last year, they did a sketchy job of it and got results that won't sustain them.  How will it be this year, working with their interim minister?  We'll see!

This process has parts, of course.  Some of them know a lot about what it takes to keep a congregation going.  Others are clue-free. People need to be told about what it needed, in a way that allows them to understand it is possible to reach their goal when everyone contributes according to their means.  People need to be reminded that the congregation is an important part of their lives, from providing the children with a religious background that is not simply indoctrination to visits in the hospital to leadership in social action, as well as the expected spiritual deepening and/or intellectual experience on Sunday mornings.  (Of course, the congregation needs to BE an important part of families' lives -- it must be doing a good job of doing what it does in order to deserve support.)  People need to be asked in a kindly and firm way.

Some places, they need a festive event.  Other places,it's best to downplay that part because the festivity has gotten out of hand and the message has been obscured.  I don't know yet what we have here, and these folk do love a good party.

Some places, they need to send folks out one at a time to meet with people in homes and coffee shops. Those one to one conversations can be helpful in reminding people about the relationships that the congregation provides as well as being a chance to share some of what they are thinking.  For others, a small group opportunity gives good results. Large group?  I don't think so.

Always, it's vital for the congregation to have a clear and energetic sense of direction, an idea they themselves have developed about why they are here and what they are doing. Can we get there in time for the fund drive to start in March? Maybe so.

There's no need to panic, I keep telling them.  But every time, panic is right on the other side of some door in my own mental living room.  It just has to be held at bay until the results are in!  So I'm bolting that door and plunging in for the next three months.  Wish us luck!