When UUCA began giving away every Sunday collection to Share-the-Plate recipients last year, we essentially began a year-round “ask” for money from our congregants.  Nearly everyone is in favor of this community support program, but it drastically changes the “giving pressures” on congregants. Consequently, UUCA’s senior staff believes that we need to be much more thoughtful about how and when additional fundraisers occur, especially since we also regularly not only ask for a commitment to the annual operating budget (essential for planning!), but we also supplement the money people pay to their commitments with an auction, a used-book sale, Mountain Spirit Coffeehouse, the holiday craft fair and a few other contributors to the annual operating budget.

As a result, a new fundraising policy has been created to reflect the changing needs of the congregation. The old policy basically said, “Check with the Board of Trustees” if you want to initiate a fundraiser.  The new policy is a bit more nuanced, explanatory and, we hope, helpful.

What Should I Do?

Now that the new policy is in effect, each group within the congregation that does fundraising for outside organizations needs to take some time to assess your existing and potential fundraisers. We suggest that you read the new policy, ask questions, and think about what you want to do moving forward. Is your recipient a candidate for Share-the-Plate? The bottom line is that we will not be able to do every single one of the fundraisers we’ve done in the past, but we have an opportunity to be more intentional about the choices we make. Your staff liaison is available to help facilitate this conversation if it would be helpful.  (Remember that each committee and group in the church is “attached” to a senior staff member; Rev. Mark Ward, Rev. Lisa Bovee-Kemper, Joy Berry or Linda Topp.)

Ultimately, the goal is to effectively use any funds we collect to support outside organizations (although we’d prefer supporting organizations with our time and talent rather than our money) while at the same time focusing our efforts so that you don’t feel overwhelmed by unrelenting requests for donations at UUCA.

General Information about UUCA Policies

Here’s a little review about UUCA policies in general:  There are two levels of policies that affect the workings of the congregation.  The first set is the “policies of the Board,” and they take the form of the Governance Document.  The Board has no other policies.  All the rest of the policies of the congregation come from the Executive.  The Governance Document states that the Executive needs to “Insure that a complete and current set of Congregational policies is readily accessible to all members of the Congregation.”  Despite all best efforts, that “complete and current set of Congregational policies” does not yet exist.  Ever since we switched to policy governance, the policies that existed before then became out of kilter with the new way of doing things.  However, though it’s been three years since we switched, the “policy project” has not been completed.  Last year I put together a Policy Team to address this situation, but just as we were getting started, the Welcome Project started and ALL of my time has been consumed by my regular work duties PLUS Welcome Project duties.  However, when the need has arisen, we have updated a few of the “old” policies.   They include the Facilities Rental policy, the Inclement Weather policy, the Gift Acceptance Policy, the Naming Policy and now the Fundraising policy.  All can be found linked off of the Board of Trustees page on our website.