January 15, 2008, E-News
Dear Friends,
Happy New Year! Thanks to you, your Association of Congregations is beginning 2008 with high energy and excitement for all that your generosity will produce in the year ahead.
Association Sunday
As of January 15, 2008, our Association Sundays have raised $1.31 million (including the $500,000 matching gift challenge) for national marketing, District-distributed grants to congregations for local growth and outreach projects, and President Sinkford’s Diversity of Ministry Initiative.
Check out the article at uuworld.org which reported $1.1 million as of last week. As we continue to receive and process contributions daily, our numbers just keep going up! Statements of how much your congregation has raised so far will be mailed this week.
And don’t forget to sign up for Association Sunday 2008 to be held on October 12th. This year’s service will support both lay theological education and excellence in ministry.Let us know what you think by filling out our Association Sunday survey.
Now is the Time Campaign
With your generous end-of-year gifts, the Campaign has reached 74% of its $50 million goal. This includes $15.5 million in cash and pledges and $21.5 million in legacy commitments.
National Awareness on the Rise
In the December 31st (most widely read) issue of Time magazine, Vladimir Putin was named Person of the Year. Pages 164 to 165 featured Unitarian Universalism’s second advertorial, made possible only by Association Sunday and your many individual contributions!
What else do your gifts support? This advertorial directs readers to Time magazine’s Religion Pages online, and a welcoming UUA landing page including Unitarian Universalist perspectives on some of the most controversial and sensitive religious issues of our time, along with the video entitled Voices of a Liberal Faith, and tools to find a congregation!
And as a result of all this, the Chicago Tribune gave our faith some great press for free on December 28, 2007!
The Friends of the UUA ended 2007 with an appeal on peacemaking. At the end of this month, President Sinkford will be sending a letter about National Awareness in an effort to inform even more Friends about the Time campaign.
The Annual Program Fund is making great progress toward goal. To date, the fund has reached $3,239,149, or 46.1% of its highest ever $7,019,739 goal. A total of 190 congregations have fulfilled their pledges, including 141 congregations giving at the full Fair Share level. Many thanks to the members of the Annual Program Fund Committee who work tirelessly to promote a culture of generosity across our Association and make this fund as effective as it can be.
New Legacy Coordinator
We are deeply grateful to Marcy Bailey-Adams, our most recent Director of Legacy Giving, for her over 15 years of talented service to the UUA. While Marcy has recently moved on to pursue other opportunities, we’re delighted to announce that Larry Stritof is the new Legacy Gifts Coordinator for Stewardship and Development!
Because we know you have worked with several people in the Legacy Gifts Office over the years, we want to assure you that many of them are still part of our staff group and working with Larry to ensure a trouble-free transition. Please don’t hesitate to contact us at giftplans @ uua.org or (888) 792-5885 with any questions you might have.
Full letter from Terry Sweetser
And please know that your Association of Congregations is committed to improving and enhancing our relationship to our legacy donors, and to helping you make your dreams for our faith come true.
Annual Giving Summaries
For the past several Januaries, the Stewardship and Development staff group has mailed annual giving summaries to all donors giving $250 or more during the previous tax year. Because the original acknowledgment you received at the time of your gift serves as a valid receipt for IRS purposes, we have developed a new plan, based on your suggestions.
This year, we have chosen to mail the annual giving summaries to donors by request only. If you would like to request another copy of tax-receipts for your donations to the UUA in 2007, please emailgiftinfo @ uua.org?subject=annual%20giving%20summaries giftinfo @ uua.org?subject=annual%20giving%20summaries and we’d be happy to send you one for your records.
For those of you who have a Charitable Gift Annuity, participate in our Pooled Income Fund, or have a Charitable Remainder Trust, you will receive your tax information letters from State Street Bank according to the posted schedule.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.
Thank you for your generosity!
Last updated on Friday, April 18, 2008.
