Need a way to finance a special project? Do it one square foot or one piano key at a time. For instance: to buy a new piano, take the total cost and divide it by eighty-eight, then "sell" one key at a time. When a Texas congregation renovated its fellowship hall, but had no money for new tables, it invited families to buy one apiece. Within two weeks it had money for thirty.

"This can work with other projects as well—landscaping, recarpeting, a new kitchen, sanctuary chairs," says Myrtle McMahan, Annual Program Fund chair in the Unitarian Universalist Association's (UUA's) Southwest District.