New Terminology Helps With Stewardship
August 15, 2005
Wayne Clark, the Unitarian Universalist Association Director of Congregational Fundraising Services (congstewardship @ uua.org), is encouraging congregations to adopt new terminology about fundraising.
First, he recommends placing fundraising under the umbrella of stewardship because fundraising is just one aspect of stewardship. “Financial gifts provide congregations with the means to implement their vision and mission,” he says.
Because some terms associated with fundraising have developed negative connotations, they have become barriers to effective fundraising, he says. He is recommending the following changes:
- Use “annual stewardship drive” in place of annual canvass.
- Use “visiting stewards” rather than canvassers.
- Use “financial commitment” rather than pledge.
Clark uses the new vocabulary in his forthcoming fundraising book, whose working title is Beyond Fundraising, which will be published in March 2007 by Skinner House Books.
For more information contact interconnections @ uua.org.
Last updated on Thursday, June 12, 2008.
