Giving Speaks Consultation

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Giving Speaks

Giving Speaks offers consultation and services customized to suit your organization’s unique mission, goals, priorities and needs.

If your organization has not recently clarified its strategic vision and/or mission, priorities, short- and long-term goals, you may benefit from having an assessment process conducted. This type of in-depth review of the organization and its funding programs is often a good place to start.

The charitable giving and fundraising landscapes are changing!

With the changes in the economy that are affecting charitable giving, it is more important than ever for organization leaders to follow best practices in their stewardship and know the most current strategies for effective fundraising programs.
Fundraising has changed dramatically in recent years with the increasing availability and social-networking and online media. Organization leaders must gain familiarity and comfort with these new fundraising opportunities.
Donors are more sophisticated and selective than ever before. It is essential that you know how to relate to your donors effectively to maximize giving to your organization.

So, what does Giving Speaks have to offer you and your organization?

Assessments of fund development programs and stewardship practices
Strategic visioning and mission clarification processes
Planning for short-term, mid-range, or long-range goals
Coaching for professional and board leadership
Training for stewardship and fundraising volunteers
Campaign planning
Preaching, worship planning, faith development, and workshop presentations

Workshops can be conducted as webinars for your congregation or organization using Skype, Google Hangouts, Go To Meeting, or Zoom. This is an affordable and easily accessible means of providing your staff and volunteers with focused training in these vital areas of organizational health and well-being without the added costs.

Contact Laurel Amabile, Giving Speaks, for more information:

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Ways to communicate with Laurel and for more information about Giving Speaks Resources and services:

Email: givingspeaks@gmail.com Linked In: Laurel Amabile, CFRE Twitter: Giving Speaks Facebook page: Giving Speaks Laurel’s Facebook: Laurel Amabile

10 Resolutions for Strategic Fundraising in 2015

Posted on January 4, 2015 by Giving Speaks

#1- Revisit our Mission and Purpose—We will regularly check back with our mission and talk about our purpose as an organization. We identify the values and beliefs upon which we base our programs, services, and activities and ask ourselves if these are in alignment. What’s at the heart of our organization? What about the things we do really matters in the world?

#2- Clarify our Strategic Vision—When we focus our attention on the alignment of our mission, purpose and programs, we ask ourselves what we must DO over the next one to three years to demonstrate our highest expression of mission and purpose. How can we stretch to new heights and make an even bigger difference?

#3- Evaluate our Funding Priorities—Rather than simply hoping to raise more money to meet our basic needs, we identify three or four funding priorities that clearly reflect our mission and vision. We will breathe energy and give life to these priorities and communicate them in compelling ways to our donors and supporters.

#4- Develop Realistic Goals for Funding—We will carefully track and measure our fundraising development from one year to the next, learning about our giving and spending patterns and assessing our potential for growth. We set realistic, yet aspirational funding goals that inspire us and our donors

#5- Create a Fund Development Plan—In deeply considering our aspirations and goals, we work to create a comprehensive fund development plan for the year. Thi online calculator color s will be a plan to can be assessed and adjusted throughout the year, while serving as a guide in our fundraising, budgeting, and stewardship efforts.

#6- Calculate the Cost of Fundraising—We realize that fulfilling our mission and funding our priorities involves an investment of money (and energy and time) so that sufficient funding can be raised and affirmed. Rather than cutting costs to the bare bones, we carefully calculate reasonable costs for quality fundraising activities and materials.

#7- Establish a Master Fundraising & Communication Calendar—It is essential that our organization integrate its fundraising activities and communications with the other events and activities we schedule throughout the year. This helps us avoid scheduling that competes with our annual funding activities and also helps us see the opportunities for educating and promoting giving throughout the year.

#8- Expand our Donor Circle—One important way to expand our funding is to attract new people to our organization who value what we do and want to be more involved. This may be through membership, participation in our programs, crowd-funded projects, or by affirming our mission with periodic contributions.

#9- Report Back and Say Thank You—We will commit to reporting back to our donors and constituents on a regular basis throughout the year. We will show them and tell them how their funds and support are making a difference. AND, we will explicitly thank them, over and over!

#10- Evaluate and Celebrate—The best way to learn what works or doesn’t work is to test tried and true methods and new ideas, then evaluate the outcomes. The more we learn about what our constituents and donors respond to, the more effective our fund development will be. Best of all, we will celebrate our progress and successes, knowing that people give to successful ventures that make a positive difference!

And then, we will prepare to do it all again next year!

Laurel 2012

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PS.–To help you get off to a great start in 2015, I hope you will contact me to schedule yourself or your leadership team for the latest free Giving Speaks webinar, Seven Principles of Fundraising today: givingspeaks@gmail.com

Stewardship–a shared and sharing ministry

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Giving Speaks

Grateful for the religious pluralism which enriches and enables our faith, we are inspired to deepen our understanding and expand our vision. As free congregations we enter into this covenant, promising to one another our mutual trust and support.*

Our living tradition draws upon the wisdom and teachings of religions and human experience around the SSL Montclair globe and throughout history. We seek to liberate minds to search for truth and pursue deeper understanding of our world and our place in the universe. Our Unitarian Universalist principles call us to act in ways that transform lives and ultimately our world for the better. We stand boldly on the side of love and justice, breaking through barriers of oppression and intolerance. Our vision of a world community with peace, liberty and justice for all is an expansive and worthy pursuit.

As Unitarian Universalists, we dedicate ourselves to one another, to promise our mutual trust and support in, among, and beyond our congregations. It takes a high level of commitment of money, time, and leadership to realize our vision and sustain our ministries and programs. One significant way we support the vitality of our faith community is through our gifts of money. Sharing of our resources is part of our shared ministry in the Beloved Community we create together.

In community, money flows from and through our interconnected relationships, rich with complexity, attitudes, and energy; and at its best, money is dynamic, empowering, and generative–an instrument of transformation. We do not have to possess a great amount of money to use what we have in ways that are beneficial and life-sustaining. Abundance is realized when we appreciate all that comes into our lives and share what we can with intention and good will. We are blessed and so we are called to be a blessing to the those around us and to the world.

Giving and generosity are matters of the spirit and at the heart of stewardship. Giving is a spiritual discipline, a practice that reflects one’s religious values, spiritual depth, and maturity. Being generous is a way to help take care of others and a way to say thank you to God and the Universe for everything we are given.

There is a direct relationship between one’s deepest held values and the motivation to give. We contribute our time and resources to the things that matter most to us and for which we are grateful. Therefore, our money and our giving have greater impact when we are intentional about how we express our gratitude and live out our values.

How we share what we have as people of faith matters.

We might ask ourselves…

Have I taken time to experience gratitude for all I have received in my life and from my faith community?
In what ways am I expressing gratitude and acting upon my deepest held values and beliefs?
Am I giving to my faith community as generously as possible within my means?

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During this Holiday Season, may each of us be an instrument of Love and Illumination, Hope and Generosity~

Laurel Amabile

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Looking for meaningful ways to support UU values? In addition to your local congregation, here are some organizations in your wider UU Community to consider in your year-end giving….

Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF)–a virtual and global UU congregation. http://www.clfuu.org/

Faithify–a UU crowdfunding website: http://www.faithify.org/

Unitarian Universalist Association–: http://www.uua.org/giving

UU Partner Church Council–connecting UUs and congregations around the world: http://www.uupcc.org/

UU Service Committee social justice and human rights organization: http://www.uusc.org/

* Excerpt of the Unitarian Universalist Association’s covenant to affirm and promote its principles. http://www.uua.org