Such Great Heights Final Report

Generosity

The Spirit of Generosity at St. Paul's is alive and well and involves much more than the annual giving campaign and financial support provided by our parishioners. It is essential that we recognize and celebrate Generosity at St Paul's in monetary and non-monetary terms, and find ways to facilitate the giving of one's gifts of time, talent and treasure - for each is required and appreciated as we strive to be good and faithful stewards of God's work.

I. STRENGTHS

In the area of generosity, St. Paul's has several strengths. We have a long heritage of "Proclaiming Christ in the Heart of the City" through our many outreach programs: Micah Initiative, Caritas, Thursday Feeding Program, Prison Ministry, Carpenter's Kids, Green Teams, and Jazz and Lenten Lunches. Fueling this effort are our tenaciously loyal and passionate volunteers. Their steadfast commitment to the downtown community is worthy of praise. Our tradition of a healthy endowment along with our wealthy and generous parishioners also helps keep this commitment strong. It is also important that St. Paul's generous spirit begins with our youth. Their level of support through time and talent is remarkable: urban mission projects, Katrina relief, Hull Street, and support for Mwitikira. Finally, our energetic leadership will continue to foster this strong sense of generosity in the future.

II. WEAKNESSES

St. Paul's weaknesses in the area of generosity are few. The glaring ones are the smaller size of the congregation, aging demographics, and, for some, location. However, these weaknesses could also be viewed as positive, in that we are an intimate parish of very generous, loyal, and tenacious "downtowners." Other weaknesses include: lack of sound financial practices on the part of some members with regard to budgeting, lack of volunteer awareness/information, strictly once a year canvass dialogue, and failure to fully recognize the non-monetary contributions of our younger members.

III. OPPORTUNITIES

Our opportunities are exciting. Celebrating generosity throughout the year is a goal shared by many of us. By expanding our definition of stewardship, we can celebrate new alternate forms of giving of our parishioners' time, talent, and treasure, and perhaps encourage new membership. In addition, tapping into the downtown community will help us to increase our volunteer base and, perhaps, offer opportunities for mentoring and job training as well as financial education training.

IV. CHALLENGES

These are challenging economic times. The inability to discuss money, or discomfort in discussing money, can often derail efforts to increase financial awareness. The absence of full-time stewardship staff makes it more difficult to monitor and accurately place volunteers, to keep the generosity dialogue on-going, to teach healthy financial planning, and to celebrate the giver. Depending on a few parishioners to do the work of many can be exhausting and counter-productive. Finally, cultural changes in financial planning create challenges for traditional forms of giving.

V. RECOMMENDATIONS

The following recommendations speak to each of these challenges:

1. Generosity Sunday

From our team meetings, the idea of an annual "Generosity Sunday" has evolved. St. Paul's has an incredibly rich heritage with regard to giving, both in a monetary sense and time-wise. To keep the spirit of generosity on-going throughout the year, an annual celebration event appeals to many parishioners. Perhaps best scheduled in the season of Epiphany, this day would celebrate the giver, with lay sermons and testimonials from our outreach volunteers. Youth from St. Paul's and perhaps Woodville could be featured in the celebrations. Though more financially challenged, our youth are especially giving of their time and talent; this day could highlight their essential role in our generous community.

In addition, Canvass Co-Chairs could be announced and introduced at Generosity Sunday, and the day would offer a mid-year opportunity for revisiting one's pledge. Perhaps brainstorming about a new outreach project could be explored during this time. Finally, a "volunteer fair" could be held, either on Generosity Sunday or on a separate date, later in the Spring. This event would offer another opportunity to celebrate our generous parish, and to recruit needed volunteers at the same time.

2. Stewardship/Volunteer Coordinator

One thought that we keep returning to when thinking about Generosity at St. Paul's, and the implementation of a year-round effort to promote, recognize and celebrate our generous spirit, is the abiding need for a Stewardship Volunteer Coordinator. From the recent request for help covering phones when Mimi is away, to the mentoring at Woodville and the Thursday feeding program - our church has a multitude of volunteer opportunities. How wonderful it would be to have one contact person to help put willing volunteers to work for our parish and our larger community in Richmond. It has even been suggested that we place a "want to get connected" button on our website so that we have a quick and efficient way to link volunteer opportunities with interested persons. Our "Generosity Guru" could be responsible for monitoring this quick link to volunteerism.

Similar to Tammy Shackelford's former position as Parish Life Coordinator, the Stewardship/Volunteer Coordinator would have great knowledge of our parish and its needs. A person with a finger on the pulse of the parish, this staff member would be invaluable - and might even pay for himself or herself - as we look to maximize the generosity of our parishioners and their generous gifts. It has been suggested that there be an annual "Time and Talent Inventory" taken in connection with "Generosity Sunday." Parishioners would provide information as to their contributions to the Church in time and talent during the last year and offer their anticipated gifts for the coming year. This inventory would allow old and new members alike the opportunity to offer talents and services yet to be tapped. The Stewardship Volunteer Coordinator would maintain this database of gifts, skills and professions within the St. Paul's community so that a true compilation of who we are and what we do exists.

This Coordinator would also help oversee the annual giving campaign and planned giving efforts. As we look to possibly reframe our annual giving to incorporate alternative giving styles and more frequent pledging options, this person would be instrumental in coordinating these efforts with the canvass leaders, the vestry and clergy. The Coordinator could also ensure that volunteers are appropriately thanked and recognized for their efforts.

One means of funding the Coordinator function would be to solicit a donor to endow a permanent paid position. Such an endowment would do much to build the spirit of generosity at St. Paul's over the long term.

3. New Forms of Giving

The Generosity Team spent significant time discussing generational differences regarding finances and financial habits. Unlike many Baby Boomers and older parishioners, members of Generations X and Y may not make or abide by budgets, or exercise careful fiscal discipline. These same younger church members may be heavily indebted after completing college or graduate school, and may believe that they cannot accurately predict or project their financial circumstances, even in the short term. Young people also may more readily express their generous impulses through one-time, spur-of-the-moment gifts, rather than via sustained and carefully planned philanthropy.

It is vital that our aging church recognize and accommodate these intergenerational differences in financial habits, for at least two reasons. First, a too-rigid annual canvass campaign, allowing for only the most traditional means of pledging to the church, will not produce the highest yield, or the largest possible percentage of pledging members. Second, and perhaps more importantly, recognizing new forms of giving may encourage young church-seekers to join and make a financial commitment to the church, when they otherwise might have avoided membership.

Towards that end, and in the divine spirit that welcomes all gifts, we propose that St. Paul's consider recognizing and facilitating the following non-traditional forms of giving to the church:

• Shorter Pledge Periods. Allow parishioners to choose to pledge for 6 or 4 months, instead of all 12. Allowing a financial commitment for a period of less than one year might better accommodate the relatively transient nature of student life, and the tendency of young adults to "tinker," or experiment, with new things. Newer parishioners may feel more confident about their ability to commit money if the length of their commitment is reduced. And upon establishing a successful track record in the short term, such parishioners may then feel that they are ready to commit money for a full year. Of course, allowing this option would entail administrative costs for the church, since some pledges would expire mid-year, and would require follow-up (and, one hopes, re-enlistment) by canvass committee members at the conclusion of the shorter periods. But it may be that offering the option of shorter pledge periods would have a positive effect on the annual canvass drive.
  
• Pledges to Make Regular Offerings, in No Fixed Amount. Allow parishioners who are unable to make a fixed financial commitment to the church to pledge to make a regular weekly contribution of any amount in the offering plate (say, on at least 30 Sundays during the year). Those choosing this option would not be required to give a fixed sum - they could place as much or as little money as they wished in the offering plate each Sunday -- and their unpredictable contributions would not be included in the annual church budget. However, these parishioners would be issued regular pledge envelopes, and their weekly contributions would be tallied and recognized. In addition, such parishioners would be counted in the annual canvass, and would serve to increase the number and percentage of pledging members.
  
  Another variation on this theme, again with the goal of increasing the percentage of the parish that makes a commitment during the canvass (and of broadening our concept of Generosity), would be to permit an alternate annual pledge, not of money, but of a significant number of volunteer hours (say, 100) to the church. We are less enthusiastic about this option, however, to the extent that it would entail a need to reliably quantify the volunteer work performed at St. Paul's - a nearly impossible task.
  
• Debit/Credit Card Capability. Continue to explore the feasibility of allowing worshippers to make offerings via credit or debit card, either within the sanctuary or (more realistically) in the parish hall. Increasingly, young people eschew cash and checks, and may find themselves unable to make an offering they otherwise would like to make. Such worshippers may also feel embarrassed at seeming to be empty-handed. St. Paul's should be able to accommodate such persons, by offering debit and credit card services at an accessible and tastefully appointed station immediately after worship. One option would be for the church to announce and man a regular "Generosity" table after every 9:00 or 11:15 service (perhaps as part of a welcoming "kiosk"). At such a table worshippers could reliably obtain information about the church, receive lists of volunteer opportunities and needs, and enjoy the chance to make a gift via a discreet credit and debit card machine.
  
  In closing, we make three additional, related recommendations, all intended to facilitate non-traditional giving. First, place blank offering cards in the pews, and encourage their use, with a view towards identifying and accounting for gifts from identified parishioners as much as possible. Second, undertake an annual educational program (perhaps a forum) on financial management and practical money skills from a Christian perspective, geared for younger parishioners of modest means. Third, be as transparent as possible - on our church website and elsewhere - about how St. Paul's uses the offerings it receives.

4. Parish Generosity Statement

Finally, the Generosity Team recommends that St. Paul's adopt a Parish Generosity Statement that expressly addresses the tension arising from what may be perceived as two conflicting messages: first, the exhortation to make a fixed, regular, and generous pledge to the church (with an implicit promise that you will not be expected to donate more money during the year); and, second, various ad hoc, often urgent, sometimes spontaneous entreaties for money to aid specific causes. Parishioners on a budget may well wonder which form of giving the church expects of them, and may conclude that they should reduce their regular pledges so that they have funds available to make specific donations during the year. We believe it is important for St. Paul's to welcome all givers, to acknowledge the validity of planned and spontaneous gifts, and to ensure that neither sort of giver feels excluded from our various celebrations of generosity. A Parish Generosity Statement would help set the tone.