IMPORTANT STEPS TO YOUR COMMITMENT CAMPAIGN #1
It is mid-summer; new pastors are in place in a new appointment
year; and meetings generally aren’t occurring like they will in the fall.
Nothing we have to worry about relative to those fall campaigns, is there?
Sorry, yes, there is. I found “Ten Commandments for
Commitment Campaigns” on the United Methodist Stewardship Foundation of Michigan
website, and it makes some very good points about things that are vital to a
successful commitment campaign, or pledge drive, or pledge campaign, or
stewardship campaign, or fall campaign, or whatever we call them.
I’m going to take the next couple of weeks to go over these
steps. I encourage you to take these “commandments” or “recommendations” to
heart as you ready yourselves for financial work in the fall.
The first recommendation is to not wait until Labor
Day to plan the campaign. I know, I know; I’ve been there. Summer goes
by really quickly and suddenly it’s Labor Day, and it’s time to start planning
the fall campaign that is going to start very soon. Don’t wait. Start
the planning now, so that the planning can be done and done well before
the actual campaign work starts. If you start now, you can do the planning
properly and get the materials that you need.
The second recommendation is to be clear about what the
outcome of the campaign needs to be. What is your goal? Getting enough
money to pay the budget isn’t it. Are you trying to increase the dollar amounts
pledged? OR are you trying to increase the number of pledges? Those two goals
are very different, and may lead to different outcomes.
The third recommendation is to recruit/invite people
to assist with the campaign. But be careful; simply having a willing
body isn’t the way to go. Just finding people to say yes shouldn’t be your
goal. If we wait to the fall to start planning, that’s what we’re sometimes
stuck doing. But, instead, recruit, and recruit now, those persons who are
capable and have the knowledge, understanding and belief in stewardship to do a
good job.
These are the three steps that come “before” the campaign work
itself starts. Complete these steps as soon as possible and start your
brain-storming now!
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