SAY THANK YOU

 

            As I’ve been talking about vision and discipleship and generosity, I want to ask: what happens when all that work is done? You know, you’ve had a campaign, or you’ve asked for money. Do you say thank you?

            I remember, as a kid, being told by my mother to be sure to say thank you at Christmas and birthday time. It didn’t matter whether the gift was exactly what I wanted or expected; the importance was the thought behind it.

            When I graduated from high school, my parents had a small party, and I received lots of cards and some gifts from relatives and friends and from a few friends of my parents as well. This was the opportunity for me to write thank you notes. I had done a few in my childhood, but not very many. I had to figure out to thank people for cash gifts, for gifts I unwrapped, and for cards. Different gifts, while for the same reason (my graduation) needed to have my thanks expressed differently.

            My question then is: how do we say thank you, when we actually say thank you? I know; the majority of time I’ve actually seen thanks expressed after a giving or stewardship campaign, it’s limited to a short paragraph in the monthly newsletter, thanking people for prayerfully giving to the church. Same paragraph directed to everyone, people who made a nominal one-time gift, people who pledged monthly or weekly amounts, and the large gifts. If different thanks needed to be given to someone who gave me $50 and someone who gave me a card, why wouldn’t we thank people differently based on what they gave?

            I know, I know, every gift is important. I’m aware of the widow’s mite. I’m not saying that you’re going to write a long letter to someone who gave big bucks; and basically a pre-printed email to someone else. Obviously, because we appreciate the larger gift more! No! What I’m saying is that EVERY gift should have a heartfelt thank you.

            I know there are reasons why churches aren’t very good at expressing gratitude:

·         People are giving to God, so they don’t need to be thanked by the church.

·         We’re just not aware that it’s something we should do.

·         Church people are busy people, and no one has the time or responsibility for doing it.

            Givers deserve gratitude. We’ve asked them to give to God through the church. We should thank them. When you receive a thank you note (or card, or email), aren’t you delighted? I don’t know about you, but I’ll put them on my credenza and look at them from time to time. It reminds me about my generosity and the good the gift is doing.

            Generosity deserves gratitude. We often spend time focused on planning out our stewardship campaigns, with calendars, and people lined up to speak and write letters, and do announcements, but no one is scheduled to help write the thank you notes. It can be a pretty basic letter, thanking someone for their generosity. You could have some paragraphs created to be inserted in certain letters to certain givers, certainly. But there should be a real signature and a short, handwritten message from the signer.

            I like the thank you that tells me that someone cared enough to notice! How about you?

 

Please feel free to contact me at (315) 427-3668 or susanranous@unyumc.org if you’d like to help creating thank you letters and emails that could be used.