Transcript Using Appreciative Inquiry Tools for Stewardship Outline  Chalice Lighting  The Power of Language  Appreciative Language  Talking about Money  Why People Give 

Using Appreciative Inquiry Tools
for Stewardship
Outline
 Chalice Lighting
 The Power of Language
 Appreciative Language
 Talking about Money
 Why People Give
 Using Appreciative Inquiry in Stewardship Visits
 Why Bother with Visits
 A Different Way to Ask Important Questions.
 Practice – That’s How We Learn!
 What Do We Do With This Stuff?
Burning Questions
 What questions do you want to have answered by the
end of this workshop?
Why Use Appreciative Language
 In every organization, some things work well.
 We need to know and draw on all of our positive
strengths to build for the future.
 The language we use helps create our reality. It
shapes attitudes and focuses energy.
 If you focus on mission, then you know you can change
lives. If you focus on what you don’t have, then you
won’t be able to do what you can do.
Why Use Appreciative Language
 Our focus becomes our reality. In anxious times, we
need to build a vision of a positive future, not rehash
failures of the past.
 Asking questions influences the way we think about
things.
 Organizations are heliotropic (They follow the
energy.).
 Valuing differences can lead to new thinking and
positive change.
Talking about Money
“Please share with me your checkbook, your credit cards
and your tax forms, then I’ll understand your faith and
your view of stewardship. But money is rarely
discussed in the church and (is rarely) related to faith.”
Peter Steinke
Discussion
 Why do we have difficulty talking about money?
 How does this difficulty translate into the ways we
support our congregations?
 How does this impact our approach to stewardship
work?
Why People Give
 Belief in the mission – people give because they want
to change lives.
 People give to people – they have regard for staff
leaders and congregational leaders who ask
 Evidence of fiscal accountability – where does the
money go and how does it help change lives (not buy
light bulbs!)
People Give to Change Lives
“People want to make the world a better place to live.
They want to believe that they can truly make a
difference for the better. There is embedded in us, it
seems, a desire to finish out our work on this earth with
a sense that we amounted to something. To sum it up,
people want to be a part of something that changes
lives.”
Clif Christopher
People Give to People
“It is the people leading that church and those
programs that make the difference. When they have
confidence in those people to perform, gifts follow.….
People know that programs are just words on paper
until others take them and put those words into action.
Only then do lives get changed. So, though I may like a
certain program or idea, I do not give to it without
having supreme confidence in the people who are going
to be in charge of carrying it out.”
Clif Christopher
Accountability
“Nonprofits and churches only have one thing to sellchanged lives. When they do it well, they are
supported, but when they do not do it well, they go out
of business…..Please hear me when I say that you are
not in business to balance budgets or manage money.
You are in business to change lives”
Clif Christopher
More Reasons Why People Give
 Because someone asks!
 Because we believe in the organization’s mission and
want to be a real part of it.
 Out of a sense of gratitude for all that we have in life.
 To add meaning to our lives.
 Because we like to help people.
 In response to people we trust.
 Feelings of obligation (older generation)
 Other reasons?????
Myths About Giving
 If people understand the dire financial straits of the
congregation, they will feel guilty and give more.
 People in low-income households don’t give money.
Low-income people give time instead.
 During economic downturns, people don’t give to their
congregations.
 People suffer information overload and don’t care to
know how their money is being used.
Shifts in Language
 Steward – a conversation partner, an ambassador of
the congregation and Unitarian Universalism
 Annual Stewardship Drive – an opportunity to support
what we love. A chance to change lives. A chance to
express commitment to the congregation on many
levels, including financial.
Shifts in Language
 Stewardship Visits – a vehicle for in-depth
conversations with fellow congregants, including
opportunities for relationship building, questions,
answers and feedback
 Feedback – positive recommendations and dreams for
the future of the congregation that is taken to the
board and leadership
Shifts in Language
 Pledge – This is not asking for money. This is asking
for a commitment to support the mission and vision
of the congregation. It is an invitation to support
something people love and care for. Put your money
where you heart lies.
 This goes for new members, too. They care enough to
join and WANT to be asked to participate fully –
including pledging.
Why We Do Visits
 Personal nature of Appreciative Inquiry requires a
face-to-face meeting.
 Deepens personal relationships and networks within
the congregation! (It’s ALL about relationships!)
 Sharing of hopes and visions and dreams – the REAL
stuff.
 Allows opportunity for questions, answers and
feedback.
 Creates an informal, confidential setting for frank and
transformative dialogue
Why We Do Visits
 Produces a high level of commitment. People give to
people – not pledge mailings!
 Asks every one to take their own level of responsibility
for the church’s well being and support
 It’s quick and easy.
 Helps clean up the membership database
 Cost effective
 Helps congregations to realistically discuss future
plans, mission, generosity, money and giving
Appreciative Inquiry Questions
Memories
 Looking back at your Involvement in First Unitarian
Universalist – Columbus, when did you feel alive,
engaged, and committed to the congregation? When
were you proud to be a member? When have you seen
the congregation really alive, engaged and committed?
Values
 What do you think is our core as a congregation, our life
giving center from which our best thinking, work and
energy emerge? What do we do really well?
Appreciative Inquiry Questions
Wishes
 The Strategic Planning Committee was recently
reactivated at First UU. Looking at the future, where
would you wish to see church energies and resources
(people, focus, money, talent, growth, physical plant)
put and to what purpose or end? What three big
(bold/courageous) wishes do you have for the church
and its purpose?
Potential
What are our greatest possibilities as a church for
making a difference in the world, in terms of spiritual
difference, relational difference and/or social difference?
Practice!
 Time to practice asking questions of each other.
What Do We Do With This Stuff?
 Now that we know, how can we help?
Appreciative Stewardship Visit
There are 4 Parts to the Stewardship Visit
1. Preliminaries – do your homework and learn about
the congregation and about the people you will
visit.
2. Scheduling the visit – personal or small group or
dessert meeting or….etc.
3. The Visit – where Appreciative Inquiry is used.
4. Follow Up
Appreciative Stewardship Visit
I. THE PRELIMINARIES
1.Know the mission and what the church is doing! That’s
why we do this work!
2. Please make your own generous pledge before making
stewardship visits. Stewards should be able to say:
 a.
 b.
 c.
I’m giving X%, or
I’ve increased X%, or
I’m meeting the UUA guidelines
Appreciative Stewardship Visit
Become familiar with your materials:
 Contact list with names, info
 Suggested Fair Share Giving Guide
 Annual Campaign Brochure
 Summaries of congregational programs and ministries
if not included in brochure
 Appreciative Inquiry Forms for feedback
 Financial Commitment Forms
 Envelopes for Financial Commitment Forms
 Thank You Notes and Envelopes
Appreciative Stewardship Visit
II. SCHEDULING THE VISIT
1. Introduce yourself if needed
2. Ask if this is a good time to talk
3. Briefly explain the purpose of your call – stewardship
visit and feedback for church planning
4. Schedule the visit
5. Make sure relevant parties will be there
Appreciative Steward Visit
III - MAKING THE VISIT
1. Your story (always important). Why you support the
congregation.
2. Their stories, hopes and dreams (the appreciative
inquiry questions)
3. Give them a chance to share (giving guides and
forms)
4. Thanks, gratitude shared
Practice!
More Detail - Steward Visit
1.Tell your story.
 Share passion for the congregation’s mission and how
it changes lives. (your life?)
 Tell a story about something you love about this
congregation.
 Use the stewardship documents or the brochure as a
visual guide.
More Detail - Steward Visit
2. Their story
 Ask them the Inquiry Questions and listen to their
story; this is the invitation to Conversations from the
Heart
 Are there any other questions they need answered?
 Acknowledge their comments and concerns.
 Take notes and let them know you will share the
information with Board and church leadership
More Detail - Steward Visit
3. People give to people  Ask for their financial pledge this coming year to support what
they love.
 The Giving Guide is helpful
 If they have given in the past, ask if they are willing to take one
step up from last year
 Give the pledge form and wait patiently (and quietly) and give
them a chance to respond. Leave the room for a bit if needed.
 Make sure they feel good about giving at their comfort level.
.
More Detail – The Questions
 Feedback from questions goes to the Board and
leadership.
 It contains valuable information for planning and
budgeting and stewardship celebration.
 Questions can be asked with different wording
 We are asking folk to tell us what they really, really,
really care about in the congregation and dream for its
future. Put your money where your heart lies. And we
are very grateful that they care.
More Detail – After the Visit
IV. THE FOLLOW-UP
 Write a short, simple thank-you note
 If the member(s) had questions that you promised to
research, find the answers and get back to them asap.
 Submit the inquiry sheets with the completed pledge
forms.
 Return each completed pledge form as soon as
possible.
 All pledge forms must be returned by a set date.
And If You are Asked to Testify
 Mission, Mission, Mission—the church changes lives.
 Share your own enthusiasm about what the church is
doing.
 Practice openness about your own support and be
willing to speak on Sunday morning.
Resources – Web Based
Visit the UUA website: www.uua.org and Google
search “Giving and Generosity” and “Congregational
Stewardship Services.”
Put Your Money Where your Heart Is: New Ideas in
Stewardship: videos and a study guide
http://www.cerguua.org/stewardshipres.html
Resources - Stewardship
Beyond Fundraising: A Complete Guide to
Congregational Stewardship, by Wayne B.
Clark, 2007. The “Forward Through the
Ages” (FORTH) program of year-round
congregational stewardship.
Not Your Parents Offering Plate. by Clif
Christopher, 2008. New strategies for financial
stewardship.
Whose Offering Plate Is It? by Clif Christopher, 2010.
Resources- Appreciative Inquiry
Memories, Hopes, and Conversations:
Appreciative Inquiry and Congregational
Change by Mark Lau Branson. 2004.
Appreciative Inquiry tools for long range
planning.
The Power of Appreciative Inquiry: A Practical
Guide to Positive Change by Amanda
Trosten-Bloom and Diana Whitney.
2003. Appreciative Inquiry and
organizational change.
Closing
By Dorothy Day:
People say, what is the sense of our small effort? They
cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take
one step at a time.
A pebble cast into a pond causes ripples that spread in
all directions. Each one of our thoughts, words and
deeds (and dollars) is like that.
No one has the right to sit down and feel hopeless.
There’s too much work to do.
Thank You For Coming!!!!!!