News for Treasurers from the Canon for Mission Resources
Treasurer's Newsletter
Fellow treasurers,

Here are some topics I thought you'd be interested in. Please reach out to me with questions or suggestions for topics. Budgeting, pledge drives, year end bookkeeping await. Again, feel free to contact me about your service to your congregation.

Pledge Statements
We recommend that parishes send out pledge statement a minimum of quarterly. We actually prefer a schedule as follows:
·         End of February
·         End of May
·         End of August
·         By November 30
·         End of year
This schedule has proven to be effective, especially the November end reminder.

Pledge statements are a proven way to increase giving. They should be accompanied by a letter thanking people and letting them know how important their gift is for the ministry of the church. The rector should know who pledges what and may want to follow up w/ people who are way behind. Another good practice is to send hand written notes from the treasurer letting folks know how we count on the pledges and they should let us know if there has been a change. It’s not pressure. It’s being responsible.

Performance of Investments with the Trustees for the Diocese
Over the past five years the average annual return we have experienced is 9.2%. That is no indication of future earnings, but we are outperforming our peers in total return.

Budgeting for Pledge Income
My recommendation, and the practice of plenty of churches, is to budget pledge income for the coming year based on recent history and current knowledge of the situation instead of waiting to see how much you have in pledges and to get the pledge number. Your pledge goal should be challenging and realistic. Seek participation primarily by as many members as possible. Report how the parish is doing toward the pledge goal into January and even February if there are still people who haven’t pledged buy might be called to do so. Consider forming a team to work together on stewardship. We have many resources available. Give me a call.

Donation Button
Does your church have a donation button on its website? If not, I believe you are missing out on an opportunity. The company I have been working with is Tithe.ly. For free you can open an account and get what the simple widget you need to put a DONATE button on your website and social media accounts. The customer support is great. We have a discounted processing rate for credit cards of 2.75%. Here is a link to the Sign Up for members of TENS. Register Your Church. Call me if you want to learn more.

Your TENS Membership
All churches in our diocese are members of The Episcopal Network for Stewardship. They are a great resource. The new login information to gain access to member resources on the TENS website is as follows:

Username: tithe
Password: 4transformation
Blessings,
Steve

Steven P. Abdow
Canon for Mission Resources
413-417-2414
The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts | 413-737-4786 | www.diocesewma.org