Overview of 2019 Conference Materials

NOTE: The materials found below are from the 2019 conference in Asheville, NC. Please access full conference manual pages and slides via the links below. In addition, resources have been broken out by subject (Annual Giving, Planned Giving, Major Gifts, and more) on this website with further resources and tools. Please access these resources via the left navigation bar or under resources above.

Day One

We open the conference with talking about what it means to unlock our hearts to God's mission. We learn that stewardship is good and holy work. We talk about the theology of giving and share our own money stories. So it is, in the spiritual discipline of stewardship in the church, when we give our gift to God through the church, both the act of inviting and of giving force us to confront and acknowledge our own relationship with money---our shame, guilt, our frustration, our lack and our abundance. And, in this act of inviting and giving we are given an opportunity to be liberated, to not let these things bind us any longer.  The act of giving heals us, and through our gift we participate in the healing of the world.  Not unlike the Eucharist, we are changed by love in action.

We talk about using "Why" to think about our own church. People don’t give to your church because you do church. They give because they’ve connected with your mission. NOT your mission statement. Because you’ve communicated the Why of why you exist. We will explore our own messaging and how we communicate our values (why we do it), ethos (how we do it), and practice (what we do). Go to Day 1 Materials >

Day Two

This second day will focus on annual giving. We'll talk about different types of giving and strategies for planning a successful campaign. When you break down an annual campaign to an intentional monthly calendar, the to-dos are possible! We talk about how to plan, create, launch, track, succeed, celebrate, and thank within an annual cycle. We'll also explore communications tools and creative ways to develop campaign themes that make an impact.

We wrapped up the day with talking about major gifts: making mission possible, about dreaming together, and defining the factors of success. We talk about framing our conversations around our "why" and incorporating these communications strategies into our donor interactions. Throughout the day, we'll dive deep into defining major gifts, constituency models, roles and responsibilities, how to make asks for major gifts, and setting goals. Go to Day 2 Materials >

Day Three

The final day will focus on planned giving and the science of giving. We'll return to the "why" and how relationships and expressions of values and priorities are central to successful stewardship. We'll explore tried and true strategies of donor advised funds and endowments as well as case studies of people who are of different generations. Go to Day 3 Materials >