Take Stewardship to the Next Level

2023 SAS Track Sign Up is Now Closed

Before Your Sign Up

  1. One Church - One Track. We want your church to concentrate on a single track. Members of the same church are asked to register for the same track. 

  2. Be Certain before you register. Talk with your team and agree. Then register at the appropriate link below. Registration is open now. 

  3. Register as Individuals for the Same Track. Everyone who wants the Zoom Link and reminders for the Track Meeting needs to follow the appropriate link below and register. You will be automatically added to the reminder email list and receive a confirmation with the Zoom Link and Dates. If you "unsubscribe" from GSB emails, you will NOT receive reminder emails. 

  4. Pastors may also register for the Pastoral Leadership Track in addition to their church's chosen track. 

  5. These meetings will NOT be available by video later. Please plan to attend for discussion, Q&A, and content. 

List Overview (Each Church May Choose 1 Option):

  • Option 1: Evangelism & Outreach (Applying SAS Principles) - With Mike Ward

  • Option 2: Volunteer Recruitment and Retention - How To - With Paul Marsh

  • Option 3: Council Leadership: Engaging and Effective Meetings - Paul Walters

  • Option 4: Special Appeals - Jennie Wolf Smith

  • Option 5: Storytelling Using the Donorarc Model - Mitzie Schafer

  • Option 6: Clarifying Identity for Impact - Rev. Nathan Swenson-Reinhold

  • Option 7: Planned Giving - Matthew Schultz

Additional Option for Pastors Only:

  • Stewardship: The Effective Pastoral Leader  - Pete Reuss

Option 1: Evangelism & Outreach (Applying SAS Principles) - With Mike Ward

SAS teaches that we identify our ministry needs, clarify what we are wanting to accomplish, cultivate our donors, and ask for a financial commitment.  These same principles can be applied to evangelism and outreach efforts.  We will use the opportunity to invite people to Easter Sunday worship, which is a time many people look for a place to worship.

Session 1--Identifying why people currently attend worship at your congregation and applying that to identify potential people to target for invitation.  Also, some basics--does your website have the correct information (including some inspiration), what will people find when they walk in the door (will they be greeted?).

Session 2--Determining the times in the church calendar that people are most open to finding a church home. Create a process to identify, inform, inspire, and invite people.  Establish 3 times that you will have an intentional effort to identify, inform, inspire, and invite people to church.

Session 3--Establish goals and measurement tactics.  Refine tactics around an invitation to Easter Sunday and share plans with each other.

Session 4--Report on results from Easter.

Calendar:
Session 1--Thursday, January 18, 2 PM Eastern
Session 2--Thursday, February 8, 2 PM Eastern
Session 3--Thursday, March 7, 2 PM Eastern
Session 4--Thursday, April 11, 2 PM Eastern

Option 2: Volunteer Recruitment and Retention - How To - With Paul Marsh

Congregations have long battled the 80/20 rule: that 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people. Now it is even harder, as many congregations report that 80/20 rule becoming a 90/10 rule.

In this volunteer track for SAS, we will focus on the recruitment, retention and stewardship of church volunteers, as well and growing leaders in your congregation and identifying successful stewardship team members.

All tracks will be at 9am pacific, 10am mountain, 11am central and noon eastern time.

Jan 25: Overview--how do we recruit volunteers? We will consider the process of determining our volunteer needs, preparing recruitment materials, identifying prospective volunteers and how ministry team leaders go about inviting their service.

Feb 22: Writing job or service descriptions. You will bring a list of volunteer opportunities at your ministry to this meeting and we will walk through how we write a job or service description together.

March 28: How to retain volunteers. In this meeting we will talk about how to make your volunteers’ experiences worthwhile and fulfilling. We will review check ins, conflict resolution, continuing education and gratitude gatherings.

April 25: How to grow volunteer leadership in your congregation. One of our goals in refining our volunteer program is to raise up new leaders and maintain a leadership pipeline. We will discuss how to identify potential leaders, give them varied experiences throughout your ministry, and invite them into leadership roles

Option 3: Council Leadership: Engaging and Effective Meetings - Paul Walters

Getting people to serve on congregational councils or leadership boards can be like pulling teeth. The mere suggestion of an invitation can be met with looks of horror. It does not have to be that way. In this track learn how to use the time together to build up leaders, develop relationships with one another, and find joy and laughter in your time together. All this will make your time together more productive and more inspiring.

Serving Jesus and building up God’s kingdom is a joyful activity, even when that means being part of a congregational council.

Meeting dates on Zoom: 

  • January 22 at 7:00pm Eastern

  • February 12 at 7:00pm Eastern

  • March 11 at 7:00pm Eastern

  • April 8 at 7:00pm Eastern

Option 4: Special Appeals - Jennie Wolf Smith

How do we ask for money for something not covered by the budget, but not big enough of a project for a capital campaign? This is the sweet spot for a special appeal.
Often used to cover one-off building projects (HVAC replacement, parking lot repavement, etc.), special appeals can also launch new ministries, close funding gaps, fuel an endowment fund and more.
In this track, stewardship teams will learn:

  • how special appeals differ from stewardship drives and capital campaigns,

  • when and how to conduct a special appeal, and

  • to use the Inform-Inspire-Ask-Thank model to walk you through your own appeal - over the course of the 2024 Winter Track sessions or for a future special appeal.

Dates - All sessions at 12:30PM Eastern/11:30AM Central/10:30AM Mtn
Tues, Jan 16 - Overview
Tues, Feb 13 - A Case that Informs and Inspires
Tues, Mar 12 - How to Ask
Tues, April 16 - Thanking and Reporting

Option 5: Storytelling Using the Donorarc Model - Mitzie Schafer

The best stories, the ones we can’t wait to tell, are stories that come from passion and excitement. When we are jazzed about a recent event, we can’t wait to tell everyone we meet and post it on social media. Telling stories about our ministry needs the same level of passion and excitement, but it also needs a purpose. We need to use every moment and every story to engage constituents in our work and encourage them to act. 

We should not depend on our people to tell/write the story the way we need it told. Instead, we must interview them with some key things in mind. Is your story about IMPACT, what your ministry provided to the person changed, or is it about GENEROSITY, how giving changed a person and your ministry? In this track we will learn how to identify stories, interview for them, write them using the Donorarc Storytelling Model, and how and when to share them.

Session 1: Finding the story, interviewing for it, and writing it

Session 2: Editing stories, choosing a title, using the model to adapt other communication, and how and when to share stories

Calendar

  • Thursday, January 25th - 1pm-3pm Eastern/12pm Central/11am Mountain (Note this is a 2-hour session)

  • Thursday, March 7th - 1pm-3pm Eastern/12pm Central/11am Mountain (Note this is a 2-hour session)

Option 6: Clarifying Identity for Impact - Rev. Nathan Swenson-Reinhold

Many of us have a love/hate relationship with these things called mission, vision, and values. However, the most impactful organizations do in fact have a clear sense of the dimensions of their identity. It helps them know who they are for, what they say yes to, and what they say no to. Whether you need to do a complete overhaul or want the opportunity to discern and reflect on what you currently have, Clarifying Identity for Impact is a four-month/four-session opportunity to work on these foundational pieces of your congregation’s self-understanding.

This track should involve the lead pastor, a good word-smither in your congregation, and a sufficient mass of congregational leadership to provide generative reflection for your congregation’s journey – ideally 5 or 6. Strategies for inviting deeper dimensions of congregational input will be provided.

Calendar

  • Each one-hour session will be held at 7 p.m. Easter/ 6 p.m. Central/ 5 p.m. Mountain.

    Session 1: January 18 -- Overview and Curating Congregational Input and Insights

    Session 2: February 15 -- Designing Values

    Session 3: March 21 -- Designing Mission

    Session 4: April 18 -- Designing Vision and Deploying Identity

Option 7: Planned Giving - Matthew Schultz

Building a foundation for a comprehensive planned giving program will eliminate preventable misunderstandings and infighting. A strong foundation includes a Gift Policy and Endowment By-laws. The program’s foundation should be built on transparency, best practices, and consensus building. It should have clear expectations, eliminate conflicts of interest, and support the mission and vision of the congregation. It is critical that members of the congregation understand their options and how to access support. This is best achieved by creating a culture of leaving a legacy of generosity. Creating this affirming culture takes time, attention, and consistency. Through this track, the Pastor and Planned Giving Committee will develop the critical pieces of an effective Planning Giving program for the congregation. 

Calendar

  • Each one-hour session will be held at 2 p.m. Eastern/ 1 p.m. Central/ 12 p.m. Mountain/11 a.m. Pacific

    January 10 - Planned Giving Emphasis Impact 

    February 7 - Best Practice for Gift Policies 

    March 6 - Best Practice for Endowment By-Laws 

    April 3 - How Members Can Leave Plans that will Honor their Wishes 

BONUS OPTION FOR PASTORS:

Stewardship: The Effective Pastoral Leader  - Pete Reuss

Congregational generosity. That’s the job of the Stewardship Committee, right?  Pastoral Leaders can find 1001 reasons why they shouldn’t be involved in asking people to grow in giving. The reality is that Pastoral Leaders play a critical role in generosity ministries. In this track for these leaders, we will 

·       Examine the Pastoral Leader’s personal relationship with money

·       Understand your vital role in encouraging generosity

·       Consider the culture of the congregation around generosity…and take steps to change it.

·       Discern how the topic of money connects with preaching

Meeting dates on Zoom (all on Thursdays at 1:00 Central)

January 11 – Looking in the mirror: your personal relationship with money

February 8 – Generosity: Leading cultural change in the congregation

March 14 – The Pastoral Leader’s role in raising funds for ministry

April 18 – Money and preaching