Stewardship 2025 Update
Last week marked the end of our 2025 stewardship campaign, “Something's Gotta Give.” In this messenger article, we wanted to give you some information about where we stand. We have had a strong push since our last update to the congregation, but we have a little bit more to go.
As of Tuesday, November 19th, 120 households had pledged to the campaign for a total of $406,600 in giving for fiscal year 2025. That’s more than our total pledging for 2024. This was a massive gain from where we were when Gene sent out the eblast on Wednesday, November 13th. From that eblast, we’ve gained 35 households with additional giving of $142,486. This has brought our shortfall in the total budget of $625,000 down to just $62,400. That is impressive news and has set us up for success with just a little more work.
As Jen Acheson, finance committee chair, titled in her messenger article last week, “Please Don’t Make Us Call You,” we know some members might have missed our messaging. If everyone who pledged in 2024 but has not pledged for 2025 gave at the same level, a total of $67,940, we would be over the finish line and, in fact, in black ink by over five thousand! We will be making some phone calls, so if you are able to help minimize the number of calls for us, please continue your pledge by filling out a pledge card or using the online form here.
As you may have heard, I’m pretty interested in the numbers side of the stewardship campaign, so let’s look at some of those statistics. The average pledge is $3,388, while interestingly, the median (middle of the list) and mode (most frequent) are both $2,400. Unsurprisingly, the largest bracket of households, totaling 49, pledged between $1,000 and $3,000. Meanwhile, $0 - $3,000 pledges represent 66% of the total household pledging.
As I mentioned earlier, while we have some households that have given in the past but have not yet pledged for 2025, we also have households that are new to pledging, a total of 24 new households. They are joined by the 96 households that have continued to pledge from last year. That continuing pledge has shown impressive growth, with the average household pledging 30% more than in 2024.
As we enter Thanksgiving week, we are all reminded of the things we are thankful for. I, for one, am deeply thankful for all of the thoughtful and prayerful support this church has given in this stewardship campaign. I know we are all thankful for SUM and its wonderful ministries. We are so very close to the goal and our budget needs. Please, if you can continue your pledging from 2024 into 2025, if you are able to join the campaign as a new household, or if you are able to increase your pledge, please thoughtfully, prayerfully (and maybe again quickly) pledge.
Greg Freidline
Stewardship Chair