Generosity & Engagement Ministries:
All about Community & Commitment
We recognize that our community exists because of the commitment of the people involved. Our Generosity & Engagement Ministries (GEM) supports newcomers and helps longtimers connect more deeply with the Fellowship. This team also helps everyone support our Fellowship’s finances to keep our community strong both in people-power and financial health.
Engagement
GEM supports our ministers and staff in welcoming newcomers, educating people in the basics of UU identity and practice, and helping people find ways to connect deeply and use their gifts in service to the Fellowship. They also support members in maintaining a meaningful connection with the Fellowship, and they offer regular celebrations of membership.
Click the Connection, Belonging, & Membership button to find out more.
Annual Support
Financial health involves careful and responsible management of the Fellowship’s daily, monthly, and annual financial operating needs.
In order to budget appropriately, our staff and governing board need to know how much income to expect from year to year. We ask that everyone let us know if they intend to change their giving, whether that change is an increase or a decrease. If we don’t hear from you, we assume your giving will remain unchanged.
This year, we will also be hosting several small “Reach Our Goal” campaigns to highlight areas of the Fellowship’s budget that need additional support. We will be asking for financial gifts to help reach those goals, and our hope is that those additional gifts will be added to future years’ ongoing giving to reduce our reliance on similar campaigns in the future.
Click the Annual Support button to learn more.
Endowment: Legacy Giving
Many years ago, members of the Fellowship community started an endowment fund to allow all to invest in the long-term future of the Fellowship. We hope this fund will eventually grow to help support the Fellowship’s operations, allow for program expansion, and meet other long-term needs not readily funded by our annual budget.
Members who give a financial gift to the endowment or who notify us of their intention to leave a legacy gift are noted as members of the Acorn Society.
Click the endowment button to learn more.
Focused Fundraising
Fundraising focuses on special events to fund specific and focused unbudgeted needs of the Fellowship. For example, 2021’s Lights Camera Auction! raised funds to help purchase and install the audiovisual updates we needed to offer both in-person and virtual connections. This year, our annual budget includes an expected $25,000 income from fundraisers and our committee is hard at work planning three fun events to help raise those funds. We will need your help to make these a success. Watch the weekly e-news for more details as they arise.
Click the fundraising button to learn about current fundraising special events!
In addition, Generosity & Engagement Ministries supports ongoing fundraising for organizations outside our walls.
“Share the Plate” – A Wonderful Way to Share Your Generosity!
Generosity outside our walls has been and continues to be, important to the members of the Fellowship.
Each Sunday during that calendar month funds received through the collection plate, or through online giving will be shared, with half of the funds used to support the Fellowship budget and the other half sent to support the organization of the month.
The organization of the month is selected in cooperation with the Generosity & Engagement Ministries (GEM), the Fellowship Justice Action Ministries (JAMs), and the Executive Team and will typically be a local or UU-specific organization that is doing work that aligns with the Fellowship’s mission and values.
We hope this will allow more people to participate in outside-our-walls collections, benefitting both those worthy organizations receiving our support, as well as our Fellowship’s operating budget. This is one of the many ways the Fellowship supports those both within and beyond our walls.
If you would like to support the organization of the month click HERE to donate online. If you prefer to make your donation via check make it payable to FVUUF with “Share” in the memo field and drop off or mail to the Fellowship at 2600 E Philip Lane, Appleton, WI 54915.
Your Generosity at Work!
In 2022 we began an initiative called “Share the Plate”. Each Sunday during the calendar month your generosity through the collection plate or through online giving designated as share, is split, with half of the funds used to support the Fellowship budget and the other half sent to support the organization of the month – a local or UU-specific organization.
This new initiative has helped to support the following organizations in 2022-2023: Pillars, Sustainable Development Institute of the College of the Menominee Nation, ESTHER, UUA Disaster Relief Fund, Diverse & Resilient, Even Start Family Literacy, UU the Vote. The donations to those organizations totalled $7,166!
Not only have you shared your generosity outside our walls, but you have also added $7,166 to the Fellowship’s operating funds. Thank you for your generosity!
2023-2024 Recipients:
Coming soon.
