Stewardship Campaign 2025-2026

Stewardship Logo - Home For Hope

Stewardship Drive Progress
Number of Individuals/Families who have pledged to date
(out of 210 anticipated pledging units):

9
Total Amount Pledged toward the Goal of $490,000:

$52,550
Results to date as of:
February 28, 2025

Key Dates

  • Launch Luncheon (UUSS after service)
  • Stewardship Visits (UUSS after service)
  • Pledge Forms Due
  • Campaign Ends!

Supporting Our Beloved Spiritual Home

Stack of five versions of the pledge drive logo showing first a red, then magenta, purple, blue and green heart under the church roofline

March 2025

This year’s Stewardship Campaign theme is “A Home for Hope.”

We live in uncertain times. Our UU values of equity, justice, compassion, interdependence, pluralism, generosity, and transformation are under assault. Each day we learn of more suffering in a dramatically changed world. These are tough times and likely to get tougher.

It’s hard for us to imagine a world without love at the center. Yet, here we are.

The Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady (UUSS) strives to be your Home For Hope. With room for both despair and repair. You’ve turned to this circle in troubled times to gain understanding and strength from one another. You yearn to be part of a community – and a wider world – that retains love at the center.

We can’t take UUSS for granted. We need UUSS to be a sanctuary from hate.

UUSS is self-funded. Each year we ask members to pledge their financial support for the upcoming year. We know that being part of a religious community is not transactional. It’s relational. We have fantastic staff and co-ministers and we want to compensate them fairly. The costs of tending to the institution that is our congregation, the buildings, the grounds, increase just like so many other expenses. For a frame of reference if we divide the church’s budget by the number of all pledging households, it is approximately $2,400.

Please review the material below on this Stewardship web page.  Then indicate your generosity by clicking on the Online Pledge Form link.

We need your support to continue UUSS as A Home For Hope. Be as generous as you can.

Sincerely,

~ Kevin O’Connor, Stewardship Team chair

Pledge Process & Pledge Materials

  • 2025 Pledge Drive Handout & Chart:  Please read this to learn more this year’s goals and why your financial support matters to UUSS. 
  • Online Pledge Form:  Please complete this confidential form to tell us what you intend to donate during 2025-26.
  • Printable Pledge Form: If you prefer a paper copy, you can print this, fill it out, and bring it or mail it to the church.
  • NOTE:  If you have questions or any trouble accessing information about your pledge, please let Church Administrator Lillian Johnson help you!  Call 518-374-4446 or contact her at admin@uuschenectady.org 

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Pledging

Frequently Asked Questions

Who should pledge?

Everyone who is regularly participating in the congregation and who cares about the congregation is invited to pledge. That includes not just members, but also friends, seekers, and visitors.

Choosing to become a formal member of UUSS includes making a commitment to support it financially. As members, we jointly own and care for two buildings, we jointly employ a number of staff, and we jointly accept responsibility for the costs that come with running such a wonderful, life-enriching, inspiring organization.

Except for our Youth members, Emeritus members, or persons who have sought a hardship waiver, all members are asked to demonstrate this commitment by making a generous pledge regarding what they intend to contribute in the coming fiscal year and then by fulfilling that pledge as the year progresses.

 

How do I know the right amount to pledge?

The right amount for each person or family to pledge is a personal decision. Here is some information that may help you think about what to pledge.

  • Try to make your standard of giving reflect your standard of living. Given your budget, what can you contribute on a weekly or monthly basis? When you pledge, you are demonstrating your commitment to a place you have chosen as your spiritual home — not simply making a donation to yet another charity. So let your pledge celebrate your generosity and commitment!
  • Sustaining our congregation costs approximately $2,400 per pledging household. Some can give at that level or more. Others cannot. Some have suffered financially during the last few years. Others have seen their assets grow and may find themselves in a position to provide an extra level of support to UUSS at a time when others cannot.
  • If you currently pledge at less than $2,400, can you double your pledge, or make a different increase with a leap of faith?
  • A pledge commitment in our faith tradition often ranges from 3% to 7% or more of household income. Many have achieved a 5% pledge. Some UUSS members pledge at a 10% tithe. Other folks have proudly set themselves a multi-year goal of reaching those levels. One way to achieve this is to calculate what percentage of your income you give to UUSS now and see if you can go up by 1% more of your income each year.
  • If you are giving all you can, Thank You! Whatever amount you chose, we hope you will give until it feels good. Maintaining your pledge and fulfilling your promise are SUPER appreciated!

 

When are 2025-26 pledges due and what is the best way to pay them? Can pledge payments be deducted automatically from a bank account?

2025-26 pledge payments are due anytime from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. You can pay them in several ways described below. Please think about a method that is easy and consistent for you; this will help both you and the church with budgeting and cash flow.

We encourage households to consider monthly automatic withdrawals from a bank account to UUSS for your pledge payments. The process is easy and is initiated (upon your request) by Lillian in the church office using the VANCO system. These automatic monthly payments are not only convenient for members, they are also a great help to the church. We can rely on planned monthly income that relieves the church of seasonal cash flow worries.

You can also mail checks to the church or put them in the Sunday offering basket to pay your pledge. An important thing here is to write “2025-26 pledge payment” in the check memo line so that we can credit your payment properly.

You can donate online using a credit/debit card or using ACH bank transfer. See our Donate page for where and how to do this. Again it is important to select the “Give to the 2025-26 Pledge Payment” option so that your payment can be recorded properly. Also please note that the church incurs a lower fee if you use ACH bank transfer.

Another pledge payment option that our older members may find attractive is to have money from your IRA sent directly to the church as a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD). Members who are old enough to be required to take a Required Minimum Distribution from some types of investments may find that using a QCD reduces their taxes. Please talk to your financial advisor about this.

 

What is the 2025-26 Pledge Drive Goal? What do our pledged donations make possible?

The Pledge Drive Goal is at least $490,000. Our Board of Trustees has set that as the goal for our NEXT church year (i.e. July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026), though they hope to generate pledges that are much high than that.

Historically, the pledge drive provides approximately 80% of the income needed to operate UUSS year-round. In other words, in a typically healthy year, pledges cover at least 80% of the money our congregation needs to pay for staff salaries and benefits, utilities, insurance, all types of supplies, equipment, services, care for our buildings and grounds, trash removal, etc. — the whole enchilada.  The remaining roughly 20% of our income has typically come from fundraisers, rentals, income from the investment of bequests, the Sunday offering, and other donations.

But pledges declined as a percentage of the budget during the pandemic years, and in 2024-25 pledges will cover less than 67% of our expenses. To make up the difference, in these years the staff and Board have cut costs again and again and relied on one-time unexpected bequests that we received. Ultimately, the Board may need to withdraw money from the Operating Reserve account to balance the budget. Clearly this is not a sustainable situation. (See the next question below for more info on this.)

 

What is the Operating Reserve account and why do we continue to budget withdrawals from it? 

We continue to budget possible withdrawals from the Operating Reserve account because pledges have not kept up with increasing costs.

The Operating Reserve account was created in 2020 to: 1) Carry excess revenue from one year to the next, 2) Build short-term reserves for emergencies, and 3) Hold and save unplanned income. The last three fiscal-year budgets included the expectation that we would need to take money from the Operating Reserve account to balance expenses. However, in all three years we ultimately did not tap the account, not because we finished these years with a surplus, but because adequate cash existed on hand in the operating account to absorb losses without depleting our reserve account. Increasing pledge revenue decreases reliance on the Operating Reserve account to balance annual budgets.

 

Why are we asked to make a pledge in advance, instead of just paying as we go?

It’s all about planning and being able to use UUSS assets as wisely as possible. Imagine if your boss said to you, “I can’t tell you what your hourly pay rate or your salary will be in advance. I’ll just give you whatever I can each month.” Would that work for you?  How would you know what mortgage payment or car payment you could afford? How could you plan anything?

Like you, UUSS has many obligations — to our Mission, our staff, our members, etc. Reliable income predictions are crucial for balancing spending with income, and for choosing the best ways to fulfill our obligations and serve our Mission. A reasonably reliable income forecast results in better decision-making and helps our Board of Trustees and Finance Advisory Committee members sleep at night.

 

I don’t remember what I pledged this year. Can I look that up?

Sure. If you are a member of UUSS, our online database Breeze is your friend. It has a Profile for each member where you can see your pledge commitment and your pledge payments.

  • Go to our Member Areas webpage and find  “Click to log in to Breeze.” Sign in with your username and password.
  • Breeze will display your Dashboard. Next click on your own photo and name or on the words “My Profile” along the top to get to your personal info. Next click on “Giving” on the left.
  • In your personal Giving section of Breeze, look for the side-by-side buttons “Giving” and “Pledges” just below your name and address. Click on “Pledges” to see both what you pledged for the current year and how much of that pledge you have paid to date.
  • When you are finished, remember to log out of Breeze.
  • If you have trouble, contact our Church Administrator at admin@uuschenectady.org call 518-374-4446.

If you are not a member and you have pledged previously, the Administrator can look this number up for you.

 

What if my circumstances change and I need to change my pledge?

We know that unexpected things can happen. If your circumstances change and you need to adjust your pledge, simply contact the Co-Ministers and let them know you need to make an adjustment and what amount you will be increasing or decreasing. If you need a partial or full waiver of your pledge, please ask them for a request form.