Virginia Theological Seminary Alexandria, Virginia The Rev. Canon Charles LaFond Guest Faculty

Transcription

1 Virginia Theological Seminary Alexandria, Virginia The Rev. Canon Charles LaFond Guest Faculty Spirituality and Praxis of the Stewardship of Finances Winter Term 2009 January 12-16, 2009 Adjunct Professor: The Rev. Canon Charles LaFond Canon for Congregational Life, The Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire 63 Green Street, Concord, New Hampshire, Phone: or in-house through switchboard to guest house Office Hours: by appointment, please or call me to set up a meeting time at your convenience. Course location and time: Course Description: Course participants will learn the latest theory and proven practices in managing the programs and ministries needed to raise money and open hearts through stewardship programs in parishes and non-profits large and small. Participants will consider their own ambivalence about money and God, the impact of media on spending and on spirituality, the nature of fear and its role in people s giving, and the spirituality of bounty out of which pledging occurs. Merging the earliest spirituality with the latest psychology, technology and literature on giving trends and strategies, students will learn to use strategic planning, communications, marketing and spirituality to assist in their work to raise annual, capital and planned giving funds for the mission of God s kingdom on earth. Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this course nor does the course presuppose any knowledge of fund-raising, non-profit management, communications, strategic planning or theology and spirituality. No languages other than English is required. Some references to Greek and Latin will be made. WebCT: There is a website for this course. It will contain copies of all assignments, handouts (Stewardship Manual) and links to other useful information. Registered students will be able to access the site. Required Texts: The required books for this course will be available for purchase through the seminary bookstore or can be found at Amazon.com. The Stewardship Manual will be downloadable on line as a 60 page PDF book. 1

2 1. LaFond, The Rev. Canon Charles; Stewardship Resource Manual, Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, (one copy per student, no copies sold to non-classmembers- total limit 20) 60 Pages, in-house publishing at cost by The Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. $5.00 (to be shipped December 1, 2008) This text will also be downloadable as a PDF file. 2. Rosso, Henry A.; Achieving Excellence in Fund Raising, 2 nd edition, Jossey-Bass, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., San Francisco, 2003, ISBN#: Dove, Kent E.; Conducting a Successful Capital Campaign, 2 nd Edition, Jossey- Bass, John Wiley and Sons, Inc.; San Francisco, 2000, ISBN #: Prince, Russ Alan and File, Karen Maru; The Seven Faces of Philanthropy; 2 nd edition, Jossey-Bass, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., San Francisco, 1994, ISBN#: Diocese of New Hampshire Stewardship, Capital Campaign, major Gifts and Planned Giving Training and Resource Manuals, The Rev. Canon Charles LaFond, 2009 (Draft) You will need a bible and prayer book. Any modern translation of the Bible is acceptable. From time to time, additional readings will be assigned in connection with the daily assignments. These readings will be distributed in class for your convenience. Web links will be supplied for any which are available electronically. Requirements: 1. Five Short writing assignments: Each day you will be assigned a short (2 page, single space, 12 point) reflection or practical skill development exercise which is worth 10% of the grade. These exercises are designed to allow the opportunity to process the material being presented and build skills in creating materials needed in the administration of stewardship programs. 2. Two Projects (2-6 pages each) due mid week and last day respectively: These papers will be based on case studies in which you will be asked to use one aspect of a course lesson to create a document like one used in the administration of strategic planning, communications and management of stewardship programs in a mid-sized (program) parish o non-proft organization. This project will provide a model on which to repeat basic documents needed in stewardship leadership in a parish or small (under $10 million / year annual budget) non-profit organization. The combined value of these two projects will be worth 30% of your grade. 3. Readings and discussion / engagement with previous readings during class: Students will be expected to read and be familiar with assigned 2

3 materials and be prepared to make comment on them during class discussion. Student participation will constitute 30% of your grade. 4. Final Examination (Last hour, final day of lectures): The examination will include basic identification of lecture and discussion information, along with two essay questions, one design piece and one final reflection (The final reflection is not part of the examination grading.) The final examination will constitute 30% of the grade. Academic Integrity: Virginia Theological Seminary and the wider church and non-profit sector value academic and intellectual integrity. Therefore all students must understand the meaning and consequences of plagiarism and study preparatory underachievement under the code of the seminary conduct. Course Goals: Students will be able: 1. To design and manage a stewardship (financial development) program from planning to evaluation in a small, mid-sized or large parish; 2. to access their own internal issues around money, fear, faith and hope as they pertain to giving, bounty and scarcity so as to lead others to do the same; 3. to create a strategic plan which leads a parish or non-profit through a year-long stewardship program; 4. to understand and create their own theology and philosophy of the intersection between God and our money, understanding the importance of this issue in our time and able to express that importance with fluidity and passion to the extent of their abilities; 5. to manage the communications needed to raise funds in annual campaigns, major gifts initiatives, capital campaigns and planned giving programs; 6. to have a working knowledge of major gift strategies; 7. to have a working overview of capital campaign design, management and professional (hired) counsel management; 8. to have a basic understanding of the main issues and vocabularies involved in planned giving programs as well as the ability to incorporate them into existing annual stewardship, major gift and capital programs; 9. to understand cultural norms and societal realities which impact stewardship and financial development; 10. to select and work with fund raising counsel without spending money on counsel pre-maturely; 11. to understand ethical frameworks for fund raising in a parish or non-profit; 12. to know how to proceed with further independent study through conferences and other existing materials in the ongoing strengthening of fund raising, strategic planning, non-profit communications and theological aspects of issues around money, faith and management. Class Schedule 3

4 For each of the dates, you will find in bold a primary text from the assigned books which will provide the focus of our discussion. There will also be auxiliary topics which will be explored in relation to the primary material. Since the value of this course is that of half a normal semester ( 8 weeks of course work), the lectures, preparation and assignments will be dense and considerable in volume so as to be worthy of the credits assigned. Monday, January 12: Introduction to Stewardship: philosophy, theology and internal disposition The physiological and spiritual dimensions of fear and how they affect stewardship. Exercises which uncover our own fears and ambivalence. Beginning the conversation about money with a vestry or board. o No preparatory reading is assigned. Tuesday, January 13: Overview of an effective model for year-round stewardship / financial development planning, internal and external communications, general management and evaluation. o Read the Stewardship Resource Manual, The Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire (entirety) o Chapter 8, The Annual Fund, Achieving Excellence in Fund Raising, Page o Chapter 31, Practicing Stewardship, Achieving Excellence in Fund Raising, Page Wednesday, January 14: Overview of major gift development and management. o Read The Seven Faces if Philanthropy, Pages 1-94, Primary, (Pages optional). o Chapter 9, Gifts of Significance, Achieving Excellence in Fund Raising, Page o Chapter 13, Individuals as donors, Achieving Excellence in Fund Raising, Page Thursday, January 15 Overview of capital campaign management. o Read Conducting a Successful Capital Campaign, Preparing for the campaign, pages 5-35 Building and stating the case, Page

5 Constructing and using the major gifts chart, Page Identifying, researching and rating campaign donors, p Cultivating and soliciting Major Gift Prospects, Page o Read Conducting a Successful Capital Campaign, Part Two: Sample strategic plan, page 213 Sample case statement, page 349 Sample campaign plan, page 395 Friday, January 16 Overview of planned giving o Chapter 10, Building Endowment, Achieving Excellence in Fund Raising, Page o Chapter 12, Establishing a planned giving program, Achieving Excellence in Fund Raising, Page Final Examination, 1 hour. Evaluation (10 minutes). General Policy: My intent is to guide you through an overview of material which will assist clergy and citizens in participating in and leading financial development initiatives in diverse parish and non-profit settings. The readings are volumous and it may be that you will need to review rather than study chapters (please study all materials in bold print). People spend whole careers studying this material and attend schools which teach this material as BA degree curricula. This course will, by necessity be a very cursory overview of a very complex professional discipline around which the church has significant resistance and which it ignores at it peril spiritually and logistically. This material is not meant to supplant the need for hired financial development or planned giving counsel from time to time. No planned giving should be done by donors without the express aid of personal, hired, legal counsel. If you need to miss a class, please let me know so that we can make other arrangements for the fair distribution of work for achieving grade value. I welcome suggestions about the use of part of class time and will ask for an evaluation as part of the course requirements. Your responsibility is to come to class prepared, rested, and willing to explore ideas. If you are willing to laugh some, pray often and risk the vulnerability of material which makes most church members and clergy uncomfortable, then you will have a deeper experience of the material presented. If you allow spiritual or social resistance to overwhelm your experience in the class, your experience will suffer. I am asking that you be willing to break down barriers between stewardship and fund raising while not making one the other. If, at any point in the course, you find you need academic or 5

6 pastoral assistance, please do not hesitate to make an appointment after class hours in a library meeting room. 6