Planned Giving Training
Cultivating an Appreciation and Enthusiasm for Planned Giving
You are invited to participate in a three-part series on planned giving, designed to help your parish develop a full strategy for a sustainable planned giving program. This series will offer fresh perspectives on cultivating enduring donor relationships, enabling your parish to pursue its long-term missional and financial stewardship goals with less speculation and greater confidence. Congregational teams of three to five people are encouraged. The first two meetings will be at Trinity, Tulsa.
January 10, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Trinity, Tulsa
February 7, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Trinity, Tulsa
March 7, 10 a.m. Zoom presentations of congregational programs
Joe Merlino provides consulting and coaching services to Episcopal faith communities that are seeking new ways to realize their missional and financial stewardship goals. Grounded in the theologies of stewardship, mission, relationship, and pastoral care, Joe delivers interpersonal congregational, constituent and donor engagement strategies that integrate the practical need for funding with our call to nurture meaningful relationships that engender a deep appreciation and enthusiasm for participating in God's mission through giving. His areas of focus include institutional and mission advancement, affinity and capacity building, lay discernment and leadership development, stewardship formation, and year-round implementations across all institutional funding needs. Joe is a consulting partner with Episcopal Camps and Conference Centers, Episcopal Young Adult and Campus Ministries, and has served on the board of Community Of Hope International as membership chair for the last 2.5 years. Joe spent 35 years working in the for-profit sector in executive leadership and business development roles focusing on value-based growth strategies, program development and customer experience.
Workshop Descriptions
Workshop #1: January 10, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Trinity, Tulsa
Title: “Relational Stewardship: Making The Shift From Transactional To Transformational Giving”
Description:
This workshop invites parishes to examine the way they think about, plan and practice stewardship, giving and soliciting financial gifts of support. Within that context, participants will be introduced to an expansive approach to stewardship this is intended to shift what is often perceived as series of transactional requests for money to support the institutional needs of a parish to an approach that integrates the practical need for funding with our missional call to nurture meaningful transformational relationships with parishioners and other supporters in ways that inspire a deep appreciation and enthusiasm for giving that is a direct reflection of the life-changing impact and spiritual nourishment they receive from being in active relationship with your parish community.
Workshop #2: February 7, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Trinity, Tulsa
Title: “Implementing a Relational Approach to Planned Giving in Your Parish“
Description:
In this workshop participants will focus on the practical steps and details for initiating, nurturing and sustaining legacy giving relationships with parishioners and other mission-minded individuals whose desire and commitment to change are aligned with your parish’s mission, ministries and ability to affect change. Participants will receive campaign resources that will enable them to develop a parish specific planned giving strategy, assemble a committee, develop a communication plan, and engage existing and potential givers of financial support within a relational framework consistently and over time. Furthermore, you will build your success on the missional, relational, and pastoral skills that embody the very nature of parish ministry.
Workshop #3: March 7, 10 a.m. Zoom presentations of congregational programs
Title:“Presenting Your Planned Giving Strategy”
Description:
Building upon the strategies, resources, and lessons learned from the previous sessions this workshop will provide participants with the opportunity to present their planned giving strategy to their peers. The workshop provides an atmosphere of collegiality that offers the benefits of shared purpose, positive feedback, helpful insights, and mutual support in refining your planned giving strategy prior to implementing it in your parish. Moreover, the relational aspect of your strategy will have direct effect on your annual giving, capital campaign and other parish funding initiatives.
