The UUMAN Board of Trustees, after consultations with the Program Council, Finance and Stewardship committees, has contracted with the UUA’s “Stewardship for Us” financial consultants to engage in a “Next Steps Weekend.”

The weekend is described as follows:

The Next Steps Weekend aims to provide UU churches and fellowships with a constructive foundation of reflection, information, and strategies as they plan and forge ahead with stewardship programs and other means of growing their resources.  These Weekends are tailored to the specific needs and aims of each church and fellowship….This schedule and the Weekend agenda can be further modified in consultation with UUMAN leadership.

 

In addition to providing us with specific stewardship advice, after looking at our detailed financial information from the past several years, they will also be able to advise us with financial goalsetting and priorities.

The proposed timeline is as follows (keep in mind that the “liaisons” mentioned below are not our Program Council liaisons; rather, they will be two designated individuals who will facilitate communications between UUMAN and the consultants):

By January 3, 2018: Signed Agreement for Next Steps Weekend Consultancy

January 4, 2018: Planning call with church/fellowship Next Steps Weekend liaison(s). Weekly calls thereafter, regular email check-ins

By January 12, 2018:  Information Gathering – [UUMAN financial and stewardship] documents sent to consultant

Between January 15 and January 26^th, 2018: Preliminary one-on-one phone calls with Minister, Board President, Treasurer, Program Council Chair, Endowment Committee chair, possibly UUA District Representative, others TBD

Weeks of January 7^th , through January 28 : Save the date invitations for Next Steps Weekend inserted in church bulletin, newsletter

Weeks of January 14^th through January 28^th: Liaisons issue special Invitations (emails, calls) to all Committee members and others who will be interviewed on Friday afternoon or Saturday morning; be part of the Saturday, February 3^rd luncheon, or participate in the Saturday afternoon stewardship/ endowment campaign review session

January 26^th: Finalize and approve structure of Next Steps weekend (Liz and liaisons with Board approval)

Feb 2^nd  – 4^th: Conduct Next Steps Weekend

Feb. 4^th: Oral report on Next Steps Weekend Sunday

Feb. 20^th: Written report – draft submitted after Next Steps Weekend, will include summary of Next Steps Weekend process, challenges, recommendations, suggested follow-on steps with or without consultant support

Keep in mind that detailed financial and stewardship information will be provided to the consultants however that information will be shared by UUMAN’s Finance Committee Chair only and will be kept confidential with regards to any other UUMAN entities (i.e. no UUMAN members will gain any access to individual information pertaining to pledging, endowment giving, etc.).

Below is a tentative schedule for the weekend:

 

FRIDAY, 2/2/2018
4:30 PM	Arrive at fellowship, meeting with UUMAN liaisons
5:30	Tour of church, buildings and grounds; discussion of space uses and needs with appropriate folks
7:00 PM	Supper with Board of Trustees and Minister (place TBD)
SATURDAY , 2/3/2018
	Meetings with committees, special teams
9:30	Set up meeting room, set up snacks for the meetings (volunteers)
10:00 AM	Meet with Program Council committees
11:00 AM	Meet with Program Council committees
12:00 PM	Religious Education – adults and children
1:00 PM	Lunch (set-up and clean-up by volunteers) – could be an opportunity to celebrate longstanding members, honor families, meet with other special groups – purpose is to gather information from others and/or also make one or more cohorts feel honored.
2:15 PM	Break
2:30–5:00 pm with break	Special session with stewardship and endowment groups, Board Pres. and VP, Treasurer, Program Council Chair, and others TBD.  Review current financial data, work up feasibility analysis, plan out joint fundraising scenarios: timeline, tasks, case development; identify some next steps.
SUNDAY, 2/4/2018
10:30 AM		Consultant attends worship service, shares preliminary summary as part of the service