Thrivent Financial for Lutherans provides each Lutheran congregation with the opportunity to use an allocation (usually $1300 or $1600)each year. If you are a member of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and a member of a Lutheran congregation, the procedures below will enable your congregation to access its allocation.Each congregation needs to recruit 3 Thrivent Financial for Lutherans members who are willing to serve in a volunteer congregational coordinator role. If you are not sure whether your congregation has 3 volunteers in place and your church is in one of the New England states, New Jersey,or New York, please contact any member of the Lutheran Community Services Team for the Northeast Region.
1. If the church already has congregational coordinators, talk with them to discuss ideas for making use of the Care in Congregations opportunity this year.
If your church does not have 3 congregational coordinators registered, you can help by volunteering and recruiting 2 other Thrivent Financial members to work with you.
Ask a member of the Lutheran Community Services team in the Northeast Region or call 800-236-3736 to register the 3 congregational coordinators. At least one needs to have email. Each must be a benefit or associate member age 16 or over. One should be willing to be the "lead," but that person will have no more authority than the other 2. The Thrivent Financial member ID# is needed to register the name.
2. The congregational coordinators meet and select a project to benefit the church or its associated Lutheran institutions (day care center, elementary school, etc.) It is all right to include others in the meeting and planning.
3. Try to think of activities that will raise at least 3 times as much as the amount of the Thrivent Financial supplement. For example, you may wish to use $500 of the annual allocation to help the youth group go on a mission trip. Therefore, you should plan an activity that you think will raise at least $1500.
4. The congregational coordinators enter the information about the activity in the Congregational Coordinator Admin area of www.thrivent.com. You will need to know approximately how much will be raised, how many Thrivent Financial households will help. If this step is difficult, an alternative is to call the Thrivent Fraternal Customer Service Center at 800-236-3736, option 1 to ask for authorization for the project.
5. A congregational service team (committee) is formed with a minimum of members from 6 different Thrivent Financial member households.
6. The team adds more volunteers to help with the activity.
7. Throughout the whole process, accurate records are to be kept. Record:
o the number of Thrivent Financial households involved in volunteering for the activity
o the number of Thrivent Financial members who attend the activity
o the total number of people who attended the activity
o the amount spent
o the net amount raised (net funds raised = the amount raised - the expenditures)
o the volunteer hours of all volunteers (include time spent planning, travelling, publicizing, baking, cleaning-up, etc.)
8. The activity is planned and publicized. All publicity should mention that supplemental funding (not "matching funds") will be provided by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Please be sure to use the complete company name.
9. The volunteer hours, net amount raised (if a fund raiser or appeal), Thrivent Financial members participating, total number attending are reported online in the Congregational Coordinator Admin area of Members/Chapters on www.thrivent.com
10. If a hands-on work service activity is implemented, all receipts are given to the local Thrivent Financial for Lutherans chapter's financial director with a completed Receipts, Funds Raised and Expenses Report form to be kept on file for 7 years.
11. The Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Operations Center issues a check to the church for the supplemental funds.
12. The congregational coordinators follow-up with the congregation's treasurer/financial officer to ensure that the funds are spent for the designated purpose.
13. Thank you notes and post-activity press releases are sent.
Repeat steps 2 through 13 until the whole allocation for the year has been used!
Some helpful forms and news releases for successful Care in Congregations activities may be found by clicking the links below. NO PAPER FORMS (well, not many) are needed for the Care in Congregations program!
If you are a congregational coordinator, you may wish to check with the congregational service team director on the local chapter leadership board to ask when the next training workshop will be held.
Blessings as you work to spread CARE to others under the Care in Coongregations program!
