printChampaign Chapter Project Funding Process
Funding is available from the Champaign Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans to help support projects that made a difference in our community. Three types of projects are supported by us:
- Fundraisers -- an event held by a group of people to raise funds for a specific cause or family in need.
- Work Project -- an event where people come together to build something .. the classic case being a wheelchair ramp at a home, but we've supported such things as building shelving for a food pantry or childcare facility at a church, improving a park or building structures or table for a gathering area such as a park or low income apartment building, or anything else you can think of that would improve people's lives in Champaign County.
- Educational Event -- an event that brings people together to learn about something in our community. This can be helping Thrivent members understand more about Thrivent, or bringing groups that need volunteers together with a group of potential volunteers so they can hear about opportunities in our area. We may provide refreshments or a meal as may be appropriate to help attract people to your event, but if you come up with other ideas be sure to apply.
Our goal as we decide whether to approve each project, and at what level of funding we provide, is that each project should have the greatest possible impact in the community. Enlisting as many volunteers as is reasonable for the project (measured as number of volunteer hours you anticipate for the project) and getting the Thrivent name out as frequently as possible would be ways to do this. We expect that you will clearly advertise the Thrivent name in your promotional material, and if appropriate hang a banner during your event.
Note that we have limited funds to provide for projects, and we may elect to partially fund your project.
Forms needed during the process:
More information and forms are available at: https://www.thrivent.com/chapters/volunteer/forms.html
Direct links to various forms are provided below, but originals can be found on the above link. Note there are tabs on that page, "Before the Activity", "During the Activity" and "After the Activity" and they provide forms for the various stages of the Activity.
Contact Information for the Champaign County IL Chapter
People you may be in contact with are as follows:
Doris Snyder/3102 Meridian Dr, Champaign, 61822 or email to finance@champaignchapter.org
Norm Fisher/2317 Butternut Court/Champaign 61821 or email to president@champaignchapter.org
Other chapter leaders can be found here.
Before the activity:
Read through the Planning Checklist: https://www.thrivent.com/members/pdf/CAIC_Planning_Checklist.pdf
Fill out the Funding Request. https://www.thrivent.com/members/pdf/RequestforFunding.pdf or for educational activities, https://www.thrivent.com/members/pdf/23852_Opfundsrequest.pdf.
Preferably, attend our next meeting to present your project to the chapter leadership board. Bring three copies of the application form. While we will approve projects not personally presented at our meetings, we have found that it's much easier if we can immediately ask you questions during our meeting. The next meeting can always be found on our webpage at http://champaignchapter.org.
If the project is for a specific person, fill out the appropriate Permission to Disclose Information form:
Adult: https://www.thrivent.com/members/pdf/21156.pdf
Parent/Guardian: https://www.thrivent.com/members/pdf/21157.pdf
In all publicity for your event, make sure that you include something like: "Matching Funds are provided by the Champaign County IL Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans."
Be aware that we can publicize your event through postcards mailed to members, through an article in our newsletters, or we can attempt to get items placed in bulletins or newsletters in each of the 22 Lutheran churchs in Champaign County.
During the Activity:
Obtain a banner from us to be hung at your project to promote the Thrivent name.
Use the same Forms page, print out a Attendance sheet (DOC or XLS) so that you can adequately count the Thrivent members and Other Attendees.
Take pictures and provide copies to us.
Track expenses and keep receipts for submission to us.
Track volunteer hours for the project -- include all meetings, phone calls, coming to the Chapter meeting to propose your project, and time spent at the project by attendees or workers.
After the Activity:
Write a summary of the project that provides information on what happened at your project, the results of it (funds raised, activity completed) in a manner that would help others in the community understand what happened at your project. We will use this paragraph during our promotional material at the end of the year. It may also be used by others in the county who are trying to come up ideas for projects of their own.
Mail or email your pictures and the summary paragraph(s) to Norm Fisher at the contact information above.
You will be invited to our end of year member event to speak for 5-10 minutes about your project. We will have a powerpoint projector available; if you put together a presentation please provide that to us prior to the event.
Fill out the Activity Report Form: https://www.thrivent.com/members/pdf/20885G_caicreport.pdf (or for educational events, https://www.thrivent.com/members/pdf/26691_localreport.pdf)
Mail the Activity Report Form to our Treasurer, Doris Snyder. Include any receipts. If you use a form provided above and not one from us, add the words "I certify that the information provided on this form is accurate" to the bottom of page 2 and sign the form and write your name under the signature.
Optional: Submit your story online at the link below. NOTE: this goes to the regional office, not to the chapter. You may duplicate information here you have already submitted to the chapter, or you may let us send this in. If you get the photos and the paragraph(s) to us we can submit it.
IMPORTANT: Tell us if you submit your story at this link:
https://service.thrivent.com/forms/members/stories_activities.html
Thank your volunteers. It’s a great idea to THANK and RECOGNIZE your volunteers, CELEBRATING a job well done that made a difference.