As a fraternal benefit society, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans has a representative form of government. This means that adult (age 16 or older) benefit and associate members of each chapter decide via an annual election who they want to lead the chapter for the next year.

To operate effectively and carry out its mission, a chapter is required to have the following five elected positions filled: president, vice president, records director, financial director and congregational service team director. There are also five optional elected positions: community service team director, assistant financial director, youth director, events director, and communications director. More ideas and a more balanced work load will result when optional positions are filled.

Chapter Leadership Boards are required to meet at least every three months (quarterly), but most meet more often. Meetings may be held in-person or via technology (e.g. teleconference call, chat room or e-mail).

If you are a chapter leader, THANK YOU for the time and talent that you are devoting to fulfilling this volunteer role. This page is designed to help you find the basic tools and information that you will need in your role. Additional resources, which provide a myriad of information, are listed at the bottom of this page.

If you are a member of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and are interested in serving as a chapter leader, please contact a member of the Lutheran Community Services Team to learn more about the opportunities.

AGENDAS--Pre-meeting planning is essential. Items should include:
o Admitting new members. (President)
o Review and approval of minutes from last meeting. (Records Director)
o Report and approval of financial report including beginning balance, a list of deposits, a list of checks written and ending balance for both operating funds and the Care Abounds in Communities allocation. (Financial Director)
o Acceptance of new members into the chapter. A recommended process is in CHIP.
o Report on Care in Congregations® program activities and requests. (Congregational Service Team Director)
o Report on Care Abounds in Communities® program activities and requests. (Community Service Team Director)
o Report on upcoming regional events. (Events Director)
o Report on youth activities. (Youth Director)

QUORUM--To qualify for a meeting, a simple majority (a quorum) of the elected leaders must attend and participate.

MEETING ANNOUNCEMENTS--Use both the mailing service (see Communications on this web page) and the chapter's web site on LutheransOnline to announce meeting dates to all chapter members.

VOTING--Chapter leaders who fill one of the ten elected positions have voting privileges. Advisory positions do not carry voting privileges.

REPORTING--The records director is responsible for entering the meeting minutes online and reporting that the meeting was held. The minutes should include:
o decisions that were made
o action items that require follow-up
o unfinished business items

See also other tips in the Reporting section on this Web page.

To use it for the first time, follow the steps in the How to Register on Thrivent Financial's Web Site document to set up a User ID and a password. Write both down and keep them in a safe place. You will only need to perform the registration step once.

o The official name and number of your chapter is listed near the top of the web page.

VIEW DETAILS ABOUT THIS CHAPTER
o Current Chapter Leadership Board (This link provides current chapter leader contact information.)
o Chapter Leadership Board History (Provides names and dates of service of previous chapter leaders.)
o Current Congregational Volunteers by Congregation (Provides contact information for volunteer congregational coordinators for each church within the chapter's geographical area.
o Congregational Volunteer History by Congregation (Previous volunteer congregational coordinators are listed for each church within the chapter.)
o Lutheran Community Services Team (Contact information for the fraternal staff serving the Northeast Region.)
o View Program Funds Available (Then select the specific Care program to see the list and current balance available.)

CHAPTER LEADER/CONGREGATIONAL VOLUNTEER TASKS
o Manage Chapter Leaders (This is where you update chapter leaders' names and contact information, when necessary.)
o Manage Congregational Volunteers (This is where you update names and contact information for congregational coordinators, when necessary.)
o Manage Chapter Meeting Minutes (This is where the records director will enter the meeting minutes after each meeting and where the minutes of meetings are stored for 7 years.)
o Manage Chapter Announcements (This is where you may enter announcements of events that will appear in a box on the chapter admin page.)

SUPPLIES
o Order Chapter Supplies (A wide variety of publications may be ordered and/or printed from this link. Included are......
....Care program guidelines
....church bulletin inserts
....posters
....gift ID stickers
....name tags
....thank you cards
....certificate of appreciation
....signs for meetings
....letterhead
....imprinted supplies
....news releases
....visibility toolkit
....Join Hands Day supplies

ACTIVITY TASKS
o Request for Funding (This is where you enter the data for each Care Abounds in Communities activity prior to starting the advertising of the event. It is the place where you are seeking approval to conduct the activity.)
o Report Funded Activity Results (As soon after a Care Abounds in Communities activity as possible, the post-event data is to be entered. This online completion step will enable the supplementary funds to be electronically transferred into the chapter's checking account.)
o Report Locally Supported Activity Results (Use this feature to report the volunteer hours and attendance for events that are not funded by Care program funds (e.g., chapter leadership board meetings, congregational coordinator arranged meetings, confirmands' receptions, etc.).
o Withdraw in Progress Activity (Occasionally the status of an activity needs to be changed to "inactive." Examples include an entry error or an activity cancelation.)
o Change Funding Request Amount (The Thrivent Financial supplement may be changed here. The Fraternal Customer Service Representatives at 800-236-3736 need to be consulted for other edits.)
o Record/Update Donations
o View Activities (Care program and locally supported activity details are available here.)

MAILINGS
o Manage Chapter Newsletters (Mailings to chapter members and congregational coordinators may be generated here.)