Share+the+Plate--How+to+do

How to do a Share The Plate Collection

Once approved by the Share the Plate Steering Committee to do a collection, you have an opportunity to educate the congregation about your cause and the date of the collection. When you take on the role of coordinating this effort, there are steps you are required to take. Other actions are strongly recommended, and yet others, optional.

===  ** __// REQUIRED STEPS: //__ ** === //1.// __Newsletter article__ – Write a short article that will appear in the monthly newsletter no longer than 150 words. //This article should be e-mailed to two recipients: the newsletter editor ( newsletter[at]c3huu.org ) and your STP Guide.// In most cases, the //deadline for the newsletter// is midnight of the third Sunday of the month prior to your collection. July and August are combined and should be submitted by the third Sunday of June. The other exceptions are November and December when the article is due on the second Sunday of the previous month.

2. __Sunday bulletin announcement__ – This is to be a short announcement limited to 50 words that will be part of the announcement sheet that is part of the Sunday bulletin. The announcement appears on two Sundays, the week before the collection and the day of the collection, and should be sent in twice. //It should be sent to ( bulletinannouncements[at]c3huu.org ) by Wednesday noon of each of the weeks it is to be run//.

3. __Announcement to the congregation__ – You or a person of your choice will make a statement about the beneficiary of the collection during each of the Sunday morning services. This should be a two minute talk that informs the congregation of the mission of the group and how it speaks to our UU values and principles. If you have organized a table in the Jones Room after the service, announce that at this time. If you are sharing your Sunday with another group, the total time limit is still two minutes. You each get one minute to pitch your cause.

//On// //On Tuesday of the week before the service, e-mail either Rev. Maj-Britt Johnson ( mbjohnson@uuma.org ) // or the Worship Associate //who will be running the service in Maj-Britt’s absence and let this person know the essence of your statement and who will be presenting. You can get the name and contact information of the Worship Associate by calling the office (// 919-942-2050 //). Giving Maj-Britt or the worship associate this information will enable her/him to introduce you and to say a few words about the collection later in the service.//

4. __Recipient information__ – On the Monday following the STP, //e-mail Andrea Sordean-Mintzer, the Congregational Administrator, ( finance[at] c3huu.org )// with the legal name and address of the organization that will be receiving the proceeds of the collection. Since Andrea will be including a cover letter when she sends the donation, include the person’s name and title to whom it can be sent. If the gift is to be applied to a specific project or cause, provide that information as well. 5. __Announcement of Results of Collection__ - In an effort to thank the membership and keep it informed, you should send a notification of the amount raised to the Office Manager (officemgr@c3huu.org). This should be in the form of a thank you and be only a couple of sentences long. If you can include a few words about how the funds will be used, it will further raise awareness of the good works that are being supported by our Church. It will be published in the newsletter and the weekly announcements.

__** // STRONGLY RECOMMENDED: // ** __

__Jones Room tabling__ – Your principal opportunity to educate the congregation about the mission of the beneficiary of the STP is through tabling in the Jones Room. You and other representatives of the sponsoring committee may be available to talk about activities and volunteer opportunities and hand out brochures against a background of pictures, posters, or video that further inform the public of the good works they do.

//Sign up for a table on the clipboard in the Commons near the bulletin boards//.1

** __//OPTIONAL://__ **

1. __ Make a bulletin board - __ In the Commons are bulletin boards which you may use to publicize the work of the beneficiary. You may use pictures, publicity from the agency, or newspaper articles about the project or cause.

2. __Sunday bulletin insert__ – Another good way of providing information to the congregation is by creating an insert to include in the bulletin. If you plan to do this, it is your responsibility to design, copy, and cut or fold the insert and to be available to collate it prior to the service. Call the Office Manager or e-mail her at ( officemgr[at]c3huu.org ) to make arrangements early in the week before your service. Please be aware that you cannot use the copy machine on a Thursday or a Friday as it is reserved for Staff Use Only on those dates. You must arrange a time to produce this insert when the copy machine is available.