Planned giving is distinct from other types of fund raising done at UUCP. It is important to remember the differences. The annual canvass (also called the stewardship campaign or annual fund drive) seeks contributions to fund the operating budget. We ask our members to make a pledge each year to sustain the operations of the congregation, typically from disposable annual incomes. Pledges are paid in one payment or installments, usually by check or credit card, and increasingly by electronic fund transfers or stock gifts.

A capital fund drive seeks financial resources for specific projects, such as building improvements or facility expansion. Capital campaign pledges are usually three to five times larger than the individual annual canvass pledge amount. Pledge payments are made over 3-5 years, and donors usually have to “stretch” their financial resources to contribute, perhaps dipping into savings or using non-cash assets to make a campaign gift.

On the other hand, a planned giving program could be described as work that has a beginning, but has no end, unlike both the annual canvass, which occurs within a set amount of time (weeks or maybe months), and a capital campaign, which begins and ends in a matter of years. Planned giving programs are forever. Although people may give to endowment funds at different times of their lives, most will do so at death. Their deaths, not the church calendar or the schedule of a building project, will determine when they are ready to make their ultimate gift to the endowment.