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Gifts of Hope: An exciting, successful program. You make it work!
It is not an understatement that congregational coordinators are the key to the success of GIFTS OF HOPE. YOU introduce and promote the program to your congregation. YOU make GIFTS OF HOPE an important part of your congregation’s Advent and Christmas seasons. YOU conduct the sales events, receive and account for the proceeds, and YOU see that the necessary records are kept. The thousands of less fortunate people who benefit from GIFTS OF HOPE every year depend on YOU for the blessings that they receive through this program. Thank you for your help in making GIFTS OF HOPE work.
Packets were delivered by your Conference Coordinator. Some items in the packet may be downloaded from this web site. If any of these items is missing from your package of materials, contact your Conference Coordinator or print from the web site. All files below are PDF except for Publicity which is a Word file. PDF files require (Acrobat Reader, click here to download if necessary).
1. 2009 Catalog
2. GIFTS OF HOPE Cards – (cannot be printed from the web site)
3. Envelopes for Cards - (cannot be printed from the web site)
4. Gift Description Inserts —Masters, 39 sheets with 4 per page. Use to make copies to hand out with cards.
5. Order Form—Master, use to make copies for sales events and bulletin inserts.
6. Deposit Summary Form —Master, make enough copies to have one for each sales event.
7. Synod Remittance Report —Make two copies, one for congregational record, one to send to the Gifts of Hope Treasurer. The original is sent to the synod office as the final report.
8. Guidelines for Accounting
for Gifts of Hope Proceeds.
9. Publicity materials (see below or Word file).
The 2009 GIFTS OF HOPE Catalog contains 39 gifts, at various prices, that can be purchased by members of your congregation (and others) and given to deserving people through our Metro DC Synod’s social ministry organizations, Lutheran camps and our foreign companion synods in El Salvador, Namibia and Slovakia.
Your congregation may add a 40th gift of your choosing, if you wish. Please limit to one additional gift.
Organize sales events before or after services beginning November 22 or 29 and at other events such as Christmas concerts, children’s programs, etc.
Before the Advent season:
• Form a team trying to involve people who attend different services and are involved in different groups.
• Use publicity materials below or write your own article for your October, November and December newsletters and bulletins
• Consider innovative methods, such as using Christmas lights at your table, having a display made of large stuffed animals holding Gifts of Hope posters, giving a temple talk, or inserting the order form into a Sunday bulletin to generate interest in Gifts of Hope.
• Make copies of Order forms, Gift Description Inserts, and other forms for which you have the Master.
• Give the Guidelines
for Accounting for Gifts of Hope Proceeds to
the treasurer.
At each sales event:
• Members of your congregation review the 2009
GIFTS OF HOPE Catalog and select the gift or gifts that they
want to purchase.
• At sales events organized by you and your committee, shoppers complete the Order Form and give it to you, together with their payment, check or cash. If a receipt is requested for cash, fill out a duplicate Order form, sign and date it.
• In return, you give to the purchaser three things for each gift purchased: 1) a GIFTS OF HOPE card, 2) an envelope, and 3) an insert describing the gift that was purchased.
• The purchaser, in turn, puts each insert in a card and gives the card to a friend or loved one as a gift.
At the end of each sales event:
• Complete the Deposit Summary Form which totals and summarizes the purchases that were made at each sales event. Keep all Summary Forms until the end of the program.
• Transmit the Order Forms to the person in the congregation who keeps the records of members’ giving.
• Transmit the cash and checks to the congregation treasurer to be deposited in the usual manner that your congregation handles receipts, making sure that the treasurer understands that the amount is for GIFTS OF HOPE
After the campaign is over:
• Complete the Synod Remittance Report by adding up all the weekly Deposit Summary Forms. Be sure your congregation’s number is filled in the upper right hand box. If you are unsure of your number and it has not been preprinted, contact your treasurer or email John Clark at johnclark3@cox.net.
• Verify with your treasurer the amount to be remitted to the
Synod (for gifts 1–39 only) and ensure that the form and check
are mailed to the Synod by January 15, 2010.
• Send a copy of the Synod Remittance Report to the Gifts of Hope treasurer whose name and address is indicated on the form.
• And, if applicable, arrange for the direct disbursement of your congregation’s gift #40.
• Write an article for your January or February newsletter, thanking the congregation and reporting the total amount of gifts purchased.
The key to your success will be your efforts in organizing your congregation’s GIFTS OF HOPE committee, in publicizing GIFTS OF HOPE to your congregation and in organizing and running your sales events.
GOD’S BLESSINGS be upon you in the coming GIFTS OF HOPE season and THANK YOU for agreeing to be your congregation’s coordinator.
Use or modify the suggested articles and announcements below or, better yet, write your own.
Sample bulletin announcement for October/November/December
Coming in November – Gifts of Hope, the Washington DC area’s alternative giving program. Check the web site, www.GiftsOfHopemetrodc.org, for a sneak preview of the catalog. Contact [ADD COORDINATOR’S NAME] for more information.
Fall is in the air and many have begun to think about Christmas shopping. Even some stores have jumped the season by putting up displays. This year why not consider alternative giving? Rather than buying a present, buy a symbol. Give Gifts of Hope. The catalog will be available here in November or check the web site: www.GiftsofHopemetrodc.org.
Hey kids, want to buy a special present for a friend, your teacher, or grandparents? Ask your parents to show you the Gifts of Hope catalog and explain it to you. Your present will help someone who really needs help, and it also shows that you know why Christmas is important. You might buy books ($5) for children who don’t have books at home. Or you could buy bread and milk ($10) for a hungry child in El Salvador. You will find other presents in the catalog [ADD TIME AND LOCATION OF SALES].
We give thanks for the many blessings showered upon us and we pray for those in need. During Advent we can assist those in need in a simple way, by buying Christmas gifts through Gifts of Hope. The money we spend goes to social ministry organizations, Lutheran camps, and to our synod’s companion synods abroad to directly support their programs. Consider what gifts would delight your family and friends. Select gifts ranging in price from $5 to $250. Review the catalog on line at www.GiftsofHopeMetroDC.org or see [ADD NAME] for a catalog available here at [ADD CONGREGATION’S NAME].
Newsletter articles
#1 What is alternative giving? Traditional gift giving involves buying an item and giving it to a relative or friend. Alternative giving differs in that it involves buying a symbol of a gift and giving the symbol to someone. The actual item goes to someone who needs the gift. For example, traditionally, a child might give a small bottle of perfume to her teacher at Christmas. Alternatively, the child might give her teacher a Christmas card that tells the teacher that a basket of books has been made available to needy children as a Gift of Hope.
Gifts of Hope catalogs will be available in our congregation on [ADD DATE]. Watch for the display [ADD LOCATION] where you can review the gifts, fill out an order form, and purchase your gifts. You will receive a beautiful card and insert to use as the gift.
Many children in the Washington area and throughout the world have benefited from Gifts of Hope by receiving books, camp scholarships, free lunches, educational trips. Review the catalog and consider alternative giving this Christmas.
#2 It’s not too early to start thinking about Gifts of Hope, our Synod’s alternative gift giving program which enables people to purchase unique gifts costing $5 to $250. These gifts reflect the gift God gave us, God’s Son Jesus Christ. Now is the time to start thinking about substituting a Gift of Hope for a more traditional gift on your list for friends and family. Even young children quickly grasp the importance of a gift for someone in need. The catalog is available on the web site www.GiftsofHopeMetroDC.org and will be available here in our congregation for your review [ ADD TIME AND PLACE].
Gifts of Hope distributed $163,636 following last year’s Christmas season. The beneficiary organizations are most grateful for the gifts during this time of great economic distress. For a list of those organizations, go to the web site www.GiftsofHopeMetroDC.org.
Because Gifts of Hope is run by volunteers, there are no administrative costs and all proceeds are distributed to the beneficiary organizations.
#3 Would your fashionable sister like a warm winter coat? Would your child’s teacher like a basket of books? Would your friend like fare cards for public transportation? Great gifts, all of these, and you can purchase them through Gifts of Hope. The gifts will go to those truly in need—the homeless, the child in a tutoring program, the students going to training classes—and your friends and relatives will be pleased that you matched their interests to the gift. Gifts of Hope are available from [ADD DATE] to [ADD DATE] at [ADD LOCATION]. The social ministry organizations, Lutheran camps, and Lutheran Churches in El Salvador, Namibia and Slovakia that benefit from Gifts of Hope are most grateful for your purchases. For more information about Gifts of Hope see the web site, www.GiftsofHopeMetroDC or contact [ADD COORDINATOR’S NAME].