​Harpeth River District United Women in Faith
Mosaic of Faith: We Are All Part of God's Story
Until I became treasurer of the Harpeth River District UWF, I did not really understand the Five Channels of Giving. I’m not sure I had even heard of all 5 of them or understood what they were. I knew we made donations to missions and World Thank Offering. I also knew our unit gave out pins sometimes to folks who had been instrumental in mission activities, but there is so much more.

There are two types of funding for the UWF: Undesignated and Designated.
Undesignated
Five Channels of Giving:

1. Pledge to Mission: This is an annual individual pledge usually made in January or when you become a member that may be paid monthly, quarterly, or yearly. It is important to follow through with your pledge as the total of our local unit pledges is reported to the District UWF for their planning purposes. Your pledge provides clean water and nourishing food; medical care; ministers to the needs of children; prints and distributes mission magazines, books, films, and packets; supports advocacy efforts for women and children; and provides leadership training for United Women in Faith.

2. Gift to Mission (card): This is a way to honor someone with an undesignated gift in her or his name. The minimum amount is $5.00; you can give any amount for a card. These funds support the total program of mission carried out through United Women in Faith. There are cards available for birthdays, thinking of you, new baby, thank you or generic “a gift has been made in your honor”. Cards are available through your unit treasurer, who gets them from the district treasurer (cheaper than a name brand card and the money helps someone).

3. Gift in Memory (card): Not to be confused with Gift to Mission, but basically the same thing. This is a way to honor someone’s memory by sending a card to the family letting them know that a monetary gift has been made in their loved one’s memory. That monetary gift will go on to provide mission work in the United States and around the world. The minimum amount is $5.00, but you can give any amount for a card. Again, cards are available through your unit treasurer who gets them from the district treasurer.

4. Special Mission Recognition: Any unit or circle may give a Special Mission Recognition in honor of any person, female or male. It is not necessary that the recipient be a member of United Women in Faith. The categories are $40, $60, $100, $200, $500, $1000, and $2000. The unit treasurer will send the money to the district treasurer, who orders the pin and certificate that will be presented to the recipient. The $40 pin is a gold pin; the others have a gemstone in it.

5. World Thank Offering: An opportunity for individuals to respond to God’s abundance and grace with spontaneous gifts of gratitude. These are often collected in the Fall but can be collected throughout the year.

If a unit contributes to all Five Channels of Giving, they receive a “Five Star Unit Certificate” at the district annual meeting.
Designated Funds

Designated funds allow the giver to designate the receiver.

1. The donor decides how Supplementary Gifts will be used.
An individual, a local unit, or a district or conference organization may designate such a gift over and above the pledge to mission for a specific program or project related to the World or National divisions or the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR); Scarritt-Bennett Center; Sadie Tillman Birthday Dollars Scholarship; other scholarships; the Magazine Fund, Bethlehem Center in Nashville, or other Bethlehem Center locations, etc. Let your unit or district treasurer know if you want a list of UWF funded projects. These gifts are sent through district and conference channels then transmitted to the program for which they are designated.

2. Each year an offering is received by United Women in Faith as a part of the special observance, A Call to Prayer and Self-Denial.
Half of the money collected is used for programs in the United States and half for programs around the world related to a Call to Prayer theme of the year. Every 4th year funds are used for pensions and health care for retired missionaries and deaconesses. Detailed information about the annual theme is contained in the Call to Prayer packet which is mailed every fall to all local units. A special Call to Prayer Committee reviews all requests for grant funds each year. Their recommendations are approved by the Section of Finance and reported in response magazine.
I hope this is informative for you. If you have any questions, please contact your local unit treasurer or me; if we don’t know the answer, we’ll ask until we find out.
Debbie Miller
District Treasurer
debbie.miller718@gmail.com

Source: Understanding UWF Mission Giving
 
Please keep the following
   in your prayers:

     Bobbi     Brooke     Frances     
      Harry     Joy     Judy     Kate     Katie    
  Kila     Linda      Sydney     Tim
Schools


  Thank you.