Passionate Steward - 10th Anniversary Edition

118 THE PASSIONATE STEWARD
financial projections and needs of the parish for the coming year.
However, these presentations are generally more professional, and
high-tech, and supported by the distribution of an information packet
for each household to take home and review. The solicitation of
financial commitments (pledges) is seldom conducted during the
dinner, and more often occurs during a special worship service the
following day (annual parish dinners often take place Saturday night).
SOME ANNUAL PARISH DINNER APPEAL MERITS:
• Requires only one evening to complete
• Requires few people to organize and make presentations
• Ensures a consistent message as it is invested in only a few
people
• Provides an almost immediate forum in which to collect
annual financial commitment declarations
• Can involve a number of committees including planning,
cooking, room set-up, decoration, etc.
• Easy to promote—using parish bulletin, notice boards or a
single parish-wide mailing
SOME ANNUAL PARISH DINNER APPEAL CONCERNS:
• Can require off-site location if parish hall is not adequate for
the “big event”
• Whether prepared by parishioners or provided by caterers,
the cost of a meal enticing enough to encourage attendance
can be prohibitive, sometimes overwhelmingly so in the first
few years before it “catches on”
• Depends upon all parish households being available on the
same evening
• Requires the production and distribution of attractive and
information-rich materials for every household