If your church conducts a special collection once a month, please describe

1st Unitarian Church of Chicago

  • A Social Mission Committee selects a non-profit organization to be the recipient of the three third-Sunday collections in each calendar quarter. On the third Sundays of the month all cash, plus checks non marked as being toward a pledge, go to that non-profit. The combined donation is usually done at the end of the calendar quarter. The Social Justice Council can also organize 4 one-time special collections per church year

2nd Unitarian Church of Chicago

  • The Fitts Fund Grant: Many years ago a bequest was made by the Fitts family to sustain the social outreach vision of our congregation. Today, Second Unitarian Church lives out this vision by committing to build relationships in our lives and in our community. This commitment calls us to work toward the reconciliation of the human family, the creation of a more just society, and the renewal of our share earth
  • Application Process: a) A grant application for the Fitts Fund must be sponsored by a Second Unitarian Church member in good standing; b) a designated committee reviews the grant proposal with all others received, and determines if, when and how many Sunday collections to designate towards an organization; c) Application need not follow a specific format, but should generally be 1-3 pages long and include the main sections as outlined on the grant application form

Beverly Unitarian Church

  • * Social Action Committee establishes five annual recipients who get two monthly special collections each, responds to natural disasters and invites candidates from congregational members for other two months

Countryside Church UU

  • We have a share-the-plate program whereby ½ of the plate collected on the 3rd and 5th Sundays of each month go to a specific organization. The congregation requests that different organizations be nominated. Then the SAC votes on which groups will receive the funds and sets up a 12-month schedule. One or 2 collection are always left open for emergencies (disasters that occur during the year).
  • The Green Sanctuary committee always requests Share the Plate donations for a local conservation group

Northshore Unitarian Church

  • SAC has no funding in the budget. We make a special collection on the third Sunday of each month during the offering for social action causes, This past month it was for school supplies for the Boys and Girls club in Waukegan. We announce the recipient in the order of service and from the pulpit, and later put in the 'news to uuse" email, the amount that was collected.

Unitarian Church of Evanston

  • UCE had decided a while back to split its loose plate collection with organizations that are doing some sort of social good - in areas of education, health care, environment, etc. It's been a very successful program. Speakers come at the beginning of the month to tell us about their program and then we can contribute all month during the Sunday collection. Information about the organization is provided as a write-up every week in the Order of Service. That way, people can connect individually as well if they want.

UU Church of Elgin

  • We conduct special collections only occasionally

UU Society of Geneva

  • During each service on the 2nd weekend of each month, we tell a story for all ages which explains the need for the offering being collected. More information is provided in the weekly bulletin.