Join hands and see the power of membership grow! Encourage your members to participate in, promote and invite others to experience a national day that brings generations together to improve our communities through the power of grassroots volunteerism.

Purpose  |  Your Role  |  Tools to Plan, Promote and Conduct  |  Key Dates/Guidelines 

JOIN HANDS DAY is a national volunteer day sponsored by America’s fraternal benefit societies. This special day generates awareness about the powerful impact grassroots volunteerism has on communities across the nation while bringing youth and adults together to build lasting friendships across generations.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and its members have been strong supporters of this day since its start in 2000. Last year, Thrivent chapters conducted nearly 3,000 JOIN HANDS DAY activities nationwide, resulting in nearly 590,000 volunteer hours of service.

The roles of chapter leaders and congregational coordinators
JOIN HANDS DAY is a great opportunity to not only tell and show others what we do, but have them experience it as well. In addition to asking members to participate, encourage them to get the word out about what they are doing and invite people and groups to join with them. As you work with your chapter members, stress the following:

• Get the word out about activities—to the community, to the congregations, to the media and to elected officials. See the Tools to plan, promote and conduct section below for many materials we've developed to help chapters and service teams do this.
  
  
• Invite others to participate, including:
  • Families, friends and neighbors
  • Local community groups
  • Congregation members
  • The media
  • Elected officials
  
  
• Look for other chapters, community groups and fraternal benefit societies to join and partner with (see the Conducting a Successful Thrivent JOIN HANDS DAY Activity guide for a great example from the Miami-Dade County Chapter). This will help increase the chances of the media or elected officials coming to the project.
  
  
• To strengthen the impact of JOIN HANDS DAY, encourage all service teams to hold their activities on or near May 3 . This brings more awareness to JOIN HANDS DAY and fraternal benefit societies, and the good they do for society.
  
  
• Chapters should strive to support at least two Thrivent chapter JOIN HANDS DAY activities in 2008. We're striving for 100 percent chapter participation.
  
  
• Encourage service teams to pre-register their activity with JOIN HANDS DAY on www.joinhandsday.org and complete the post-activity report (in addition to the chapter reporting the activity to Thrivent Financial).

Tools to help you plan, promote and conduct a successful activity!
Below are tools, guides and forms to help you and your members successfully plan, promote, conduct and report JOIN HANDS DAY activities. For more information about JOIN HANDS DAY, visit www.joinhandsday.org.

2008 JOIN HANDS DAY Tools

REFERENCE

For Chapter Leaders Only:  Instructions for Reporting JOIN HANDS DAY Activities (1-page step-by-step guide) PDF, 71K Key Dates and Reminders. PDF, 103K Conducting a Successful Thrivent Chapter JOIN HANDS DAY Activity — Step-by-step guide to use as you plan, conduct and report your activity. PDF, 115K Cover letter for chapter leader JOIN HANDS DAY packet. Word, 140K

PLAN

Conducting a Successful Thrivent Chapter JOIN HANDS DAY Activity — Step-by-step guide to use as you plan, conduct and report your activity. PDF, 115K Request for Funding Form — When you begin planning your activity, complete and submit this form to your chapter leadership board to request funds. Word, 69K Activity Ideas — Several ideas taken from joinhandsday.org, as well as a couple of ideas generated by chapter leaders. 3K

PROMOTE

How to Promote Your JOIN HANDS DAY Activity: Tips, tools and merchandise to generate awareness — Two-page guide that provides information you can use to generate awareness of your activity.  PDF, 826K Bulletin Insert template — A helpful tool to let church members know about your activity. Remember to get permission from your congregation before submitting. We did most of the writing—you just fill in the details. Two versions are available: Electronic template — Fill in the information electronically; then print, photocopy and submit to the congregation. Word, 175K Manual template — Print the template and write in the information; then photocopy and submit to the congregation. Word, 166K Mini Poster template — A tool to let congregation and community members know about your activity. Use our template and simply fill in the details. Two versions are available: Electronic template — Fill in the information electronically; then print, photocopy and post. Word, 301K Manual template — Print the template and write in the information; then photocopy and post. Word, 295K Fact Sheet — A handout to provide to the media, elected officials and others who would like to know more about Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, JOIN HANDS DAY and fraternal benefit societies. Word, 43K Media Advisory — Use this to announce your activity to the media. All you need to do is add the details about your activity. Simply fill in the underlined portions electronically with the requested information. Word, 40K  (instructions for using, Word 29K) Inviting Elected Officials to Chapter Activities quick-reference guide — Simple steps for contacting and building awareness among elected officials, and what to do when they attend your event. PDF, 66K Visibility Toolkit — This online toolkit provides tips on how to select and use appropriate promotional tools; as well as how to work with the media and invite elected officials. It also provides guidelines about what to say or write. JOIN HANDS DAY pre-registration — To be considered for national recognition and a $1,000 award from JOIN HANDS DAY, you must pre-register your activity on www.joinhandsday.org. We encourage you to do this. You’ll also need to complete the post-activity report (see below).

REPORT

Report Activity Results Form — After your activity is completed, please fill out and submit this form to your chapter leadership board no later than July 14. Word, 64K News Release template — A tool to inform the media and your community about the impacts made through your activity. Simply fill in the underlined portions electronically with the requested information. Word, 40K  (instructions for using, Word 34K) Members in Action Information Release form — We’d love to hear about your activity at Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. We’re gathering stories so we can tell others about the difference our members make. Word, 72K (fillable)  |  PDF, 29K JOIN HANDS DAY post-activity report — To be considered for national recognition and a $1,000 award from JOIN HANDS DAY, complete the post-activity report on www.joinhandsday.org. We encourage you to do this.

Key Dates/Guidelines Late-February / Early-March All chapter presidents, vice presidents, congregational service team directors, community service team directors, communication directors and youth directors will receive an envelope of JOIN HANDS DAY reference tools as well as promotional materials/forms that can be provided to members interested in conducting a JOIN HANDS DAY activity. March 1 $1,000 of JOIN HANDS DAY seed money deposited into each chapter checking account. Money can be used to purchase supplies or refreshments for an activity, or promotional items, such as Thrivent Financial for Lutherans/JOIN HANDS DAY logo T-shirts. April 1 to June 30 Chapter service teams can hold JOIN HANDS DAY activities anytime during this period to qualify for funding from the chapter. However, to maximize the impact of this special national volunteer day of service, encourage service teams to hold their activities on or near May 3. May 2 (Optional) If a chapter service team would like its activity to be considered for a national JOIN HANDS DAY Excellence Award, it needs to pre-register the activity at www.joinhandsday.org by May 2. In addition, the chapter service team must complete the JOIN HANDS DAY post-activity report, also found on www.joinhandsday.org, by June 3 . Encourage service team to do this. May 3 JOIN HANDS DAY July 31 To account for the full use of the JOIN HANDS DAY seed money, chapters must report JOIN HANDS DAY activities online as Locally Supported Activities by this date. To help meet this deadline, chapters may want to request that service teams submit the Report Activity Results form to the chapter by July 14. Chapters should call the Fraternal Service Center BEFORE they report if they have any questions about reporting. To eliminate some of the reporting confusion experienced in previous years: Use of Care Abounds in Communities program funds with the JOIN HANDS DAY seed money is not permitted. JOIN HANDS DAY activities that use JOIN HANDS DAY seed money must be reported as Locally Supported Activities after the activities are completed. Because JOIN HANDS DAY seed money is automatically deposited into the chapter checking account, chapters do not enter an online request for funding before the activity as they would for a Care Abounds in Communities activity. They only need to report the activity after it is completed. JOIN HANDS DAY seed money cannot be used for activities related to Thrivent Builds activities. However, JOIN HANDS DAY seed money may be used for JOIN HANDS DAY activities for Habitat for Humanity builds that are not being supported by Thrivent Builds. August 11 Any remaining (unreported) JOIN HANDS DAY seed money will be removed from chapter checking accounts.

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