Chapters can nominate candidates for 2007 national board of directors election —·FOR CHAPTER LEADERS

May 31 deadline to submit nominations

This year, three benefit members will be elected to the Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Board of Directors to serve four-year terms. Between April 1 and May 31, chapters have the opportunity to nominate candidates for the 2007 national election of the board of directors.

Nomination guidelines

• Chapters wishing to nominate candidates must do so at chapter meetings held between April 1 and May 31, 2007. Nominations made at meetings held outside of this period will not be accepted.
  
  
• Please review the following attached information carefully as you consider nominating candidates for this year's election:
  
  
  • Letter from Kurt M. Senske, Vice Chairman of the Board (PDF, 38K)
  • Call for Nominations form (PDF, 35K)
  • Desired Qualifications for Nominees and Biographical Information Affidavit (PDF, 54K)
  • Conflict of Interest Resolution (PDF, 39K)
  
  
• If your chapter chooses to submit a nomination, please get permission from the nominee. Then complete the Call for Nominations form in full and submit it via U.S. Mail postmarked no later than May 31, 2007. Nominations submitted in any other manner will not be accepted. Send the form to:
  Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
  Attn: Teresa J. Rasmussen, Corporate Secretary
  625 Fourth Avenue South
  Minneapolis, MN 55415

  Remember, the nomination(s) must occur at a chapter meeting.
  
  

• Please have the nominee complete the Biographical Information form and submit it to the same address as above no later than June 15, 2007. All nominees must submit this biographical information.

Questions
If you have questions about the nomination process, please contact Cindy Nigbur at cindy.nigbur@thrivent.com or 800-THRIVENT, ext. 38322.

Too early? Too late? Tips for when to submit newsletters and postcards —·FOR CHAPTER LEADERS

It's important to plan enough lead time when promoting activities and events

Chapter newsletters and especially chapter postcards have proven to be popular and valuable tools for chapters to communicate upcoming activities to chapter members. As you consider the most effective ways to use these tools for generating awareness of activities, it's important to plan and schedule the right time to submit these mailings.

Members who receive a postcard or newsletter less than 3 to 5 days before an activity view the mailing as unnecessary and not a good use of Thrivent Financial's money. It doesn't provide them with sufficient time to make plans to help at or attend the activity.

Helpful tips
The exact time it takes from when you submit a newsletter or postcard to the time it arrives in members' mailboxes varies and is a guess. However, to help ensure that postcards and newsletters get to members' mailboxes at least 3 to 5 days before an activity/event, here are some hints and tips to keep in mind as you make an educated guess of when to submit your mailings:

• First, choose which type of mailing (newsletter or postcard) is more appropriate to promote the specific activity. Although a postcard will get to members quicker, there are times when sending a chapter newsletter is the more appropriate tool for communicating necessary details of an activity or event. Use the communication method that will be most useful to the member.
  
  
• Allow the following lead times as you plan when to submit your newsletter or postcard:
  
  
  • Newsletters (sent at bulk rate) — submit at least 3 to 4 weeks before the activity
    When you submit a newsletter, it receives a review at Thrivent Financial to make sure content guidelines are followed, then it is sent to printing. This review and print process usually takes 3 to 6 working days, which factors in resolving any issues found during the review. Because newsletters are sent at a bulk rate, actual mailing time can take up to a week or more.
    
    
  • Postcards (sent first-class) — submit about 3 weeks before the activity
    In most cases, postcards are reviewed and printed within 2 to 4 working days, and mailing time takes 1 to 3 days.

    Important: If a postcard or newsletter is submitted too close to the actual activity date, the mailing will not be processed and the chapter leader will be notified.

  
  
• To respect the amount of mail received by members, please be cautious about sending reminder postcards about the same activity.

ACTION Requested:  Review guidelines
We encourage you to review the guidelines for using chapter postcards and newsletters, which are available on the Chapter Mailing Service.

Questions?
If you have questions about using the Chapter Mailing Service, please contact the Fraternal Service Center at 800-236-3736 or fraternal@thrivent.com.

Operating funds reporting tips for unique situations —·FOR CHAPTER LEADERS

Only report amount of 'true' operating funds spent

As chapters use the new "Manage Chapter Operating Funds" screens to report operating funds expenses, we have received questions about what amount to report in the following types of situations:

Example 1:  A chapter is hosting a social/recognition event at a baseball game. They charge members a certain amount for tickets, and will make up the balance out of chapter operating funds. To purchase the tickets, the chapter pays $3,000 up front out of operating funds, and then recoups $2,500 from selling the tickets to members. What amount does the chapter report as operating funds expenses?

In this example:



1. The chapter enters $500 of operating funds expenses in the member events/awareness category on the reporting screens to ensure the correct operating funds balance is showing. Remember, there is no place on the reporting screens to record deposits of funds.
2. Because the check was issued for $3,000, but only $500 is being reported, the chapter determines whether or not to record the check number. Regardless, it is a best practice for the chapter to explain the $500 entry in the 'Description' field (e.g., check number 1234 was issued for $3,000 to XYZ, $2,500 was received from members for ticket sales, resulting in a net operating funds expenditure of $500).

Example 2:  A chapter charges members a reduced price for an annual meeting/dinner meal, and covers the remainder of the cost using operating funds. In this example, use a similar process as described in example 1 above.

Example 3:  A chapter leadership board is hosting its annual election meeting. In conjunction with the meeting, they ask members to bring a canned good for the local food pantry. At the event, they also set out a container to collect monetary donations for the food pantry.

In this example:



1. On the Manage Chapter Operating Funds screens, the chapter enters the amount of operating funds spent for the annual meeting itself.
2. The chapter also must report the meeting (including volunteer hours, attendance, etc.) in the "Report Locally Supported Activity Results" area (Election category).
3. Because funds were collected for the food pantry, the chapter needs to record this as a fund-raising activity. They report the activity and funds raised in the "Report Locally Supported Activity Results" area (Local Fund-Raiser category).

Important: When reporting the election meeting activity results and the local fund-raiser, be careful not to "double report" the attendance, volunteer hours, etc. Split the total between the two activity entries.

Questions?
If you have questions about these examples or have any other questions about reporting operating funds expenses, please contact the Fraternal Service Center at 800-236-3736 or fraternal@thrivent.com.

In addition, remember to take the Managing Operating Funds Tutorial for an interactive way to learn how to track and report your chapter operating funds using the new online screens. This tutorial is available on the Tutorials/Quick References page (thrivent.com > Members/Chapters > For Chapter Leaders > Tutorials/Quick References).

$1,000 of JOIN HANDS DAY seed money deposited into chapter checking accounts —·FOR CHAPTER LEADERS

Online instruction sheet for correctly reporting JOIN HANDS DAY activities now available

The $1,000 deposit was made into each chapter checking account on May 12. The seed money can be used to purchase supplies for an activity, or to purchase refreshments or promotional items such as T-shirts. Unused funds will be removed from chapter checking account on Aug. 3.

ACTION Requested:  Detailed reporting instructions now available
Step-by-step instructions (PDF, 73K) for reporting JOIN HANDS DAY activities have been posted online on the Join Hands Day page in your For Chapter Leaders section online (www.thrivent.com > Members/Chapters > For Chapter Leaders).

Please refer to these instructions before reporting Join Hands Day activities. If you have any questions, please contact the Fraternal Service Center at 800-236-3736 or fraternal@thrivent.com before entering anything online.

Important reporting tip: When your chapter reports JOIN HANDS DAY activities, report only the expenses that were paid out of the $1,000 of JOIN HANDS DAY seed money. Do not report expenses that were paid by someone else.

More details
For more details about JOIN HANDS DAY and your role as chapter leaders, see last month's Chapter News article. In addition, chapter presidents, vice presidents, congregational service team directors, community service team directors, communications directors and youth directors should have received a packet of information, tools and forms in mid- to late February. All tools and forms also are posted on the Join Hands Day page in your For Chapter Leaders section online.

Questions?
If you have questions about JOIN HANDS DAY, please don't hesitate to contact the Fraternal Service Center at 800-236-3736 or fraternal@thrivent.com.

Chapter provides easy access to forms, guidelines, activities and more —·FOR CHAPTER LEADERS

Lancaster County Chapter earns Web Site of the Month honors

Congratulations to the leaders of the Lancaster County Chapter (Nebraska), especially to Bill Beck, chapter Internet advisor and Web site administrator, whose site has been named Chapter Web Site of the Month for March.

In addition to being informative, up-to-date and and easy to read, the site provides visitors with easy access to forms, chapter guidelines, current news and more for those who are thinking about volunteer opportunities through the chapter.

On its "How the Chapter Considers Requests" page, the chapter clearly documents its guidelines and criteria for considering funding requests. This helps eliminate potential confusion between service teams and the chapter.

The site also has an excellent "Service Team Information and Forms" page that has links to many forms and materials that service teams can print directly from the Web site to use before, during and after their activities. In addition to the required forms, the page contains links to a check notice, picture notice and chapter in action form. And, excellent brief descriptions are provided so service teams clearly understand the purpose of each form and notice.

"Our main purpose and benefit of the Web site is to provide Thrivent Financial members and the general public a means to keep abreast of what the Lancaster County Chapter is doing, what has been accomplished, and what is planned in the future in terms of service activities," says Bill. "We hope to bring awareness to Lutherans and others what Thrivent Financial for Lutherans is doing through their Care programs."

Read more about the additional features that make this site a winner as well as Bill’s comments about working with the Web site and the time commitment he gives to it. You can visit the site at www.lutheransonline.com/lancastercountychapter.com. Nice job, Bill!

JOIN HANDS DAY teleconference is Tuesday, March 13 —·FOR CHAPTER LEADERS AND CONGREGATIONAL COORDINATORS

Replay will be available to March 27

All chapter leaders and congregational coordinators are invited to participate in our annual JOIN HANDS DAY teleconference this Tuesday, March 13, from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Central time. Find out how you can make your JOIN HANDS DAY activity all that it can be:

• Gain ideas from volunteers who have held successful JOIN HANDS DAY activities, including Thrivent chapter members who were involved with national award-winning JOIN HANDS DAY activities in 2006.
• Learn effective ways to get the word out about your activity (e.g., getting the media to cover your project; inviting local officials to attend).
• Learn about tools and resources we developed to make it easy for you to generate awareness of your activity and get more people involved.
• Share your best practices from past successful JOIN HANDS DAY projects.

To listen, please dial in at 800-446-2782 (toll-free) about 7:20 p.m. and provide the operator with the confirmation number 16827669, your name and chapter name. When asked for host and company, say Stacy Eckes-Borys and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. Complete details and instructions are provided on the Teleconference Notice/Invitation (PDF, 56K).

Can't listen to live teleconference? Replay available!
If you can't participate in the live teleconference on March 13, you can listen to a taped recording through March 27. Dial 888-843-8996 (toll-free) and enter the passcode number of 16827669 followed by the pound (#) sign.

JOIN HANDS DAY information and materials available online
To access 2007 JOIN HANDS DAY information, forms and promotional materials, go to your For Chapter Leaders or For Congregational Coordinators page online and click Join Hands Day from the left navigation menu. For more details about JOIN HANDS DAY and your role as volunteer leaders, see last month's Chapter News article.

Questions?
If you have questions about JOIN HANDS DAY, please don't hesitate to contact the Fraternal Service Center at 800-236-3736 or fraternal@thrivent.com.

Thanks for your support of JOIN HANDS DAY!

Celebrate National Volunteer Week: April 15 to 21 —·FOR CHAPTER LEADERS AND CONGREGATIONAL COORDINATORS

It's a great opportunity to recognize your volunteers

National Volunteer Week, sponsored by the Points of Light Foundation, is an annual celebration to thank one of America's most valuable assets — volunteers — and call the public's attention to all they do to improve our communities. This year's National Volunteer Week is April 15 to 21.

The theme for the 2007 National Volunteer Week is Inspire by Example because it truly reflects the power volunteers have to inspire the people they help, as well as, to inspire others to serve! And how true that is of you as volunteer leaders and of our member volunteers.

Ideas for recognizing your volunteers
This week is a great opportunity for chapter leaders and congregational coordinators to recognize volunteers in your chapter and congregations for the many good things they do for those in need. Volunteers who are appreciated and feel good about their work are much more likely to volunteer again, and will inspire others to do the same. Some recognition ideas include:

1. Send E-cards to thank volunteers or community service team members when an activity is completed. You can find free E-cards on Lutherans Online under E-Greeting Cards.
2. Purchase thank-you cards with chapter operating funds to thank volunteers or chapter service team members when an activity is completed. You also may order Thrivent Financial thank-you cards at no cost from the Order Chapter Supplies page or Order Congregation Supplies page in your Chapter Leadership Administration Menu or Congregational Coordinator Administration Menu online.
3. Include a recognition article in a chapter newsletter—list the accomplishments and impact made during the past year.
4. Give out personalizable Volunteer Certificates of Appreciation, available to chapter leaders and congregational coordinators in PDF format via the Order Chapter Supplies page or Order Congregation Supplies page in your Chapter Leadership Administration Menu or Congregational Coordinator Administration Menu online. Three certificates are available where you can fill in the volunteer's name.
5. Add a "Hats Off to Volunteers" section on your chapter's Web site.
6. Hold a volunteer appreciation dinner and hand out special recognition items. See The Store on www.thrivent.com for great Thrivent Financial promotional merchandise items.
7. Visit www.energizeinc.com/ideas.html and also do a search of recognition on the Energizeinc Web site for all sorts of great recognition ideas.

The ideas are endless to show your volunteers how valuable they are. And remember, "recognition" is a great use of chapter operating funds.

Visit National Volunteer Week Web site for great information and tools
For more information about National Volunteer week, visit www.pointsoflight.org/NVW. This site includes a Fact Sheet about National Volunteer Week, statistics about volunteering, famous quotes on volunteering, a calendar of the national days of service, the National Volunteer Week logo, and more.