Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Members/Chapters > Volunteer Resources > Chapter Care Programs > Care in Congregations®: How It Works
Care in Congregations®: How It Works

Supporting your congregation and its ministry to the community is important to you. It�s a value you share with many members of your congregation. It�s also a value Thrivent Financial for Lutherans shares with you.

5 Simple Steps & Funding Flow
In early January of each year, the three congregational coordinators receive notification about the amount of Care in Congregations® program dollars made available to Thrivent Financial members in each Lutheran congregation for that year. (To receive funding, the three congregational coordinator positions must be filled and on record with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.)

The dollars are used to supplement money raised by a congregational service team at a fund-raiser, or to pay for the materials needed by the service team to perform a hands-on service activity.

Follow these five easy steps to ensure a successful Care in Congregations activity. An illustration of how the funds flow for this program follows.

Identify a need.

Work with your church leadership and the Thrivent Financial members in your congregation (as many as possible) to help identify needs that can be addressed using Care in Congregations funds.

Also ask:

Does the activity have the potential to involve a significant number of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans members and/or raise a significant amount of dollars to warrant funding? And will their participation offer a meaningful membership experience to volunteers?
How will you make the most of the Care in Congregations funds available to help meet different needs throughout the year? For example, consider activities that raise several dollars for each dollar of Care in Congregations funds provided.

Some congregations have specific fund-raising policies. Please respect these policies as you approve activities hosted by Thrivent Financial members.

Organize a congregational service team.

A congregational service team consists of all Thrivent Financial for Lutherans members who want to come together to help a particular congregation or its related Lutheran institution(s).

To qualify for Care in Congregations funding, the team must consist of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans members (benefit, associate, and/or youth members) from at least six different households who come together to conduct a chapter fundraising activity or hands-on service activity. (After the six-member-household requirement is met, nonmembers also are encouraged to participate in the activity.)

Congregational coordinators may be included in the required six member households.

Request Care in Congregations funds prior to the activity.

A congregational coordinator enters the service team's request online. Information needed includes:

You will need to know:

Type of need
Activity type (hands-on service or fund-raising activity) and date
Name and brief description of activity
Estimated costs (hands-on service activity) or estimated funds that will be raised
Total Care in Congregations funds requested from Thrivent Financial (at least $100)
Estimated number of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans households actively involved in planning, preparing for and working at the activity
Contact name, phone number and e-mail address

Publicize the activity.

To help ensure a successful activity that meets your goals, it�s important to �get the word out,� encouraging people to attend and/or help. It also helps highlight how Thrivent Financial and its members multiply the good we do together to support your congregation through Care in Congregations activities and funding.

Three great tools to help make members aware of the activity and the program are the Care in Congregations bulletin insert, poster and news release templates (before and after activity). The bulletin insert and news release templates can be accessed online from the Forms page in the Volunteer Resources section of the Members/Chapters area. In addition, congregational coordinators can order the poster, bulletin insert and news release templates.

Report activity results.

After the activity is conducted, a congregational coordinator enters the following results online:
- Volunteer hours
- Thrivent Financial for Lutherans member attendance and total attendance
- Net funds raised and/or total expenses incurred.
- Total Thrivent Financial for Lutherans member households actively involved
The congregational service team submits the expense receipts to a congregational coordinator, who then provides these to the chapter leadership board.

Funding Flow

Fund-raising activity

Hands-on service activity
Funding can flow in one of two ways, based on whether or not a portion of the funds is requested up front.

Scenario 1 (Up-front funds requested)

Scenario 2 (No up-front funds requested)

Page Settings

Adjust Text Size:

Printer Friendly