This guidance can help you reflect on your household’s financial situation. 

My Financial Cup Is Overflowing

My financial situation more than meets all my basic needs (food, housing, transportation, health).

Possible characteristics: 

• I own one or more homes or properties. I have several vehicles. 
• I fly business or first class. 
• I never avoid getting medical care due to finances. 
• I dine out at fine restaurants, attend multiple cultural events, and take vacations with ease.

My Financial Cup Is Full

My financial situation always meets all my basic needs (food, housing, transportation, health). 

Possible characteristics: 

• I own my own home or rent a higher-end place. 
• I own or lease at least one vehicle. 
• I have adequate access to health care and don’t avoid getting care due to finances. 
• I can afford meals out, movies or a concert, new clothes, etc. 
• I enjoy travel and vacations.

My Financial Cup Is Sufficient

My financial situation usually meets all my basic needs (food, housing, transportation, health).

Possible characteristics: 

• I own a modest home, share housing or rent an apartment. 
• I own or lease a vehicle. 
• I have adequate access to health care and don’t avoid getting care due to finances. 
• I have some savings (not living paycheck to paycheck). 
• I occasionally enjoy meals out, a concert or movie, new clothes, etc. 
• I can take a vacation without going into debt.

My Financial Cup Is Limited 

My financial situation makes it hard to meet my basic needs (food, housing, transportation). 

Possible characteristics: 

• I live in low-income or affordable housing, or I have unstable housing. 
• I’m unable to afford a vehicle. I am under- or unemployed. 
• I qualify for government assistance for basic needs. 
• I find it difficult to afford meals out, movies, new clothes, travel, or vacations.

The following offers a loose way to evaluate your level of participation and engagement at UUC. You may not fit into one of these exactly—but hopefully, these descriptions will help guide you.

Casual. You occasionally enjoy a Sunday or holiday service. You may engage every once in a while in other UUC activities. 

Active. You are engaged in programs or activities, maybe even leading a small group. You participate regularly in Sunday worship.

Foundational. You may be or have been in a leadership role, deeply engaged in programs or teams, or an informal thought leader.

Resting. You may be stepping back after years of participation or due to a personal situation. You attend church once a month or less.

The Annual Pledge Drive is our yearly fundraising effort that raises more than 70% of UUC’s annual operating budget. During the pledge drive, UUC members and friends make a financial pledge (a promise of financial support) for the next fiscal year, which runs July 1–June 30. Our pledges give UUC’s staff and Board of Trustees the critical information they need to form a detailed budget.

A pledge is your promise to donate a certain amount of money to UUC over the next fiscal year (July 1–June 30). A pledge of financial support is one of the responsibilities of membership at UUC. Pledges are then paid off over the coming fiscal year, with payment completed by June 30 of the next calendar year.

Members and friends of UUC are all invited to pledge. This is important to sustaining the intellectual, artistic, spiritual, and justice-centered activities you enjoy at UUC.

The pledge drive officially starts March 1—March Is Pledge Month!  We dedicate March as pledge month because this gives UUC staff and the Board time to complete the budget process before the Annual Meeting in June. Please pledge before April 1.

Newcomer pledging is welcome at any time of year. The fiscal year runs July 1–June 30. Going forward, you can revisit and make your pledge anew each March.

Pledges are paid off over the fiscal year, which runs July 1–June 30. Pledge payments can be made weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually—whatever works for you. Plan to pay off your pledge by June 30.

Please visit the Ways to Give Money page to learn the various ways you can donate to UUC.

Please contact the UUC office to request support. The Stewardship team can answer questions, but to maintain confidentiality, we do not know or enter financial information for fellow UUC members or friends.

Yes, donations are tax deductible. University Unitarian Church is a tax-exempt entity. We issue end-of-year tax letters confirming your calendar year contributions that we have recorded and that meet tax law.

Yes! Our pledges of financial support provide more than 70% of UUC’s operating budget. UUC uses our financial resources to provide spiritual growth, promote UU values in the wider community, be good employers, care for our facilities, and grow adults and children with open minds, helping hands, and loving hearts. Our church cannot survive without your support.

Our volunteer gifts and our financial gifts empower this church and make it sustainable. We depend on both. Thanks to our volunteer hours, we accomplish so much—and we support staff and keep costs down. Yet, the church also requires financial support in order to pay utility and insurance bills, provide staff with a living wage and healthcare, support church programming, and more. Volunteered time is highly valued in its own right but can never replace financial contributions. Providing financial support is a key responsibility of UUC membership.

Churches typically have fewer donors than many nonprofit service organizations. This means our gifts must be larger to sustain UUC operations. Our church community touches our lives in so many ways. We benefit from those who came before us. Now it’s our turn. 

Through good times and bad, we are all in this together. If you make a pledge but later find yourself unable to meet the obligation, please contact one of our ministers or the UUC office.

All gifts are appreciated. It is most helpful to the church if donations go to our operating budget because that’s what supports our staff and programs from year to year. UUC uses those funds to ensure that the church runs properly from every angle.