Annual Giving 2025

Help Us Thrive in 2025!
This November, as we head into our Annual Giving Campaign, we’re inviting you to help us thrive in 2025!
It’s been an exciting fall here at the fellowship. Families with young children have been showing up in record numbers. One Sunday a month, we’re moving out of our traditional gathering style to go deeper with the day’s theme in smaller, multi-age groups: we’re calling this format “Connect in Community.” Then, on Sunday afternoons, our youth have been receiving a kind of comprehensive sexuality education that’s so badly needed – yet increasingly under attack, in many parts of the country.
Our immigration squad is awaiting the arrival of the Somali newcomers we’ve agreed to sponsor.
In partnership with SUNY Plattsburgh, we’ve trained seven facilitators in the work of Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation, so important in these times. Along with UUs nationwide, our fellowship UU the Vote team mobilized 47 volunteers to mail out an astonishing 4,800 postcards, urging registered voters of color in Georgia to exercise their democratic right to vote this November. And each month since summer, Fun Fridays have opened our doors to anyone wanting to linger and build new connections over a shared meal.
Love in the center
All through this, we’ve continued to offer spiritually rich worship services that are designed to inspire, challenge, but also support you through hard times, building on our UU commitment to keep love in the center through all life’s stages. Our goal continues to be to foreground what you’ve told us you’ve needed the most during this challenging season: opportunities to Connect, Engage, and Build a Better World.
For 2025, we plan to keep on doing all this, but we also want to thrive.
For sure, your financial gifts are essential to keeping us fiscally healthy. To fund our 2025 budget, we’re hoping to increase our income by at least 10%. This year, several beloved members have passed away. Others have relocated to new communities. As more of our activities take place both in person and online, our staffing costs are rising. And, we’d like to better serve our new families by adding more staff hours to our Religious Exploration program.
Just like last year, a few donors have offered to match any increases or new pledges to the congregation. This means, if you are pledging for the first time, your pledge amount will be doubled through our matching donor fund. And if you’re an existing pledger and increase your pledge by any amount, this increase will be doubled (until the fund is exhausted).
As always, if you are 73+ and take a Required Minimum Distribution, your donation can reduce your taxes.
When we talk about thriving
But here’s what else we mean when we talk about thriving.
If everyone who is a regular or even occasional participant in fellowship life were to offer one additional gift of volunteering per month, we would be more able to cover our existing needs (and maybe even dream bigger in the coming year). This means that this year, in addition to submitting your pledge, we’re hoping you will consider what small, monthly additional gift of time you might offer our community … to help us thrive!
If you’re wondering how to do this, we’ve created a fun bingo game to help you figure out the volunteer opportunities that are right for you. Read more about our volunteer Help Us Thrive!
Want to know more? Visit our FAQ page.
Complete your Pledge any way you choose:
- Email: treasurer@uuplattsburgh.org
- Complete the enclosed form via this link to pledge online. If you have pledged previously and want to maintain that pledge, you do not need to do anything! We will confirm your 2025 pledge later this month.
To Donate or establish payments:
- Via our website (to donate by credit card, direct withdrawal, or PayPal)
- Text GIVE to 518-594-8008, our Text to Give number.
- Mail: 4 Palmer Street, Plattsburgh, NY 12901
And as always, if life is challenging and you need support at this time, please reach out to our minister, Rev. Nicoline.
We look forward to an exciting, and thriving, 2025!
With deepest thanks for your generosity and support,
your Annual Giving team: Rev. Nicoline Guerrier; Tana Hanley, Board Member-at-large; Ursula Jones, Treasurer; Gerald Bates, Fund Development