Fundraising for Ministers
Tuesdays July 7, 14, 21, 28 at 4-5:15pm ET / 3-4:15pm CT / 2-3:15pm MT / 1-2:15pm PT

Course will be offered Again: Tuesdays Sept 22, Oct 6, Oct 20 & Nov 3 

Most UU ministers are doing the work of a development director without much training: navigating pledge drives, stewarding major donors, and trying to move a reluctant board toward fundraising, often all at once. This free webinar series offers fundraising education that goes beyond formulas to address why fundraising feels so hard for ministers – and what to do about it. Sessions are grounded in relationship-based fundraising principles, delivered in plain language with practical action steps, and deeply respectful of the theological complexity ministers bring to conversations about money. 

• Session 1 – Fundraising Basics: Money, Mindset, and Asking Working through the internal barriers that keep ministers from asking confidently
• Session 2 – How to Help Your Board Become Passionate Fundraisers Moving board members from passive supporters to active fundraising participants 
• Session 3 – Legacy Giving and Planned Gifts: A Practical Introduction Demystifying bequests, beneficiary designations, and how to have the conversation 
• Session 4 – Building for the Long Term: An Introduction to Campaigns Developing a working understanding of endowments, building funds, capital campaigns and campaign readiness 

Jessica Cloud, CFRE, is the founder of Real Deal Fundraising, a consulting and training practice serving nonprofit organizations. She spent over a decade at Starr King School for the Ministry, one of the UU movement's two accredited seminaries, where she led a 10-year increase in giving that more than doubled total fundraising and grew unrestricted support by over 140%. During her time on staff, she also taught a three-hour course called Ethical and Community-Centered Fundraising – bringing fundraising education directly into the seminary classroom for ministers in formation. She is a Unitarian Universalist. She understands the challenges people have when it comes to conversations about money, and she knows how to meet people there. Jessica has trained hundreds of nonprofit professionals through organizations including Nonprofit Learning Lab and Academic Impressions, and she currently works with UU-affiliated organizations including the UU Ministry for Earth. She holds a master's degree in English Literature and is a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE).