Stewardship F.A.Q.
Q. WHAT’S THE EASIEST WAY TO MAKE MY 2025 PLEDGE?
A. Pledging online is the easiest way to make your pledge. Online pledges are automatically tracked. Click the “Pledge Now” button. Complete the form with name, email, and amount for the year. Click “submit” to complete your pledge.
Q. WHAT IF I AM MARRIED? DOES MY SPOUSE OR PARTNER NEED TO ALSO FILL OUT AN ONLINE PLEDGE CARD?
A. No - only one member of your family household needs to pledge online. When a member of the family makes a Pledge online, you are finished. However in some instances, spouses may want to Pledge and give separately. In this case, each person should complete their individual Online Pledge. If you have questions about your family’s pledge, please contact Peggy McMurray at peggy.mcmurray@comcast.net.
Q. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE PLEDGE? CAN’T I JUST MAKE REGULAR DONATIONS?
A: The key to the Chapel running smoothly throughout the year is a well-planned foundation. While your regular donations and weekly cash offerings sustain the budget, your pledge helps create that plan. Immediately following the Stewardship campaign period, the Finance Committee will establish a Budget plan for the next year. The summation of all the pledges is the main communication the financial planning committee uses to predict the donations for the next calendar year. Consider your pledge a very important part of the planning cycle. You help the Chapel in its overall health and well being through both participating in financial planning by giving and pledging.
Q. WHAT TIME PERIOD DOES THE PLEDGE PERIOD REPRESENT?
A: The Stewardship campaign happens in the fall of the year prior to the active pledge year. Pledges made during the Stewardship campaign should reflect your anticipated giving for next calendar year. St. Augustine’s fiscal year coincides with the calendar year.
Q. WHERE DOES ALL THE MONEY FROM MY PERSONAL DONATION AND THE WEEKLY OFFERING GO?
A: The majority of our current budget pays our clergy, staff, and upkeep for the A-Frame building. While we are grateful for the many people who volunteer, we could not operate without the staff who devote so much of their lives to St. Augustine’s. This pie chart shows you our budget. Approximately 90% of our income is from your offerings and donations. We receive around 10% of our total income from the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee directly in support of Canterbury (Vanderbilt Student group).
Q. DOES MY DONATION TO ST AUGUSTINE’S SUPPORT OTHER ENTITIES LIKE THISTLE FARMS OR CCJ?
A. No. Your donations to St. Augustine’s remain at St Augustine’s to fund the Chapel’s operations and ministries. Non-profit organizations deeply tied to St. Augustine’s like Thistle Farms, the Center for Contemplative Justice, Escuela Anne Stevens, Holy Cross Hospice, The Welcome Garden, and Larkspur are separate 501-c3 non-profit organizations. The money you donate to these organizations is not reflected in the Chapel financials because these are separate legal entities that conduct their own fundraising activity. Your support of the Chapel is instrumental in fostering an environment and a culture that promotes the development and growth of organizations like these who act in the name of social justice to change the world for the better. Collectively, these groups independently raise more than ten times the total operating budget of the Chapel.
Q. WHO DO I CONTACT IF I HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT KINDFUL OR STEWARDSHIP?
A. For questions on the Kindful system, pledging or donations, please email: giving@staugustineschapel.org. For questions on Stewardship 2025, please contact