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Gift and Promise coordinator hired
March 2001
Margery Williams, a long-time Stewardship Associate, has been hired by the Massachusetts Conference to coordinate the final stage of The Gift and The Promise Campaign.
Williams is responsible for following up with those churches who have pledged to the campaign, and contacting those churches who have not yet participated.
“Since Jon McKenna’s tenure as the Director of the Gift and Promise ended, no other staff person has had the available time needed to see the campaign through,” said Meredith Hutchison, Associate Conference Minister for Stewardship. “We want to do the best job possible of helping churches participate in this important ministry opportunity.”
The Campaign, which began in 1996, is aimed at strengthening the churches of the Conference through both endowment funds and capital expenditures. It also has a strong mission component.
To date, 126 churches and 51 individuals have pledged $5.2 million to the campaign, with many spreading those pledges out over three years. Of that, $2.3 million is still outstanding.
As a Stewardship Associate, Williams has worked with 20 churches around the Conference, helping them to develop annual stewardship campaigns and capital campaigns.
“Marge comes with the needed skills and experience, so that we might have the best possible results from all of the efforts that have gone into The Gift and The Promise up until this time,” Hutchison said. “She has a wonderful reputation as a stewardship associate, and as a capital campaign consultant.”
Williams retired as the Associate Director of Development for Lawrence Academy in Groton in 1999. In her five years there, she doubled the contributions to the annual fund and developed a planned giving program. Before that, she worked as Executive Director at the Greater Lowell Family YMCA, where she was deeply involved in fundraising.
She said she is excited about the opportunity to expand her work with churches.
“Definitely one of the great joys in my life is working with churches. People in churches for some reason always think that its not possible for them to raise funds. Its so rewarding for me to bring a faith-based fundraising program to them. They see that they can raise money and at the same time raise the faith in their congregations,” Williams said.
Williams will also be responsible for helping to get information out to the churches about how their gifts are being utilized. And she will assist with planning a concluding celebration for the campaign.
Williams began March 1st, and will work part-time. She will be paid from Gift and Promise funds. She will be in the Conference office on Mondays, and will be working from her home in Groton on other days.