Joining TENS is simple, and many of our members have been with us for more than a decade! But don’t take our word for it, we present the following user testimonials.
The Diocese of West Texas ventured a little deeper with our annual membership to The Episcopal Network for Stewardship (TENs) in 2023 by paying just a few more dollars to get four zoom trainings. We had amazing success with these personal training sessions managed and conducted by Canon J. Davey Gerhard, Executive Director of TENs. These sessions were conducted for us across four different months. Each session had 35 – 50 people attending, learning, and growing in their stewardship education. We selected four areas which were the most important for our Diocese – Motivations for Intergenerational Giving, Recruiting and Training a Stewardship Committee, Creating a Culture of Generosity, and Year-Round Stewardship Program.
Our Diocese is still talking about these sessions and using what was discussed as anchors for building their church’s education of Stewardship. Afterwards, we posted these sessions to our website for Churches to continue using the information. And, based upon the success of these training sessions, our Bishop invited Canon Gerhard to speak at our annual Council where over 800 people were present. I highly recommend using TENs in many ways – this amazing resource is much, much more than the wonderfully created tools available – it is a partnership, an opportunity, a challenge for all members of our Churches.
Thank you Canon Gerhard and your amazing team at TENs for all the support of this important spiritual educational resource.
Our Diocese is still talking about these sessions and using what was discussed as anchors for building their church’s education of Stewardship. Afterwards, we posted these sessions to our website for Churches to continue using the information. And, based upon the success of these training sessions, our Bishop invited Canon Gerhard to speak at our annual Council where over 800 people were present. I highly recommend using TENs in many ways – this amazing resource is much, much more than the wonderfully created tools available – it is a partnership, an opportunity, a challenge for all members of our Churches.
Thank you Canon Gerhard and your amazing team at TENs for all the support of this important spiritual educational resource.
In the summer of 2023, we held four webinars with TENS.org in advance of Annual Pledge season. We had between good participation from our congregations, and I received very positive feedback on both the webinars and the follow-up materials. In addition, we were able to include the webinars in our online "learning center," which extends their reach.
I was particularly impressed with Davey Gerhard's ability to engage participants from a wide range of experience levels. Whether your parish is just starting out with stewardship, or you have a well-established program, he was able to provide relevant and inspirational
I highly recommend TENS.org to any Episcopal diocese or parish looking for resources and support to develop and implement a stewardship program. I look forward to working with Davey again in 2024, and plan to offer Planned Giving to our topics.
I was particularly impressed with Davey Gerhard's ability to engage participants from a wide range of experience levels. Whether your parish is just starting out with stewardship, or you have a well-established program, he was able to provide relevant and inspirational
I highly recommend TENS.org to any Episcopal diocese or parish looking for resources and support to develop and implement a stewardship program. I look forward to working with Davey again in 2024, and plan to offer Planned Giving to our topics.
What a blessing TENS has been to my ministry! I've been the vicar or priest-in-charge for several smaller congregations in the dioceses of Los Angeles and San Diego and have found I can always rely on the material from TENS to produce a thoughtful and effective annual stewardship campaign. While I hate to admit to it, but realizing I might have some kindred souls out there, a few times my congregations didn't even start thinking about stewardship until October, when things should have already been well underway. We were able to tap into the resources provided by TENS and hit the ground running. The themes are always right on, and the graphics and sample letters are so easy to adapt to our specific situations. And they look great! In one bi-lingual congregation, we were able to use the Spanish-language resources to great effect for a first-ever bi-lingual stewardship campaign. Having these available for our use helped emphasize that we were one congregation working toward a mutual mission-oriented goal and not the English speakers and the Spanish speakers doing their own things separately. In an age where we're asked to leave reviews for every website we visit, I do not hesitate to give TENS five well-deserved stars.
I’ve now used TENS resources in three different parishes in three different dioceses in two different countries. In every case, we were able to run a highly effective stewardship campaign that made a real difference to the parishes’ financial stability.
I’ve also found TENS to be very responsive to feedback. After the first time I used the resources (2015), I suggested including an additional weekly reflection for Canadian Thanksgiving. I was asked to author the first one, and they have appeared every year since.
One of the best things about the TENS annual campaigns is that they are easily adaptable to a parish’s particular circumstances. A parish with a lot of strong writers or communications professionals can take the templates and personalize them, while a parish with less in the way of human resources can use the template as is, simply inserting the parish name as a “plug and play.” Any parish can use the resources and execute the campaign effectively regardless of the context.
Commonwealth users will need to watch for spelling issues (eg, honour *with* a u), and in New Zealand the switch from letter size to A4 sometimes required minor formatting adjustments, but these are easily done.
In my current parish, we’ve received a lot of feedback about how this was the most positive and forward looking stewardship campaign anyone remembers. And, as in every parish where I’ve introduced TENS, it resulted in a substantial increase in giving.
One of the best things about the TENS annual campaigns is that they are easily adaptable to a parish’s particular circumstances. A parish with a lot of strong writers or communications professionals can take the templates and personalize them, while a parish with less in the way of human resources can use the template as is, simply inserting the parish name as a “plug and play.” Any parish can use the resources and execute the campaign effectively regardless of the context.
Commonwealth users will need to watch for spelling issues (eg, honour *with* a u), and in New Zealand the switch from letter size to A4 sometimes required minor formatting adjustments, but these are easily done.
In my current parish, we’ve received a lot of feedback about how this was the most positive and forward looking stewardship campaign anyone remembers. And, as in every parish where I’ve introduced TENS, it resulted in a substantial increase in giving.
The Diocese of Southwest Florida has been using TENS Resources since TENS was founded. We have also asked their Board members and Executive Directors to facilitate our annual Diocesan Stewardship Event for the last ten years. We have been pleased with each of their presenters. Davey and board members the Rev’d Debra Bennett, and the Rev’d Chris Harris, did an outstanding job for us this year. We have already booked Cn. Mary MacGregor for our 2022 event in August.
Since Davey became Executive Director, we have found him to be most helpful, knowledgeable, and responsive to our diocesan requests. The website is easy to navigate, and many of our congregations use their resources. The annual fee is an exceptional value when you realize it provides a ready resource for every congregation in the diocese.
The Episcopal Church is blessed to have had TENS resources made available to us these many years, assisting our congregations in navigating the ever-changing waters of congregational stewardship.
Thank you, Davey and Board!
Since Davey became Executive Director, we have found him to be most helpful, knowledgeable, and responsive to our diocesan requests. The website is easy to navigate, and many of our congregations use their resources. The annual fee is an exceptional value when you realize it provides a ready resource for every congregation in the diocese.
The Episcopal Church is blessed to have had TENS resources made available to us these many years, assisting our congregations in navigating the ever-changing waters of congregational stewardship.
Thank you, Davey and Board!
We took advantage of TENS' generous offer of a series of webinars to aid our diocese's parishes in planning and implementing their stewardship programs for 2021. We held four webinars over four months covering developing an effective team, stewardship theology, making an effective parish presentation, and planned-giving. Davey Gerhard led each of them with clear and helpful information presented in an always constructive and helpful manner. He engaged equally well with parishes that already had more developed approaches as well as those who did little more than send a letter. We had from twenty to thirty parishes participate in each of the webinars and the response was genuinely positive. It was the best and most comprehensive diocesan level offering we have had in some time, and we look forward to working together again next year.
As we entered the 2020 Stewardship season, we needed a reliable partner to walk with us into the uncharted territories of mainly online giving campaigns in the middle of a pandemic. We found a partner in The Episcopal Network for Stewardship. The Episcopal Diocese of New York has been a TENS member for the last four years, and 2020 showed us how important this collaboration is, and will continue to be for us.
We invited TENS, to lead four different webinars/workshops. Davey brought us more than two decades of experience fundraising for nonprofits and congregations to his work in stewardship. He loves to talk about the beautiful intersection of money and meaning.
Davey designed these workshops for clergy and lay leaders. These presentations and materials were relevant for congregations and ministries of all sizes.
Together, we learned some best practices and tools to make this year's pledge campaigns successful, develop skills on navigating some of the difficult conversations about money and meaning, and share what our leaders were doing in congregational pledge campaigns. TENS is here to help you. We are grateful for its ministry in the Episcopal church.
We invited TENS, to lead four different webinars/workshops. Davey brought us more than two decades of experience fundraising for nonprofits and congregations to his work in stewardship. He loves to talk about the beautiful intersection of money and meaning.
Davey designed these workshops for clergy and lay leaders. These presentations and materials were relevant for congregations and ministries of all sizes.
Together, we learned some best practices and tools to make this year's pledge campaigns successful, develop skills on navigating some of the difficult conversations about money and meaning, and share what our leaders were doing in congregational pledge campaigns. TENS is here to help you. We are grateful for its ministry in the Episcopal church.
When the pandemic turned all our worlds topsy turvy, and we knew that all our lives would be changed – not just for the foreseeable future -- we knew we had to do something about Stewardship. How do you ask for money when there is a health, economic, and racial crisis going on? How do you manage online donations? What about all the fundraisers that feature so prominently in congregational budgets? The Diocese of Los Angeles Stewardship team knew we needed to pivot quickly and re-think the way we approach stewardship. We wanted to partner with someone/some entity to help us think and work through this work.
We chose TENS to partner with us to look at creative ways to navigate these uncertain times. The result was a deeply collaborative partnership developing a robust stewardship program which included relationship building, online giving, virtual auctions and galas and “hybrid” stewardship campaigns. These programs have been extremely well received and are actively being used here in the Diocese of Los Angeles. Working together with Davey at TENS was and is a pure joy!
We chose TENS to partner with us to look at creative ways to navigate these uncertain times. The result was a deeply collaborative partnership developing a robust stewardship program which included relationship building, online giving, virtual auctions and galas and “hybrid” stewardship campaigns. These programs have been extremely well received and are actively being used here in the Diocese of Los Angeles. Working together with Davey at TENS was and is a pure joy!
Earlier this fall, the clergy of Western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania heard a magnificent presentation from TENS about fundraising in this challenging time. Year in and year out our congregations richly benefit from TENS resources. So much so, if I don’t share the log-on information as soon as I receive it, my email box explodes with people asking——“where’s the log-in?”I find TENS readily available to adapt to the ever-changing times in our world and our church and for that, I am grateful.
Our mid-size urban congregation is embedded in a dynamic neighborhood of San Francisco, California, and our members are primarily families in the midst of careers and parenting. We were looking for the right ways to invite our congregation into connecting their passions for justice and service with the mission and ministry of our congregation, and this led us to partnering with TENS for pledge campaign materials and consulting with our stewardship team and bishop’s committee.
We find the pledge resources easy to implement and effective, ready to download and run with just a little customization. The consulting we have received from Davey has pushed us to create more impactful materials and to tweak our messaging about fundraising to engage our members. I and several members of my congregation have participated in TENS conferences and trainings over the years, and our stewardship efforts show results for this investment. I am grateful to be in partnership with TENS, and for its leadership in fundraising for The Episcopal Church.
We find the pledge resources easy to implement and effective, ready to download and run with just a little customization. The consulting we have received from Davey has pushed us to create more impactful materials and to tweak our messaging about fundraising to engage our members. I and several members of my congregation have participated in TENS conferences and trainings over the years, and our stewardship efforts show results for this investment. I am grateful to be in partnership with TENS, and for its leadership in fundraising for The Episcopal Church.
Our church is very, very small, with an average Sunday attendance of 6. That means each one of us does multiple jobs. As treasurer, one of my jobs is to reach out towards the year end to ask for renewed pledges and donations. I find this difficult, and TENS is wonderful in providing support. The staff is personable and always very helpful. Our church has been a member for 4 years, and every year I use the annual pledge program reflections (that are tied to specific Sunday lessons) as well as the pledge cards, which are easy to modify. Sending out a more official pledge card carries meaning. It is such a simple idea and with the reflections has made a difference. These represent only a small fraction of TENS’ offerings. I hope to become more involved and appreciate very much all that TENS provides.
Our Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts gave us our membership to TENS Stewardship resources some years ago. Thanks to them for providing access to this wealth of information related to the core of our faith -- STEWARDSHIP. And thanks to TENS for this useful resource. It has helped to guide us through the annual pledge program with a theme for focus and the materials to bring to life how to live out our faith and how we respond with gratitude. TENS has made the yearly event of In-gathering an easier process for our small church because we sometimes struggle to find the time and energy to make our yearly campaign meaningful and successful. All the materials are there to use and can be adapted to make it unique for our parish and its needs. Our goal is to make stewardship a year-round journey and there are resources available for that also. We use the materials and let The Spirit do the rest!
