Pledge Today

Goal: $765,000

Co-Chairs: Harry Moren & Mirjam Jooss Moren
Contact: aof@uusf.org

Pledge Drive FAQ
Ways to Give & Types of Gifts

Dear Members and Supporting Friends of UUSF!

 

Our family – Mirjam and Harry, Oriana (14), and Eliot (3) – is reaching out to you, part of the community of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco, for assistance with the annual pledge drive. The church has been a safe haven for us as our family has grown, a place for recharging and repairing our sails after a stormy week, and a place for learning and being a part of a welcoming, supportive, multifaceted community. Thank you all for sailing your colorful boats into this harbor and building a safe space of togetherness and shared values for us all.  Thank you for helping shape the lives of our children!

 

Our group of little boats has held strong through the storms raging around us. Our harbor has become ever more important as the world outside is in turmoil and as many of us seek a community that cares and welcomes all.  We are itching to share with you so many exciting things about our thriving port!  But first …

 

We need your help to fund all our amazing activity.  Our shared goal for the pledge drive is $765,000, an increase from last year’s goal due to rising costs such as health care, utilities, and a temporary loss of rental income from our long-term tenant. 

 

We humbly ask each of you, if you have the means, to please raise your pledge by 5-10%, or more if you have more to give.  We are also asking folks, if they have the ability, to make a one-time pledge to offset the temporary lost income due to a rental shortfall with our tenant. We hope to have our preschool space generating rental revenue again as soon as possible, but it won’t be immediately.  

 

We know this year is surrounded by a lot of uncertainty. It is a time when, more than ever, it is important to have institutions like UUSF   that will stand up strongly against the storms of life, politics, and upheaval. Let us all come together to protect this harbor and the diversity of life and spiritual experience that it fosters. 

 

Each of you should take credit for all the ways you contributed to the vitality of the harbor that is UUSF. Thanks for your gifts of time, for your leadership, for showing up, and for all your material contributions, including your annual pledge. 

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We are building safe moorings for every single little boat.  Our harbor is thriving!

 

• Sunday morning attendance:  160 to 200 people (in-person and livestream), which is above pre-pandemic levels; 50+ additional people watch online recording later.

• YouTube channel, UUSF Media:  >1500 subscribers.

• Our Pre-K to 5th grade Family Ministry program attendance doubled this year. 

• Booming outreach to young adults and visitors!  15 people attended the most recent Young Adult monthly lunch.  Our New UU class was >50% young adults.

• Robust group of lay leaders & volunteers complementing established core staff. 

 

We have taken care of our harbor and each other.  Highlights include:

 

• We launched our Soul Matters programming with focused monthly themes. 

• We made new rooms available for congregational use and moved the Religious Education library to Stebbins so our kids can enjoy the more than 700 books!

• We installed energy-efficient air conditioning and a heating system upgrade is planned.

• We gathered 100+ people at our annual auction for fun and fundraising, supporting Fund-a-Need (which funded our intern’s salary and UU The Vote).

• We introduced the Starr King Way Performance Series with monthly events.

 

We make waves to nurture the outside community, such as: 

 

• We won the UUA “Good Trouble Congregation Award” for support of voting in swing states, including door knocking and election monitoring in Arizona. 

• We passed our own statements of conscience and launched ten post-election working groups on values-centered areas to uphold our principles.

• We have robust programming by our Human Rights, Women’s Rights, and Climate Justice groups plus Sunday morning Forum talks with national and local leaders. 

• We increased rentals of our space for meetings, gatherings, and celebrations and are proudly hosting another winter shelter for our unhoused neighbors, providing a warm, safe space to sleep, along with cooked breakfasts and dinners.

• We continue to donate our Sunday plate to non-profits and social justice causes, including the Ohlone Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, the Diverse & Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries, and disaster relief funds for victims of the Los Angeles fires.

 

We are so grateful for all you do and give to keep this harbor strong and safe. 

We are so grateful to be surrounded by all your amazing, colorful boats. 

We are so grateful to be a part of this beautiful community.  

 

With deep gratitude and appreciation,​