UUCC’s 2025 Budget Drive —
Showing Up and Sharing the Love
Each spring, during UUCC’s annual budget drive, we make promises of financial support (a pledge) for a 12 month calendar year period to support UUCC operations. As we do not receive outside funding, what we raise during the budget drive provides the funds that make the upcoming year of congregational life possible.
UUCC members voted to adopt our mission statement at UUCC’s 2023 Annual Meeting which anchors us to our collective responsibility to strive to embody love as we move through the world and encounter the people in it:
While it has always been true, it is now more critical than ever for us to remember that building and experiencing community is a vital antidote to the fear and hate we are swimming in as well as an act of resistance. As bell hooks said, “To love well is the task in all meaningful relationships, not just romantic bonds.”
And, building community and connection is a two-way street. Showing up and showing love for our UUCC faith community requires our presence and collective action. Together we live our values and embody the spirit of love in action by sharing our energy, passion, and financial treasure.
This month, all of us are invited to consider how we’ll show up and share the love with UUCC and its people… the ones already here and the ones yet to walk through our doors (virtual or literal). Join us as we put love into action through sharing what we can of our energy, passion, and financial treasure.
Our shared support for UUCC is a tangible expression of our love and commitment to strengthen and sustain each other, our faith community, and our Unitarian Universalist values as a beacon of hope and possibility in these dark times. If we all give as we are able, we will have what we need to thrive in the coming congregational year.
When you’re ready, click the button below to make your pledge.
Valentine’s Day Shindig: February 14
Join us on Valentine’s Day (Friday, February 14) for a dinner and music as part of this year’s budget drive kick-off. All in our congregation are invited to an evening of music (featuring UUCC talent!) and food. We’ll have a dinner potluck starting @ 6PM 🍝, or you can join us for dessert starting @ 7PM 🍨 if that works better for your schedule. Bring a dish and/or dessert to share as you’re able. Let’s be together in and with the community you love this Valentine’s Day! 💖
A big thank you to the UUCC musicians making the magic come together on February 14:
✨ Half-Priced Flowers, Jeremy Rae, Kelli Danaker, Michael Adcock, and Babysitters! ✨
Budget Drive FAQs
Don’t see the answer to your question? Connect with the pledge team at pledge@uucolumbia.net.
Budget Drive FAQs
While pledging is a covenantal responsibility of those who have signed the membership book at UUCC, any congregant or friend of UUCC is invited to make a pledge. Together, our financial contributions sustain us and make a difference in the congregation and in our larger community.
Love is more than a feeling. It requires our collective action. Together, we embody love through nurturing spirits, building community, and acting for justice — including supporting this congregation with our financial pledges.
You may have had experiences at other congregations where you were asked to tithe a certain amount of your paycheck or required to pay dues. UUCC does not set financial obligations for you to be part of our community. Because of this, we need some way to plan our budget for the next fiscal year. That’s why we do a pledge drive (also sometimes called a budget drive) each year to ask for your pledges.
Your pledge to UUCC helps us plan for our next twelve months of ministry together. The amount you pledge will determine what priorities we are able to set in our mission of meaning-making in community.
This year, we invite you to consider the ways you plan to show up and share the love for your spiritual community through sharing your financial treasure, time, and talent.
Together, we provide for the future of our congregation and its ministries through our shared love for our community.
In the past, UUCC members have shared tools like the Fair Share Guide or the decile breakdown to help you decide a pledge amount. These are helpful tools if you don’t know where to begin. Maybe embodying love in action means jumping up a decile or stretching to the next Fair Share commitment level.
It’s easy to make a pledge! Simply fill out our online form by clicking here.
You may have also received a letter in the mail with a paper form to fill out. If you would prefer not to fill out the online form, you can mail that paper form back to UUCC at 7246 Cradlerock Way, Columbia, MD 21045.