A familiar quote reminds us, “Teachers encourage minds to think, hands to create and hearts to love.” #IGiveUMC wants to inspire you to support local United Methodist churches by donating in honor of influential teachers to continue the act of kindness.

Starting August 1 until August 15, United Methodists are being asked to honor teachers who have made an impact in their life. They are invited to give to a local United Methodist church and share a special message about how a teacher has shaped their life. Please encourage your church families to pay tribute to these amazing role models and mentors, along with posting about their gift on social media and challenging others to do the same!

Proverbs 22:6, CEB, tells us: “Train children in the way they should go; when they grow old, they won’t depart from it.” Indeed, it takes a village to raise a child. Teachers can be defined in a multitude of ways, whether they are schoolteachers, Sunday school teachers, clergy or parents stepping into the roles of professional teachers.

Do you have a teacher in mind as you read this? Sow a seed in a local church, just as your teachers have sown in you. Together, we can continue to support our church’s mission and celebrate our teachers by giving to local churches. Will you join us?

Still have questions on how the #IGiveUMC campaign works?

The #IGiveUMC campaign invites people to support local United Methodist churches in honor or memory of a loved one and their legacy of faith. Donors can choose to support their local church or the church:

• of their honoree
• their family helped found
• of their childhood

Participants are then encouraged to post a photo or video on social media about the gift, celebrating their honoree using #IGiveUMC and inviting others to donate in honor or memory of someone.

From now until August 15, we ask United Methodists everywhere to sow a seed on behalf of a teacher in your life and share how others can join you in this celebration by contributing. Be sure to remind people to include #IGiveUMC in their post, as well as details about how to give to your church.What *NEW* campaign resources are available?

A specially created webpage offers information, ideas and examples to help churches and their members to participate to the fullest. You will find resources like a how-to guide, graphics, logos, a video script and promotional sample letters. Resources are also available in five languages (Spanish, Korean, French, Portuguese and English)!

You’ll also discover resources and graphics specific to our teacher celebration. Share these helpful tools with your congregations and on your social platforms!

How can you help?

The campaign’s purpose is purely to help local churches increase vital funding. We need your help to get the word out to your congregations and inspire them to participate! This is the perfect opportunity to engage members to help faith communities honor or remember people who have positively impacted their lives. Please consider promoting #IGiveUMC in upcoming e-newsletters, social media posts, website articles and so forth. The more churches and donors who participate, the more we can help build excitement around the campaign.

THANK YOU!

We appreciate your support of this campaign. If you have questions, please email the Connectional Giving team at UMCgiving@UMCom.org. We would also love to hear your feedback about the campaign and how we can further support local churches.